Following a 31-19 victory for Toulouse over Bath at the Stade Ernest-Wallon on Sunday, here’s our five takeaways from the Investec Champions Cup clash.
There is no doubt that the West Countrymen have taken a giant stride forward this season but this was the truest test of their capabilities. There probably isn’t a bigger challenge – maybe with the exception of facing Leinster away – than going to the home of the five-time European champions, but the visitors were excellent.
Against a pretty much fully-loaded side, fronted up physically, dominating the set-piece, and also caused the hosts’ defence a series of problems.
They won’t like their profligacy in the second period, where they missed several opportunities inside the opposition 22, while the French outfit also had far too much joy at the breakdown for their liking, but it was another step in the right direction for Johann van Graan’s men despite the defeat.
This was the perfect stage for some of the likely fringe squad members to show Steve Borthwick what they could do. Other than Ollie Lawrence, Bath did not contain anyone in their side that is guaranteed to start their Six Nations opener against Italy, but the likes of Ben Spencer and Beno Obano did their chances no harm.
Obano in particular was impressive, dominating France’s Rugby World Cup tighthead Dorian Aldegheri at scrum time and putting in an immense shift in the loose. Spencer, meanwhile, controlled the game nicely, made good decisions throughout his time on the field while both his service and kicking was on point.
Elsewhere, players who just missed out wanted to make a point too, namely wing duo Will Muir and Joe Cokanasiga, but those two didn’t quite have the same influence on the game. Muir and Cokanasiga didn’t do anything wrong, were both willing. and cleared up pretty well in backfield, but they lacked impact with ball in hand.
While Bath deserve plenty of credit for pushing Toulouse all the way, Dupont and Ramos showed their class with excellent all-round displays which played a big part in helping Toulouse to secure their victory.
Although the Premiership outfit stayed in the fight for long periods, the French internationals did not panic and impressed with their outstanding game management throughout this fixture.
Dupont left his stamp on the match by setting up both of Ramos’ tries with beautifully weighted grubber kicks either side of half-time. Apart from that, the Toulouse and France captain also provided Ramos with slick service while the stand-in fly-half, once again, caught the eye with his brilliance on attack which was rewarded with that brace.
Ramos also slotted two conversions to finish with a 14-point haul while he turned provider when he found Juan Cruz Mallia with a superb skip pass before the wing crossed for a deserved try.
There are questions for the Rugby Football Union regarding their eligibility laws after the talented flanker produced a superb display against Bath. was absolutely dominant at the breakdown, regularly stealing ball and enjoying his time against his countrymen. There are few better fetchers than the openside and his talents are missed at international level with him being in France.
No doubt after watching that, it will be queried why the RFU continue to keep their laws in place. England have no shortage of quality opensides but, with Tom Curry out, Willis would have certainly been the next in line. There are few, if any, players in the Premiership that can do what the 27-year-old did against Bath in the Champions Cup on Sunday.
Ahead of this fixture, these sides were both unbeaten in Pool Two and level on 15 points alongside Harlequins – who had already completed their allotted matches – and, as a result, both sides needed at least a point.
Attack was therefore the order of the day as both teams searched for, at the very least, the four tries. The match was played at a blistering pace with the teams giving the ball plenty of air and leaving little doubt that they wanted to finish this contest as victors to secure the top spot in the pool.
Those tactics had the desired effect as the teams were rewarded with three tries apiece during the opening half and were deadlocked at 19-19 at the interval.
Bath continued to hold their own against their more fancied opponents during their early stages of the second period but fell off the pace in the game’s dying moments, while Toulouse finished stronger and eventually secured the result courtesy of late tries from Mallia and Ramos.
