Toulouse win Top 14 Final
Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:26
Toulouse are the Champions. Toulouse beat Clermont Auvergne 26-20 in the Final of France's Top 14 at Stade de France on Saturday night. It was a win they deserved.
The gap was, in the end, only six points. It may have been six thousand. A final is like that - the gap between winning and losing is huge - the gap between heaven and hell, and that was the gap between gleeful Toulouse and tearful; Clermont Auvergne at the Final whistle. The one team plodded its way up to receive its second prize from the dignitaries; the other team danced its way up to receive the Bouclier de Brennus and start slapping it about as they will for some time to come. The Plank is going back down to Toulouse for the 17th time.
Toulouse have win the Championship 17 times. Clermont are still to win. They have lost the Final nine times. It's tough.
Clermont were on top for much of the game and then their composure slipped while Toulouse, hardened to finals, kept their composure and took their chances. The best of Toulouse came at the end. The time was up but they attacked, help by two penalties till they scored a try.
It was the fourth try of the night, but not the best. The best try by far was the third, the one that broke the Auvergnats' spirits.
The Clermont captain Aurélien Rougerie's emotions expressed the beginning and the end so well. When he walked out onto the field at the head of his time he seemed relaxed and confident, an Apollo of a man. After the whistle he wept bitter tears and was hugged and consoled by his father. The one side were hugging in delight, the other in desolation.
Before the match the teams lined up to shake hands with the Minister of Sport, Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, the Junior Minister of Sport, Bernard Laporte who coached many of the players when he coached France, Bernard Lapasset, the chairman of the French Rugby Federation and of the IRB, and Serge Blanco, the president of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby who run professional rugby in France. The same line-up would be there at the end of the match but this time the players would have to go up to meet them.
The match was played at great speed and with huge intensity. To their credit there was none of the Heineken Cup Final's go slow not even towards the end when Toulouse were ahead. It was a lively game of rugby.
That there were fewish tries was more a tribute to the intensity of the defence than to the inadequacies of the attack. Clermont Auvergne were the top try-scorers in the Top 14 but Toulouse always seemed to have determined defenders in numbers.
Clermont Auvergne scored first when Patricio Albacete was penalised at a tackle/ruck and unerring Brock James goaled. 3-0 after `13 minutes.
Byron Kelleher had a great game. He was always putting pressure on the Clermont Auvergne defence. His second big break took him to the Clermont Auvergne line and the Toulouse bashed away till William Servat took a short pass from Kelleher and burst through Davit Zirakashvili and Aurélien Rougerie to score near the posts. Elissalde converted. 7-3 after 18 minutes.
A minute later Clermont Auvergne were back in the lead. James chipped towards the Toulouse posts. The ball bounced. Maxime Medard got there first but lost it as Rougerie and Marius Joubert homed in. Daan Human got it but lost it as Jamie Cudmore thumped into him. The ball was loose on the ground in in-goal and Rougerie got his hand on it first, as the TMO conformed when the referee went to the side and put on a special headset.
Maleli Kunavore threatened when he countered of f a Clermont Auvergne knock-on but Mario Ledesma saved. Cédric Heymans and Yannick Jauzion counterattacked and Toulouse went through several phases before Elissalde ended the attack with a wayward droop attempt. But when Thibault Private was penalised at a tackle, Elissalde goaled to make the half-time score 10-10.
Just before half-time Clermont Auvergne missed a golden chance. James kicked a perfect diagonal for Napolioni Nalaga who caught the ball and beat Yves Donguy. As Kunavore threatened Nalaga passed but Benoît Baby knocked on the straightforward pass.
Early in the second half Gonzalo Canale had a great break but James threw a weird pass to his right which ended in Toulouse hands. Then it was Toulouse's turn to miss out. They went through many patient phases till they had a three-on-one situation on their left and a try looked a certainty till Human was smothered in a tackle.
Elissalde, who had been hurt and was clearly soldiering on in pain, kicked an up-and-under which Baby dropped but Nalaga saved the situation.
Then replacement prop Thomas Domingo was penalised for collapsing a maul and Elissalde goaled. 13-10 after 55 minutes.
Clermont Auvergne attacked on their right, a strong attack but Toulouse had a scrum about 10 metres from their line on their left and suddenly they burst out with bushy Finau Maka charging strongly. There was a lot of close parking with Albacete on a charge as Toulouse moved downfield. Then they sprang right. Donguy beat three as he cut inside and gave to Medard who also cut inside past two defenders for a try at the posts. It was a great try in any match. In a Final it was a miracle. 20-10 after 60 minutes.
Florian Fritz missed a drop but James goaled a penalty when Omar Hasan was guilty of dislodging a player in the air at a line-out. 20-13 after 69 minutes.
When Marius Joubert was judged to be off-side, Kunavore goaled. 23-13 after 75 minutes.
Clermont Auvergne had a penalty but James went for distance and kicked the ball dead. John Smit was penalised for coming in at the side of a tackle which seemed well over and replacement Vincent Courrent goaled. 26-13 after 79 minutes.
Then came Clermont Auvergne's final fling and many phases which ended
when prop Zirakashvili scored in the right corner which inspired Omar Hasan to attack him for some bizarre reason. Hasan's last act on a rugby field may well not be one worth remembering him for. From touch converted from touch and glee and joy burst forth on one side, tears and gloom on the other.
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Man of the Match: There were many great efforts but none as effective as that of our Man of the Match, Byron Kelleher for his running with the ball, hoist defensive work and the speed and accuracy of his passing. It had been expected that there would be a great battle between him and Pierre Mignoni. Kelleher won hands down.
Moment of the Match: Maxime Medard's try. It was the decisive moment of the match.
Villain: Nobody but what on earth was Omar Hasan up to?
Scorers:
For Toulouse:
Tries: Servat, Medard
Cons: Elissalde
2
Pens: Elissalde 2, Kunavore, Courrent
For Clermont Auvergne:
Tries: Rougerie, Zirakashvili
Cons: James 2
Pens: James 2
Teams:
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yves Donguy, 13 Maleli Kunavore, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Shaun Sowerby, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Jean Bouilhou (captain), 5 Fabien Pelous, 4 Patricio Albacete, 3 Daan Human, 2 William Servat, 1 Omar Hasan.
Replacements: 16 Alberto Vernet-Basualdo, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Romain Millo-Chluski, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Vincent Courrent, 21 Florian Fritz, 22 Finau Maka
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Benoît Baby, 14 Aurélien Rougerie (captain), 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Marius Joubert, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8
Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Alexandre Audebert, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Thibault Privat, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Loic Jacquet, 19 Christophe Samson, 20 Sam Broomhall, 21 Seremaia Baï, 22 Anthony Floch
Referee: Eric Darrière
Touch judges: Christophe Berdos, Pascal Gauzere
Television match official: Daniel Gillet
