2023-12-15 22:21:22
After the setback conceded in the last action once morest Exeter Chiefs last weekend, Toulon lost on the pitch of Northampton Saints (22-19) on a try scored in the last moments of the match.
If Toulon laughs in the Top 14, that is not the case in the Champions Cup. Remaining on a defeat full of frustration once morest Exeter Chiefs on their lawn at the Stade Mayol, the Var club hoped to redress the situation during a trip to Northampton Saints. However, things did not please the RCT this Friday in the cool of Franklin’s Gardens. However, it was Pierre Mignoni’s players who took the game into their own hands from the start, quickly pushing the Saints scrum into error. Enzo Hervé did not miss the opportunity to open the score early.
But this only awakened the players of the English team, who responded immediately. After a penalty played in touch, a carried ball allowed Northampton to get closer to five meters from the Var in-goal. In the end, Tom Seabrook was served on a plate to flatten the first try of the game into a corner, which Finlay Smith missed in the conversion. From then on, the two teams went back and forth until the break but it was Northampton who were able to find the fault. At the half-hour mark, on an acceleration from the Saints opener, George Furbank was launched at full speed to pierce the Toulon defensive curtain.
The winger thus went to queen, allowing his team to take the lead by seven points at the break. The second act first saw the two benches begin to open up and the two teams neutralize each other. It was as the hour mark approached that the RCT sent shivers through the stadium thanks to Melvyn Jaminet’s first try in his new colors. At the end of an action which might have gone faster to the line without a bad reading of the situation by Esteban Abadie, the former Toulousain was served by Enzo Hervé to flatten in the corner on a beautiful dive, without his opener passes the transformation.
But, as in the first period, the Saints did not remain long without reacting. George Furbank scored his double three minutes later, served perfectly by his center Tommy Freeman, who had previously outplayed Gabin Villière on a well-felt follow-up kick. At the hour mark, the Toulonnais accelerated in three stages. First there was a penalty from Enzo Hervé following a ground fault. It was then Dave Ribbans who remembered the good memories of the Northampton supporters by forcing his way to the goal following a succession of upwind phases of play.
Toulon once once more crucified at the end of the match
Melvyn Jaminet then showed opportunism with a drop from 45 meters to give the RCT a four-point lead with ten minutes still to play. However, like once morest Exeter last weekend, the end of the match turned into a nightmare for the Varois. First there was a sequence of play with two yellow cards. While Mattéo Le Corvec was penalized for a high tackle, Jérémy Sinzelle accompanied him to the edge of the field due to a forward deemed voluntary by the referee of the match. At thirteen once morest fifteen to resist the assaults of the Saints, the Toulonnais showed valor but ended up cracking two minutes from the siren.
After putting up the barbed wire, the curtain was torn, allowing Tom Lockett to easily get the better of Jean-Baptiste Gros to flatten, Finlay Smith passing the penalty to give the Saints three lengths ahead before the dismissal. But there was no final offensive for Toulon, who extended their difficulties in the Champions Cup with this second defeat in two games (22-19) despite the defensive bonus point reported from this trip to England. While Northampton consolidates its first place in Pool 3, the RCT is in last place and will have no room for error when hosting Munster at the beginning of January to hope to continue the adventure in Champions Cup.
1702679336
#Toulon #frustrated
