Toulouse take Leinster scalp

A determined Toulouse inflicted a rare European defeat on Leinster as they shocked the reigning champions 28-27 at Stade Ernest Wallon on Sunday.

Two crossings from Maxime Medard and one from Sofiane Guitoune saw the home outfit to the four points, which makes it two wins out of two.

For Leinster this loss will sting but they can have few complaints as they faced a fired-up Toulouse who appear to be back as a title contender.

Toulouse enjoyed a solid first-half in front of their fans and went into the break leading 21-13 thanks to two tries and the boot of Thomas Ramos. They played with real pace and intent and caught the Irish giants cold, the French side racing into a 14-0 lead by the 18th minute.

Ramos got the ball rolling inside a minute after James Lowe took out Cheslin Kolbe in the air. The full-back then made it 6-0 shortly after.

Things got even better for Toulouse in the 13th minute as following a Luke McGrath breakout, the scrum-half was turned over and then hooker Julien Marchand carried into the Irish 22 before Medard finished nicely on the left. Suddenly the hosts were well out in front.

Leinster needed to respond and did via two Johnny Sexton penalties before the half-hour mark, both coming after offside. And when Jack Conan broke through before feeding Sean O’Brien for a converted try that made it a one-point ball game, it looked like Leinster had found their mojo.

Toulouse though had one final say on the scoreboard before the break and it was a thing of beauty, Guitoune piercing a gap before stepping Jordan Larmour with ease en route to the whitewash. With Ramos’ conversion it was an eight-point lead for Toulouse but would it be enough?

Leinster returned all guns blazing and crossed six minutes into the half when James Ryan crashed over following several close-range carries.

Their tails were up and the Irish would go 27-21 ahead on 53 minutes when Sexton’s inside ball found Sean Cronin, who finished well under the bar.

However, Toulouse weren’t done and in the 69th minute an intercept from replacement Louis Madaule sparked a counter-attack from 80 metres out. The ball was shifted through four pairs of hands before Medard finished on the left side and with Ramos’ extras, Toulouse were 28-27 ahead.

Ramos did have an opportunity to extend the lead to four points late on but was wayward off the tee. But it mattered not as Toulouse saw out the match for a famous win.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Tries: Medard 2, Guitoune
Cons: Ramos 2
Pens: Ramos 3

For Leinster:
Tries: O’Brien, Ryan, Cronin
Cons: Sexton 3
Pens: Sexton 2

Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Romain Ntamack, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Alban Placines, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand (c), 1 Clément Castets
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 David Faimafiliotama’ita’i Ainuu, 18 Maks Van Dyk, 19 Pierre Gayraud, 20 Louis Madaule, 21 Yoann Huget, 22 Antoine Dupont, 23 Arthur Bonneval

Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton, (c) 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O’Loughlin

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official: Rowan Kitt (England)