Toulouse – Racing 92 Stadium
32-12
Toulouse prepared well for their upcoming semi-final of the Champions Cup when they again tamed Racing 92 (32-12) in 22 minutes on Saturday.E day Top 14, helped by the decisive entry of Antoine Dupont.
Next week, Toulouse will welcome England’s Harlequins to the stadium for a place in the final. In that sense, this success against Racing allows them to move forward after being narrowly beaten by Toulon last week (20-19) at the Marseille Vélodrome with a revamped squad.
Eight points ahead of Racing
They also consolidate second place, eight points clear of the Hauts-de-Seine club, now on a five-match losing streak against the Rouge et Noir.
Ugo Mola’s men, who recalled most of his senior staff for the occasion, were unable to take advantage of the wind in the first half due to inaccuracy in the scoring areas. Racing even took the lead thanks to third row Kitione Kamikamica (12thE), at the end of a beautiful collective sentence, punctuated by the improbable chister of Nolan Le Garrec.
Le Garrec could do nothing
The young international scrum-half, suffering from concussion, was not there three weeks ago when his side lost to Toulouse (31-7) in the last 16 of the Champions Cup.
On Saturday, his presence alongside opener Antoine Gibert benefited the residents of Ile-de-France offensively without changing the winner’s name at the end despite a last-ditch effort to honor England’s Henry Arundell (79E).
On the Toulouse side, usual Scotland defender Blair Kinghorn (moved to the wing for the occasion) gave Toulouse a wake-up call just before the break (39E) once again huge in defense after a relay from Emmanuel Meafou.
Dupont, who had just entered the game in place of Paul Graou, killed the match within five minutes and was an inside support for Ramos (48E), then passed the decisive pass to his center Santiago Chocobares (52E).
Young third row Mathis Castro-Ferreira (63E) hit the nail on the head, only for it to resonate again in Ernest-Wallon’s span About Toulouse by Claure Nougaro, to whom the meeting was dedicated, 40 years after his death.