It’s one of rugby’s little
oddities that the word ‘bully’, in an egg-shaped context, doesn’t have entirely
negative connotations. A word that is so
often related to misery and despair outside of a game actually, in rugby terms,
draws up memories of smugly knocking your opposite number flying with a big
carry for the 4th time in a single game, or perhaps joyfully
swinging the irritating opposition scrum half around by his collar before
releasing him – hammer-throw style – into touch. Yes, one of the aims of rugby is to
physically dominate – to bully – your opposition. And it’s all legal, and roundly
encouraged. And on Sunday, we got to see
two of the best exponents of the art of bullying go head to head.
Toulouse, despite being French,
aren’t actually known for their out-and-out Gallic flair. Sure, chaps like Hosea Gear, Clermont
Poitrenaud and Yoann Huget are all partial to a dance every now and again, but
overall, the French powerhouse is a pragmatic side. With a gargantuan pack. Blokes like Gillian Galan, Louis Picamoles
and Census Johnston all weigh roughly the same amount as a small elephant, and
it shows as they hammer teams into submission, time and time again. Their opposition, on Sunday, were no
strangers to that either. They may not
have the fastest or naturally creative set of backs, but Sarries have brains
and power in abundance – a dangerous combination. The Londoners have been burying sides all
season on the domestic front, dismantling other sides’ packs and releasing the
ball to the backs only when the opportunity presents itself. It’s great to watch, but it must be a bloody
nightmare to play against. In fact, the
only time this season that Saracens haven’t been able to have their way with
the opposition was when Toulouse presented themselves in the first leg of the
pool at Wembley, where they ground the hosts’ pack down gradually over 80
minutes. It was this background which
had everyone labelling this as the clash of the weekend – a clash of the
titans.
The home crowd didn’t have to
wait long for the first earth shattering collision – 10 seconds to be
precise. Straight from the kick off, two
of the – shall we say – less dainty players, Billy Vunipola and Census Johnston
met, with the Samoan prop slamming down the England number 8 and forcing a
penalty after the Saracens man had shrugged off the attentions of two would-be
tacklers. Jean-Marc Doussain, scrum-half
by trade, knocked over an easy 3 points and the hosts had the perfect start.
Saracens, though, are not the cream
of the crop in England without good reason.
After good pressure from the restart, the Sarries pack got to work off a
lineout, driving the Toulouse pack infield and making Hosea Gear inexplicably
leave his wing. It was easy pickings for
Chris Ashton as the English winger spotted the opening, and sauntered in off
Neil De Kock’s pass to touchdown for the game’s opening and, as it would prove,
only try. Owen Farrell was surprisingly
off target with the conversion, but Sarries had put down a marker early on.
Doussain added another penalty
from bang in front on 14 minutes, but the French heavyweights were beginning to
look ominous. Despite a couple of
promising breaks from Alex Goode and Dave Strettle on kick returns, the Londoners
were struggling to create any quick ball in attack, with the likes of Thierry
Dusautoir and Yannick Nyanga in particular causing problems at the
breakdown. Toulouse, on the other hand, were
having no such problems, as Maxime Medard and Yoann Huget combined beautifully
to cut Saracens apart on the right handside, before Chris Ashton offered the
same resistance as a damp flannel on the left to allow Hosea Gear to gallop to
within 10 metres of the visitors’ tryline.
On both occasions though, Sarries’ scramble defence was exceptional,
leaving the hosts with just a couple penalties, sandwiching an effort from Owen
Farrell (after Census Johnston was pinged at a scrum), to show for the efforts. The score was only 12 – 8 at half time, but
you got the sense that all the momentum, and all the power, was with the home
side.
Any hopes of a respite for the English
side were swiftly kicked in the can though, as Toulouse re-emerged from the
changing rooms with renewed intent in the second half. Louis Picamoles and Chiliboy Ralapelle in particular
were making yardage against Saracens, and the Londoners were starved of
possession for the entire 3rd quarter. However, their defence remained as stingy as
ever, and there was an odd sense of growing frustration amongst the crowd,
despite the growing lead, as Doussain could only add another 3 points on the 50
minute mark even though his side had been dominant in possession and
territory. That sense of frustration
deepened as the fly half was off target with a drop goal attempt and a penalty
over the next 10 minutes, but the visitors were beginning to get desperate
themselves, as they made extensive changes to try and change the side. Significantly, James Johnston, brought in to
add significant bulk against the giant Toulouse unit, was hauled off for Matt
Stevens after a relatively ineffectual display.
Saracens’ task got even harder on
the hour mark, as Doussain added another 3 points and Mako Vunipola was shown
yellow for a breakdown offence – the end result of several penalties conceded
by the visitors under pressure. But this
Sarries side has serious backbone, and off the most meagre scraps of possession
they managed to force another opportunity for Farrell, who added 3 points to
bring his side within 7 points and into bonus point territory. The only problem, though, was that the
composure and skillset was not matching the spirit and bravery the visitors
were showing. Under intense pressure
from an aggressive Toulouse defence who refused to yield easy yardage, Saracens
ran out of ideas and players like Farrell, who had kicked intelligently and
with precision early on, began making poor errors of judgements and
mistakes.
Veteran Charlie Hodgson was
brought on to try and inject some inspiration, but he had no chance to do so,
even though he saw a drop goal attempt miss its mark. Instead, it was Doussain who administered the
killer blow, nudging over his 7th successful penalty to leave the
final score at 21 – 11, and deny the Londoners the losing bonus point.
Toulouse looked ominously impressive. After several years of slumber, wouldn’t it
be fitting in potentially the Heineken Cup’s final year if the French giants
roused themselves to reclaim the title so often held in their hands. With brutal displays like this, it is not
hard to imagine. Saracens, meanwhile,
can still qualify, and should still qualify, as a best runner up, but perhaps
they will be concerned that the big reveal has gone out to the rest of Europe,
and indeed England, on how they can be turned over. It turns out that the bully can be bullied
after all.
What else was happening in the
Heineken Cup over the weekend?
Pool 1: Leinster came from
14 points down to defeat French champions Castres 29 – 22 in France, whilst
Northampton claimed a hard-fought 29 – 17 over the Ospreys in Swansea. Neither side picked up a bonus point.
Pool 2: Exeter continued
their worrying slump in form as Glasgow turned them over 15 – 10 on the south
coast, and Toulon made short work of Cardiff Blues, running out 43 – 20 winners,
thanks in the main to 3 penalty tries.
Pool 3: In the other Pool 3
fixture Connacht ran out 20 – 3 winners against Zebre to keep their faint hopes
of a Heineken Cup spot alive.
Pool 4: A late try and
penalty from Clermont condemned Harlequins to a 13 – 16 defeat at the Stoop,
whilst Racing Metro’s woes continued as they were turned over 13 – 19 at home.
Pool 5: Ulster defeated
Montpellier but failed to pick up a try bonus point on Friday night at
Ravenhill, but the Leicester Tigers had no such trouble in Italy against
Treviso. It sets up a mouthwatering
winner takes all clash at Welford Road next Saturday.
Pool 6: Edinburgh ran out 27
– 16 winners at home against Perpignan whilst Gloucester went down 20 – 7 at
Kingsholm to Munster, despite a much more spirited display.
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