Toulon pip La Rochelle to the post

Anthony Belleau kicked a late drop-goal to take Toulon into the final of the Top 14 following a 18-15 triumph over 14-man La Rochelle.

Patrice Collazo’s men were the outstanding team during the regular season and they displayed some of those qualities by going into the break ahead via a Brock James' drop-goal and two penalties.

Toulon, with all their quality, were never going to be pushovers, however, and Leigh Halfpenny’s accuracy off the tee meant they were just three points in arrears at half-time.

James added two further penalties at the start of the second period to extend La Rochelle’s buffer, but Les Corsaires then went down to 14 men after Pierre Aguillon was sent off.

It allowed Halfpenny to eat into that deficit and the contest was finely poised going into the final 10 minutes. Ultimately, it was Toulon’s title-winning experience that made the difference as Belleau scored a drop-goal with the last play of the encounter.

La Rochelle’s off-loading game, combined with that stereotypical French brutality up front, has formed the basis of their success this season but, despite initially impressing with that game plan, they were eventually undone.

Their up tempo style was causing issues for the four-time domestic champions early on and Kini Murimurivalu went close to opening the scoring, but that attack broke down.

James soon rewarded their early endeavour with a successful drop-goal before Toulon’s hero of the previous week, Halfpenny, levelled matters against the run of play.

The Wales and Lions full-back’s boot has been an excellent source of points in the play-offs and his accuracy off the tee kept Richard Cockerill’s men in contention at the interval.

After La Rochelle’s stand-off had restored their three-point buffer, Halfpenny once again equalised with a superb kick from out wide.

With the scores locked at 6-6, Cockerill would have been happy with his team’s performance, but he was less content on the stroke of half-time when Collazo’s side produced one last surge. It resulted in a Toulon infringement and James gave La Rochelle the lead going into the second period.

Les Corsaires maintained that momentum after the break and successive James’ three-pointers gave them a 15-6 advantage.

At that point, the league leaders were well in control but a red card, for Aguillon’s dangerous tackle on James O’Connor, changed the course of the contest.

Halfpenny reduced the deficit with a penalty before he added another soon after as Toulon moved to within touching distance.

To their credit, La Rochelle were resilient but Toulon’s full-back was in the mood to benefit from any indiscretion and he made the game all square with 10 minutes remaining.

The full-back’s excellence was in stark contrast to Zack Holmes, who missed two long range opportunities to win the game after coming on as a replacement.

Instead, Belleau – a talented young stand-off at only 21 years of age – made himself a hero when he stepped up to kick a drop-goal in the final minute and take Toulon to the final.

The scorers: 

For La Rochelle:
Pen: James 4
Drop Goal: James
Red Card: Aguillon

For Toulon:
Pens: Halfpenny 5
Drop Goal: Belleau

La Rochelle: 15 Kimi Murimurivalu, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Pierre Aguillon, 12 Paul Jordaan, 11 Vincent Rattez, 10 Brock James, 9 Arthur Retière, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Levani Botia, 5 Leandro Cedaro, 4 Damien Lagrange, 3 Uini Atonio (c), 2 Jérémie Maurouard, 1 Vincen Pelo 
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Mike Corbel, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Romain Sazy, 20 Enrico Januarie, 21 Zack Holmes, 22 Steeve Barry, 23 Mohamed Boughanmi

Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Anthony Belleau, Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Duane Vermeulen (c), 7 Liam Gill, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Marcel Van der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Florian Fresia 
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Mamuka Gorgodze, 19 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Jimmy Yobo, 21 Matt Giteau, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Emerick Setiano

Referee: Pascal Gauzère
Assistant Referees: Maxime Chalon, Thomas Déjean
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure