In this historic victory for Toulon in the Challenge Cup final against Glasgow (43-19), Baptiste Serin was the great architect of the first period. With gestures of talent, he transformed the 40 minutes of the start into a big step for the final title. Just enough time to be the best player of the evening.
Let’s be clear: this meeting quickly took the turn of a one-sided final, an unbalanced war and no one will say the opposite. But let’s talk in detail about the reasons for this certain outcome that we saw coming from the half-hour mark. 26th minute, 21-0 in favor of Toulon. Among them, 16 were inscribed by a Baptiste Serin on fire.
Last night, in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, he showed that he had the makings of a player capable of changing finals and matches that matter. To leave its mark on an evening of victory in the Challenge Cup which will be remembered for a long time in the Var, not necessarily by its content but above all by the fact that it is the first of the name. So yes, he didn’t take part in the whole game, as he came off touched before half-time, but is it really essential when he did all the hard work before? In 40 minutes, the original Landais allowed Toulon to bend their meeting with three shots and put the first hand on the cup. A gesture full of mischief, a caviar to take the break and one of his specials, thank you, good evening.
“Leave it, I’ll take care of it”
Whoever aspires to become a little more of a leader quickly did what it took to put his people on the right track in a final that Toulon could not afford to lose. Pressure on the shoulders and ball under the arm, from the 5th minute of play, he applies his audacity. With a skimming game (left foot), he surprises the Scottish defense behind his back. A free space is found, he seizes the precious and resists the return of the opposing rear Oliver Smith. This is how Toulon gains confidence as soon as they enter the match. A quarter of an hour later, it is still him who, in the role of transmitter, sends a laser pass into space to Parisse, who wins his duel to score.
Then, as if he wasn’t satisfied, he triples the bet (and doubles his own). On a nice run from Waisea who is stopped just before the line, he executes, as he likes to do, his postman feint to flatten again. Simple, effective, formidable. Toulon sets sail and sails serenely. And icing on the cake, he took care of transforming all the tests while Dan Biggar was out on concussion and West should not have felt the goal. If Kolbe, elected man of the match by the EPCR, or Wainiqolo, Ollivon and Waisea also shone individually, Serin took the scenario of this match firmly to make it a historic success.