Years ago, I had this rugby computer game on the Playstation 2, and one of its best features was a 'World League' mode where you built up a side from scratch. You start with a team of nobodies – a group of made-up players of such poor quality that they lacked the basic skillset that a group of untalented 9 year olds would possess – and the team objective for those first few games was to get the ball out as quickly as possible to your Fijian winger, who had decent wheels but the handling ability of a tree stump. Eventually, you would earn enough money from wins so you could buy better players (I always started with Clyde Rathbone, who was uncannily awesome for some reason), until you finally ended up with something resembling a 'dream team'. And that's why I think I get more than just a sense of deja vous when looking through this Toulon side.
The Toulon roster reads like a who's who of rugby over the
last decade – and I've come to realise most of them were on my 'dream team'
back in 2008 when I was playing the above game.
Guys like Andrew Sheridan, Gethin Jenkins, Bakkies Botha, Chris Masoe,
Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau were all in – it's almost as if their chief
recruitment manager has based their policy on my computer gaming exploits. With a great way of life in the south of
France and a decent pay cheque on offer though, it's no wonder that so many
big-name players decide to see out the latter stages of their career with the
'Galacticos'. But, of course, it would
be unfair to label this Toulon side as being merely a retirement home for the
rich and famous – they are capable of some superb rugby and, most importantly,
hard-fought victories. Sitting on top of
the Top 14, ahead of Clermont, the French big-spenders are the league's top
passers of the ball and boast the highest number of clean breaks, with English
legend Jonny Wilkinson pulling the strings expertly from fly half.
It's difficult to point out a weakness in the Toulon ranks,
but perhaps the fact that they do contain the spine of my dream team from 2008
presents an issue in itself. This isn't
a young side – with the likes of Hayman, Botha, Masoe and Wilkinson all 33 (not
to mention 82 year old Simon Shaw, who's still knocking around) – and although
guys like the Armitage brothers and Mathieu Bastareaud aren't exactly on the
verge of retirement, potentially this is an area Leicester could exploit. Toulon are masters of grinding down their
opponents territorially and attritionally, wearing them out until the time is
right to unleash the quick and powerful men on the outside, but their pack
won't appreciate being moved across the pitch for 80 minutes.
Last weekend Leicester finally delivered an 80 minute
performance of speed, width, power and, most importantly, precision, to utterly
demolish Northampton away from home. With
Tom Croft and Manu Tuilagi on top form, the Tigers were breaking the line
almost at will and they will need to play with the same speed and intensity –
if not more so – if they are to stand any chance of coming away with a win in
Toulon. This means moving the ball
across the pitch at speed to their powerful runners in the wider channels and
forcing the opposition pack to cover the full width of the field early on to
tire them out – but they'll have to watch out on their ball security, as Ben
Youngs was left exposed on a couple of occasions due to the Leicester tactic of
only putting the minimum number of forwards into the breakdown. Ulster exposed this ruthlessly last season –
Leicester will have to be vigilant to make sure this does not happen again.
Toulon will be fielding a team of superstars once again on
Sunday – but they're a team of superstars who haven't won a major trophy since
1992. If they truly want to be known as
a dream team, they need some silverware – but Leicester will be in no mood to
stand aside for them. Game on.
Rudi Wulf returns to the Toulon starting line-up at the
expense of David Smith who featured in the side's 43-11 victory against Stade
Francais last weekend. Former France
international hooker Sebastien Bruno starts against Leicester in place of
Jean-Charles Oriolo who is left out of the match-day squad.
Starting Line up: Delon
Armitage; Rudi Wulf, Mathieu Bastareaud, Matt Giteau, Alexis Palisson; Jonny
Wilkinson, Sebastien Tillous-Borde; , Andrew Sheridan, Sebastien Bruno, Carl
Heyman; Bakkies Botha, Nick Kennedy; Juan-Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Steffon Armitage, Chris Masoe
Subs: Mickael
Ivaldi, Gethin Jenkins, Levan Chilachava, Jocelino Suta, Vincent Martin, Maxime
Mermoz, Nicolas Durand, Joe Van Niekerk.
Key Player
Steffon Armitage. The
ex-England flanker may be in the wilderness as far as international recognition
is concerned, but he is right at home in Toulon following uncountable man of
the match awards and the prestigious Top 14 gong for the best overseas
player. A barrel on legs, the former
London Irish man is lethal over the ball, difficult to tackle and possesses a
frankly physics-defying turn of speed for a man who is a wee-bit on the chunky
side. He's been at the heart of
everything that Toulon has done well over the last couple of seasons, and his
ability to get around the park and amongst the Leicester breakdown will be critical
to nullifying any threat the opposition may present.
Richard Cockerill retains the same starting XV for a third
successive week with his side winning on their last three outings.
Starting Line up:Mathew
Tait; Niall Morris, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Allen, Adam Thompstone; Toby Flood,
Ben Youngs; Marcos Ayerza, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole; Ed Slater, Geoff Parling; Tom
Croft, Julian Salvi, Jordan Crane.
Subs: Rob
Hawkins, Logovi'i Mulipola, Martin Castrogiovanni, Grahan Kitchener, Thomas
Waldrom, Sam Harrison, George Ford, Matt Smith.
Key Player
Julian Salvi. The
Aussie flanker has been a little hit-and-miss at times for Leicester this
season, but against Northampton he was back to his ball-snaffling best, with a
simultaneous one-handed steal and offload providing a particular
highlight. Arguably the best
'traditional' openside in the English Premiership, Salvi will have to step up
another level if he is to nullify the threat of Armitage and cause his own problems
on Toulon's ball. He, along with the
rest of the back row, will be tasked with taking Armitage out of the game when
Leicester are in possession, and pressurising Wilkinson into hurried
kicks.
Jonny Wilkinson v Toby Flood. The battle between the flankers may well
decide the game, but this is the one that's grabbing all the headlines – and
for good reason too. It ticks all the
boxes you would require for a cheesey sports movie: Master v Apprentice, Friend
v Friend, Captain v Captain. Wilkinson
is integral to getting Toulon into the right areas of the park, whilst Flood
stands flatter and will be looking to launch the likes of Manu Tuilagi into the
face of Matt Giteau, who isn't the world's biggest tackler. Both are critically important to their team's
chances of getting a victory, but both are culpable of making mistakes when
pressurised. Who will crack first?
If Leicester play like they did against Saints, we could be
in for an absolute cracker which may go right down to the wire – particularly
with the benches these 2 sides possess.
That said, Toulon are in great form too after smashing Toulouse,
Biarritz and Stade Francais in 3 of their last 4 games, and home advantage (at
the bear pit which is Stade Felix Mayol) may prove decisive. Leicester may spring a shock, but I think a
narrow home win is more likely. Toulon
by 6.
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