1
Toulouse issue warning statement to chasers Clermont
By Russell Greaves
Toulouse extended their lead over Clermont at the Top 14 summit as both enjoyed home wins on Sunday.
With Clermont overcoming Flip van der Merwe's dismissal to defeat Pau 27-14 in the day's opening game, Toulouse responded in style with a 53-21 bonus-point victory over Lyon.
The gap between leaders Toulouse and their nearest rivals is now seven points.
Sofiane Guitoune was the star of the show for Toulouse at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, grabbing a hat-trick in a first half during which a remarkable 60 points were scored.
Indeed, for the opening 20 minutes of that first period, fifth-placed Lyon looked set to pose a significant challenge to their hosts.
Converted tries from Xavier Mignot and Noa Nakaitaci had them in front, but it was all downhill from there for the visitors.
Guitoune completed his treble, with Sebastien Bezy, Pita Ahki and Lucas Tauzin also getting in on the act, before a much tamer second half saw Jonathan Wisniewski and Louis-Benoit Madaule exchange tries.
Clermont's win was less dominant, but still impressive in light of Van der Merwe's first-half red card for a dangerous tackle on Lucas Rey.
Fritz Lee and Remy Grosso both touched down, while Morgan Parra contributed three penalties and a conversion.
Eddie Jones post-match press conference:
Trending on RugbyPass
2
David Campese names his Springbok world player of the year winner
3
Let's be real about these All Blacks
4
Why World Cup winner doesn’t blame All Black for leaving New Zealand
5
Latest Comments
I thought you meant in europe. Because all of the reasons theyre different I wouldn't correlate that to mean for europe, as in french broadcasters pay two or three times as much as the UK or SA broadcasters do, like they do for their league.
With France, it's not just about viewers, they are also paying much more. So no doubt there will be a hit (to the amount the French teams receive for only playing a fraction of it) but they may not care too much as long as the big clubs, the top 8 for example, enter the meaty end, and it wouldn't have the same value to them as the top14 contract/compensation does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 separate networks broadcast deals only went to the clubs in their regions as well (that's how SR ended up (unbalanced) I believe).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
Go to comments