Top 14 – The Stade français barometer – Toulouse: Léo Barré untenable, Santiago Chocobares at fault

The tops

The back of the Stade Français stood out on mondovision. He gained confidence from the first minute of the match with a little overhand for himself, which he recovered and which put his team in the lead. It was he who scored the first try of the meeting. After good work from Lester Etien, he produced a magnificent cheekbone ruckus to drop Mathis Lebel (7^e). He continued to stand out, he was definitely very visible because it was he who also came to offer himself up, inside Brad Weber after a melee. He dropped off two players before being picked up (23rd).

And what can we say about his second try! After an action full of cunning from Rory Kockott, it was again he who came to offer himself, feigned the pass between two Toulouse players and released Thomas Ramos to flatten (72^e). But he also showed off defensively. He cut the outside very well twice as Toulouse pushed to score and was therefore unable to clear. In short, a very high level match !

59% possession for Toulouse, which means that Stade Français defended a lot. And the defense, Mathieu Hirigoyen loves it. The red helmet of Stade Français cut at all costs in this meeting, especially at the end of the first half, when Toulouse pushed to score. At the Lemons, the third line was already at 15 successful tackles, a figure which he will bring to 24 at the end of the match, against five misses. If he may have lacked power with ball in hand for a number eight, as evidenced by his charge where he was pushed back by Antony Jelonch, in defense, the Basque secateurs were once again precious for the Pink Soldiers.

The pillar has delivered disappointing performances since his return from the World Cup, notably during the defeat at Castres. But in Paris, the left-hander found energy and above all mobility. He touched a lot of balls. He, for example, made a great breakthrough (9^e). In all, he touched 17 balls! A huge number for a pillar. And he knew what to do with the ball in his hands: 35 meters covered, a crossing and four defenders beaten. A Baille of great days!

The flops

Unlike his good game against Clermont, the Argentinian center did not shine in Paris. Guilty of a strike without the ball on Jeremy Ward, Santiago Chocobares annihilated Toulouse’s first try in spite of himself. In the second period, the Puma committed a forward attack leading to a 13-0 penalty a few phases of play for Segonds. Finally, the Argentinian opened the door for the breakthrough of Jeremy Ward, at the origin of the second Parisian try.

The Toulouse scrum half has not really shined in the capital. Preferred over Antoine Dupont just before the start of the Champions Cup, the native Gersois often lacked control in the first period, like one of his last balls in the Parisian five meters.

The Parisian second line had his first ball stolen after a big sequence. He pulled Thibaud Flament’s helmet twice. The first passed but the second was reprimanded by Tual Trainini who offered a penalty to the Toulouse residents. Just before the half hour mark, Baptiste Pesenti could have sent a better pass to Jeremy Ward who flew towards the goal. True to his fighting style, Pesenti nevertheless did not deliver his best career match.