Toulon’s Mathieu Bastareaud brings out beast to overpower Leicester
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Version 0 of 1. A tie that promised so much, if only as an extension of the war of words that seemed to break out last week in Leicester, turned out to be a little muted. Not a barb in earshot. Instead, Toulon concentrated on the physical and did what they do so crushingly well in their back yard. They cranked themselves up and came at Leicester with a co-ordinated series of assaults that proved irresistible. “They were the better side on the day,” said Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, a clear indication that he was going to stoke no fires. Had the week of slanging nevertheless been a distraction? “Look, we lodged no complaint. What was said about me was done in front of a room full of press. It spoke for itself.” What Leicester did do was refer two incidents after last week’s tie to the EPCR, the organising body. It in its turn had declared that both Martin Castrogiovanni and Delon Armitage had a case to answer. Their cases will be heard on Wednesday. Until then, there was this second meeting on the field, and nothing other than that to discuss. Except perhaps, that on the matter of playing again so soon after the words, Toulon played it enigmatically. Castrogiovanni, the more industrial of the insulters, an Italian who gave Cockerill both barrels in earthy Anglo-Saxon, was left out of the day’s events. Armitage, who stands accused of abusing a section of the crowd at Welford Road, was selected on the wing, which both allowed Leigh Halfpenny to start at full-back and also placed Armitage within trading distance of the small pocket of Leicester fans in the corner. It might have been viewed as an inflammatory selection but fortunately the game started and actions began to speak a little louder. Toulon began forcibly, with Bryan Habana latching on to a kick from Sébastien Tillous-Borde, that Leicester watched rather than claimed. It led to a rampage upfield, with Guilhem Guirado unable to take a pass from Chris Masoe close to the line. It was a chance missed but a declaration made. The visitors on the other hand were subdued. Having let one kick bounce, Ben Youngs launched his first straight out on the full. Owen Williams put his restart after Halfpenny’s first penalty similarly out of play. The theory that everything has to be optimally solid to stand a chance against Clermont and Toulon in Europe was being sorely tested. The back-to-back champions are a mighty unit up front and pretty combative behind the forwards and in their beloved Mayol they are truly formidable, especially since their forwards are not pure grunt. Juan Smith put himself about in defence, but also had some sweet touches on the ball. Even the South African was upstaged as a delicate manipulator of the ball by Ali Williams, the former All Black second-row. Williams won ball, passed it as a stand-in scrum-half and scored the opening try, powering over from two metres out. The regular scrum-half was Tillous-Borde, who plays with absolute authority and conviction for his club, but who has not yet brought this mastery to the international game. Here, he was exceptional, busy at every incident, calculating at every turn. It helped that if things did not quite turn out as planned in his head, he could always work the ball in the direction of Mathieu Bastareaud. The centre seems to have grown even larger. Perhaps it is wearing red that brings out the beast in him but here he was almost unstoppable. He did not time every intervention perfectly, but when he did, he simply flattened Anthony Allen. The Leicester centre used to be what was called a maker of hard yards, but here he was a storm-damaged wall being demolished by the wrecking ball. “Marquee players,” Cockerill called everyone in the Toulon team. “We would call each and every one of them a special signing. They’ve got a whole team of them.” Allen and the rest of the Leicester team picked themselves up each time they were bowled over. Finding themselves 16-0 down after less than half an hour they were facing a gruesome afternoon, but refused to buckle. Owen Williams was having a tough day at work – “He’s a young player who’s learning his trade,” said Cockerill. “He’ll learn from days like this” – and had missed a penalty. But suddenly he had a conversion to attempt. He made a telling half-break, fending off Nicolás Sánchez, and Leicester worked the ball smoothly to Blaine Scully who scored in the corner. Williams missed the conversion but it put a whole new sheen on the game. In the second half there was a moment when Mathew Tait ran through after taking a brilliant inside pass from Leonardo Ghiraldini and gave the ball to the best finisher in the team, Vereniki Goneva. Just for a moment the game swung on its axis but a slip and a mistake meant the moment passed. The old routine was established, with Habana ever alert to fly off his wing to complement the work of the heavyweights, combining with Maxime Mermoz, and Sánchez before Bastareaud scored by the posts. The game was done with nearly half an hour to go, rugby power beyond words. |