Why Stade Toulousain gets white hair before going to Munster



Stade Toulousain hooker Julien Marchand at Thomond Park, during the defeat on the Munster lawn in the quarter-final of the European Cup, on April 1, 2017. – Paul Faith / AFP

  • Stade Toulousain will travel this Saturday to the Irish from Munster, in the round of 16 of the Champions Cup.
  • His two previous European trips to Limerick had ended in heavy defeats.
  • Between doubtful form, numerous injuries and uncertain form of its internationals, Ugo Mola’s team does not approach this meeting in a position of strength.

Ugo Mola assures him: “There are few places where I have experienced such emotions. The sports boss of Stade Toulousain is not talking about Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris, but about Thomond Park, the Munster arena, in Limerick. Apart from the pandemic, this Irish-style “Bombonera” is home to some 26,000 incandescent supporters of the “Red Army”. None of this necessarily this Saturday, during the knockout stages of the Champions Cup.

This abbey atmosphere will not prevent the locals from leaving favorites, facing a leader of the Top 14 very short of the hind legs (packages of Huget, Guitoune, Ramos, Tauzin, Mallia, Bonneval and Fouyssac) and who comes out of a performance cataclysmic against Montpellier, last Saturday at Ernest-Wallon (16-29). “The Munster played a final [du Pro 14, perdue face au Leinster, 16-6] while we played a poor doubloon match, ”says Mola.

Precisely, the Reds and Blacks recover their Blues after the covid marathon of the VI Nations Tournament, some a priori fresher (Ntamack, Aldegheri) than others, very much in demand (Marchand, Ntamack, Dupont). No luxury before a poster which had seen Toulouse largely beaten in 2014 (47-23) then in 2017 (41-16), each time in the quarter-finals of the European Cup.

Masters of the soil

“We all have memories of matches against Munster not necessarily happy for Toulouse,” euphemist Antoine Dupont, who was 11 when the gang at Fabien Pelous had been smothered in the final, in Cardiff in 2008 (13-16). “We have the impression that they are not doing anything exceptional, but they are doing everything well,” remarked the stadian scrum-half nicely. A valid observation in the game on the ground, where the terrible CJ Stander and Tadhg Beirne impose their law, while Toulouse suffered in this sector against the MHR.

But the Munster cannot be reduced to fighting in the rucks, as Julien Marchand adds. “In front and behind, it’s a great team, underlines the hooker and captain stadiste. They manage to get out of their camp cleanly. They also have a very big conquest, in touch and especially in melee. “And at the back lines, it’s not bad either, with for example the unalterable winger Keith Earls (33 years old, 93 caps), author of a memorable test against England with Ireland during the last VI Nations Tournament.

In short: it is not won for Toulouse which, in the event of an exploit, would follow suit from the following weekend with a quarter-final at the winner of Wasps-Clermont. The road to a fifth European title, expected since 2010, is strewn with pitfalls.



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