Expand the improvement. This is the objective, this Saturday, January 13 evening, the rugby players of the Stade Toulouse. The “red and blacks” are in Belfast, where they take on the Irish province of Ulster, as part of Day 3 of the Champions Cup. Toulouse, for the moment, are in an ideal position to move closer to qualifying for the round of 16.
It’s Toulouse’s turn to keep the residents within their 22 metres. The Irish put more intensity into the contacts and put the statists on the back foot. DuPont clears his camp.
Doc adds two more points. 17-41 for Statists!
After a series of pick and go, the surplus is used on the width. It is Will Addison who concludes.
Jalonch, Mauwaka, Ramos and Rumat gave way to Willis, Marchand, Bituniata and Brennan.
Before the hour mark, Haut Geronise already led 10-41. Victory looks certain, but we know we have to watch the goal average to ensure home matches during the knockout stages.
Antoine DuPont is sinking Ulster at Ravenhill! Brilliant diagonal run from the France XV captain that attracts the entire defence. It crosses with Lebel which goes in at the 22 meter level, with Roumet as the last support there.
They are overwhelmed by the collective power of the Toulouse residents. Late in the ruck, they expose themselves to counter-attacks and the speed of the backs of the stadium.
Even Peito Mauwaka is his double! After another convincing throw and the maul begins, Dupont runs into the dam before finding his hook inside. Despite Ramos’s new failure against the Poles, 10-34, the Rouge et Noir went unscathed.
After this fourth attempt, the Ulstermen tried to get their hands on the ball but the red curtain came up. Mouwaka is scrambling, the Toulouse opposition are back in the 22m.
Magnificent interval shot from Blair Kinghorn to the center of the field. The Scotsman continues his race and perfectly fixes the last defender before serving to Antoine Dupont, ever present in support. Ramos Transformation, 10-29.
After unsteady passing the label, the ball goes into contact. Ulster center Hume foolishly pushes the French winger, he is penalised.
While trying to clear the ball from the ruck, Antoine Dupont fumbled and was intercepted by Stewart who pushed with his leg. Once again contact by Mauwaka ensured victory.
A convincing first performance for Toulouse who lead 10-22 against Ulster. Three tries and a complete victory allowed Ugo Mola’s men to take the lead at the break.
Penalties are played with the hands and the Irish carry the ball. Hooker Stewart manages to escape to reward this collective effort. He is converted, 10-22.
Huge sequence to end this first period. His playing time is greater near the line without crossing the Irish line. Penalty in their favor.
3-22 in favor of the reigning French champions.
Steady Tolosain unfolds and comes out. On the in-goal return, Jellonch meets and goes straight forward, supporting Mauwaka, who plays a perfect two-on-one with Antoine Dupont. The captain scores his team’s third try under the posts.
After exchanging kicks around the halfway line, the Irish found themselves under pressure and were countered close to their line.
Ensuring a new touch, the maul is put in place and the pito ends behind the Mauwaka line. An almost perfect first half so far for Toulouse. Ramos’ conversion made it 3-15 to the left of the Poles.
A default in this area against Lyon last weekend, Toulouse could rely on an excellent touch from the start of the match. At the back, Dupont plays through the middle and Mauwaka pierces the defence. New penalty against Ulster, hit at 5m for Toulouse.
Before 20 minutes, completely to Toulouse’s advantage, the Irish got their hands on the ball but faced Toulouse’s aggression in the rucks. They are forced to get rid of the ball at their feet.
Toulouse insisted and picked up a penalty on 5m, but the Irish recovered the ball in the heart of the mall and cleared. Not sure of welcome, Ulster introduction scrum on his 40m.
In this rhythmic start to the match, the Toulouse team made the difference and managed to bypass the Ulster defence, which was penalized once again. Toulouse players are back in the opposition 22m.
The Irish can’t get out of their camp and make a mistake. Ramos adds 3 more points, 10-3.
This first quarter of an hour has rhythm. Back in the Irish camp, the red and black find themselves defending Ulster. Ramos once again uses his kicking game, but his graze ends in touch 5m out before Delibes catches him.
At the dismissal, the Statists struggled to free themselves and were eventually fouled for offside. Cooney 22m, reduces the score to 3-7.
Decent start for Toulouse, 0-7.
After a perfectly assured touch on the Irish 22m line, the game goes wide. Ahky finds Ramos behind him who delivers a superb foot pass straight into the hands of his winger Mathis Lebel.
Contacts are rough at the beginning of the match. The Ulster players are very aggressive in defense and trouble Toulouse. Third row Dave Evers was knocked down in a tackle on Meafou and his partners had to leave.
Statists got their hands on the ball and found progress in an axis around Antoine Dupont. The shift is not done on the wing and Malia is brought into touch. First positive order.
After a decisive victory in touch, the Irish extended playing time on the 40m line. The first test of strength was won by Rouge et Noir, who reclaimed the scrum.
Englishman Matthew Carly is on the whistle this evening.
Renamed the Kingspan Stadium, the Ulster venue has been the graveyard of French disappointments on several occasions in the European Cup. If the pressure of victory is less strong for the Toulouse residents this evening, victory will bring them unexpectedly close to qualification.
Defeated on day one in Bath (37-14), the Ulstermen responded well against Racing (31-15). They are more than ever in the race for qualification and appear in 3rd place in the group ahead of the match, tied with Quins and five points behind Toulouse and Bath. Defeat is forbidden in the house to keep one’s destiny in hand.
However, he doesn’t give up on the competition. Captain Antoine Dupont seems to have chosen the side to start the meeting which will start at 9pm.
Victorious against Cardiff (52-7) and Harlequins (19-47) with an attacking bonus, Toulouse can almost ensure their qualification for the Round of 16 this evening. They will be able to count on all the executives, who have returned to excellent form since the start of this Champions Cup. Be careful not to overuse everything, warned Francois Cross this week, interview via this link.
The Red and Black sit on two successes on the Ulster pitch, 29-22 in 2020 and 30-23 in 2022. But for the first time, the match will be played on the Kingspun Stadium’s brand new synthetic pitch, which promises this. A beautiful show.
On 16 April 2022, the Toulouse scrum-half captained his side to victory at the same Belfast Stadium and at the same time qualified his club for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. Story about this evening and this essay via this link.
Welcome to this live to follow live commentary of the Investec Champions Cup third match against Ulster Irish at Stade Toulouse. 9pm kick-off at Kingspun Stadium.
This is a new record that scientists from the Korea Fusion Energy Institute (KFE) have…
Damages associated with drought, floods, hail and other increasingly violent events are expected to increase…
An estimated 9 million people in the United States are still waiting for their final…
The death of seven humanitarian workers from the American NGO World Central Kitchen in an…
Today, at one o'clock in the morning, Gamer updates it Boutique de Fortnite Through the…
The Basic Instinct and Casino actress looks back at a time in Hollywood when adapting…