Rose Revisited - Toulouse Preview

By BrianC
October 25 2006

When the draw for this seasons Heineken Cup (HC) was made last summer the announcement that we had drawn Toulouse in the same pool as ourselves was greeted with a mixture of anticipation and joy.

The anticipation stemmed from the knowledge that Toulouse are as tough opponents as you can face at this stage in this stage of the competition and that we will have to be at our very best to get past the pool stages. The joy was expressed by those of us who know just what a wonderful rugby venue Toulouse is. Our one previous foray into the top tier of European rugby was in 2002/3. That time we also drew Toulouse. Those of us who were there will recall that as one of our best ever tours.

To give those traveling there for the first time a flavour of what to expect it is worth looking at our reports from last time. First the match report. The game there was a tight one which we lost 28 – 23. Our Craic Report will give some idea of the tour experience. Incidentally it was this trip and the sight of the Toulouse supporters that inspired the LI drums. Indeed a few of us enjoyed this experience so much that we returned later in the season, as Toulouse supporters, to watch their quarter final against Northampton. In order not to alert the Saints supporters in advance we codenamed this trip Operation Rose.

No games in the HC are easy, both our teams discovered this last weekend. If we thought things were bad for ourselves last week when we went down at home to the Scarlets they were as nothing compared to the 30 – 3 thumping that Toulouse took against Ulster in Belfast last Saturday. That was their heaviest ever defeat in eighty games of European competition.

By their incredibly high standards Toulouse are not having a good season. They currently sit third in the French league with quite a gap opening up between them and the leaders, Stade Francaise. Their injury woes are certainly not helping their cause. Amongst those out of the picture are Jeff Dubois and Fred Michalak. To add to their problems three of their players, including Trevor Brennan have been cited after their game against Ulster. My guess is that they will still be available to play against us but it will do nothing for morale in their camp.

Whilst there are still plenty of games to be played both teams now have an uphill struggle to qualify from the group. Harsh though it may sound, the fact now is that whoever loses this game is de facto out of the competition. If the team that we saw for the last quarter against the Scarlets turns up we stand a chance of winning this. If we put in another error strewn performance such as those we have seen all too often this season we may well find ourselves on the end of a veritable Toulousain backlash.

Win or lose I know from experience that those of us who are making the trip will enjoy it. It would be a lot sweeter if we came back with the points.