Sarries bloodied.....but definitely unbowed......

There was a tinge of sadness Chez Browne about this trip to the wonderful city of Toulon and the prospect of a pilgrimage to the renowned theatre of rugby that is Stade Mayol, as due to our plans to move some distance from London later in the year, this may be the last Sarries away adventure we’d be enjoying for a while.    We’d arrived on Friday and in the evening took up a kind invitation for the travelling Sarries fans to take part in a buffet, beer and wine evening in the company of Toulon’s supporter’s group, Les Fadas, at their HQ near the stadium; it turned out to be quite a party – three of us left a while after 8pm to go for dinner, returning at around 11pm to find the place still jumping. We'd missed the conga and the arrival of the police following complaints about the noise! My kind of "do"....

Nursing Force 5 hangovers, we made our way to Stade Mayol and settled down among the horde of Sarries who'd made the journey in excellently-located seats close to the pitch and on the 10-metre line, to see what our boys could do against a Toulon side captained by a familiar face, Dave Ribbans, joined in their 23 by fellow Brits Kyle Sinckler, Lewis Ludlam and Ben White.

Sarries, as has been widely reported, had taken the decision to rest our England players as part of the post-Six Nations player welfare protocols; although much was made of the England players’ absence it was perhaps worth noting that Sarries were starting with no fewer than 10 senior internationals and 6 players who’d appeared in the 2023 World Cup.

One of our most exciting young talents, the 19 year old Angus Hall who had made such a sensational debut at Welford Road, was running out for his first European encounter, while at the opposite end of the career spectrum and 17 years Angus’s senior, Alex Goode was starting at full-back

Sarries were determined not to see a repeat of the two games in Bordeaux last season – albeit that both those matches were played in difficult circumstances - against formidable opposition, and a highly energetic XV made a fast start; with only 4 minutes gone an alert Gonzalez gathered a fumbled ball deep in Toulon’s  half and made no mistake in grabbing the opening try, Burke coolly dispatching the conversion for 0-7.

Sarries’ lead didn’t last long, as 2 minutes later Jaminet set up the jet-heeled Wainiqolo to put Toulon back on terms, the classy 15 finishing the job he’d started by adding the extras for 7-7; Sarries were not to be denied in this period of the game and good work from Dan set up an already lively-looking Tompkins to restore the lead after 8 breathless minutes, Burke taking things to 7-14.

Sarries’ discipline lapsed a little as the game settled, Jaminet capitalising with two quick penalties on 13 and 15 minutes to take Toulon to within a point at 13-14, whereupon Sarries took control, rocked Toulon back on their heels,  and ran riot with a try-fest that stunned the home crowd and sent the vociferous band of Sarries supporters gathered at the front of the Tribune Bonnus into dreamland:

On 17 minutes, a lovely spell of play put Hartley over – Burke’s steady boot doing its stuff – for 13-21.

6 minutes later the ever-alert Gonzalez pounced on another error to grab an easy second try, Burke, in superb form, taking Sarries to 13-28.

On 32 minutes, the pocket rocket that is Dan (surely the product of a genetic experiment involving the DNA of Schalk Brits and Jamie George) proving a real handful for the Toulonnaise, set up Van Zyl to cross for Sarries’ fifth try in a spell of just under half an hour with Burke taking his kicking tally for the game into double figures and Sarries more than three converted tries ahead at 13-35.

There was pandemonium in the visitors’ section, and Mrs Jonny was just a mite too happy to grant my request for a sharp pinch (on the arm..).

There was always going to be a reaction from a side of Toulon’s quality, and this came following Van Zyl’s score and as the first half drew to a close……

Isa gained Toulon a foothold in the game on 36 minutes with a powerful drive over the whitewash from close range, Jaminet converting for 20-35 before scoring – and then converting – himself on 40 minutes to bring Toulon within range at 27-35.

The teams headed down to the tunnel, and we enjoyed a half-time refreshment still dazed by what had happened in the first half-hour, albeit that the “dreamland” had been tempered by Toulon’s late rally; what a display from Sarries, though, with many doubts about resting our England stars dispelled by the sheer verve of the selected XV’s performance.   

Toulon came out for Act Two clearly determined to maintain the momentum they’d built up in the closing stages of the first half and sure enough we were but 5 minutes in when Alainu'uese drove over, Jaminet's attempted conversion the first missed two-pointer of the game leaving matters at a nerve-jangling 32-35.

Toulon continued to dominate and on 56 minutes Isa took Toulon into the lead - Jaminet this time landing his kick for 39-35 - before sealing his hat-trick on the hour with another strong drive over from the base of the ruck, Jaminet taking his own score to 18 and his team’s to 46-35.

Sarries were by now tiring, certainly physically and I’m quite sure mentally, as Toulon had control of the game and play opened up for the home side, and only 3 minutes later Villiere  set up Fainga'anuku to score with the conversion pushing Toulon into what looked like an unassailable 53-35.

 A punch-drunk Sarries wouldn’t lie down quite yet, though, and on 66 minutes the Toulonnaise tide was briefly turned when from a Sarries penalty which had been bundled into touch giving us another go, Hadfield, who’d earlier replaced Dan, barrelled over for Sarries’ sixth try – a winning total in most games - with Burke converting for 53-42.

Somebody told me later that Toulon were penalised for briefly having 16 players on the pitch.

The last 10 minutes were all Toulon as Sarries once more wilted.

On 71 minutes, Jaminet went over for his second try of the game, and failing to convert leaving the score at 58-42.

4 minutes later, Serin scored and Jaminet did the honours for 65-42, and 2 minutes after that Tuicuvu notched up Toulon’s 10th try, and Jaminet his 8^th Transformation as the French would have it (I like it, actually – a bit more colourful-sounding than the very functional “conversion”).

Clearly, and before running out of steam (and, oh for Brad Barritt in games like this) Sarries had for half an hour battered one of Europe’s strongest sides, and while on paper a conceded score of 72 doesn’t read at all well, we had put six tries past Toulon, and our younger players – particularly the likes of Angus Hall and Tobias Elliott - will only gain from not only being on the same pitch as that wonderful side but, for a while at least, playing them off the park.

Like everyone else in black and red I’d been desperately disappointed about the two hammerings dished out by Bordeaux-Begles last year, but as I walked away from Stade Mayol and towards a beer at Les Fadas’ fine establishment, this felt different: I was nothing but proud of the team’s performance for most of the first half, and I sensed that we’d had a glimpse, for that half an hour anyway, into a bright future for our club and the energetic, enterprising young squad coming through.

Photo Credit - Jon Timms, with thanks

TEAM LINE-UPS

Toulon: Jaminet; Wainiqolo, Fainga'anuku, Sinzelle, Villiere; Garbisi, White; Gros, Baubigny, Sinckler, Halagahu, Ribbans (capt), Ludlam, Abadie, Isa.

Replacements: Lucchesi, Priso, Gigashvili, Alainu'uese, Le Corvec, Serin, Domon, Tuicuvu.

Saracens: Goode; Elliott, Tompkins, Hartley, Hall; Burke, Van Zyl (capt); Mawi, Dan, Riccioni, Isiekwe, Tizard, McFarland, Gonzalez, Onyeama-Christie.

Replacements: Hadfield, Carre, Clarey, Wilson, Michelow, Simpson, Johnson, Jackson-Richards.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)