Toulon bounce back... away
Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:44
Happy man: Jonny Wilkinson jokes with his Toulon teammates
Toulon, beaten at home last weekend, went to Biarritz and won 13-3 this weekend in an execrable Top 14 match on a balmy Friday night.
It's not worth watching. Last weekend it was Perpignan against Clermont in a dour, one-try match. This week it was this match in Biarritz.
They are regarded as top matches in the Top 14. If that is the case the Top 14 is not worth watch. Not unless you are happy to watch unskilful, dour, illtempered rugby
This match in Biarritz was characterised by all of those ills - poor handling, clumsiness, painfully slow ball from the tackle, messy set phases, errors, lack of continuity and a lot of kicking, some of purposeful but much of it pointless. The goal-kickers, Jonny Wilkinson and Dimitri Yachvili, missed more kicks than they scored.
It is hard to believe that these were tip sides playing in a top competition in a land famous for its rugby flair. It was not worth watching.
The only try of the match was the first score. Wilkinson kicked and up-and-under which Imanol Harinordoquy, under pressure, missed entirely. Toulon snatched up the ball, George Smith did a switch with Kris Chesney and the veteran lock scored under the posts. 7-0 after 26 minutes.
Just before half-time Dimitri Yachvili, who missed two kicks at goal in the half, goaled a penalty. 7-3.
In the fragmented second half the only time when anybody looked like scoring a try Paul Sackey knocked on a simple pass with an open tryline. When Dane Haylett-Petty knocked on five metres from his line Biarritz were penalised from the ensuing scrum and Wilkinson goaled. 10-3 after 57 minutes. After two failed attempts Wilkinson goaled a drop to end the scoring.
For some time now try-scoring has been a problem for Biarritz who, Yachvili apart, lack spark.
The scorers:
For Toulon:
Try: Chesney
Con: Wilkinson
Pen: Wilkinson
DG: Wilkinson
For Biarritz:
Pen: Yachvili
The teams:
Biarritz: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Yann Fior, 12 Arnaud Mignardi, 11 Philippe Bidabé, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, Magnus Lund, 5 Erik Lund, 4 Jérôme Thion (captain), 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Romain Terrain, 1 Sylvain Marconnet.
Replacements: 16 Benoît August, 17 Edoaurd Coetzee, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Benoît Guyot, 20 Yann Lescourgues, 21 Charles Gimenez, 22 Dane Haylett-Petty, 23 Alexandre Barozzi.
Toulon: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Gabriele Lovobalavu, 12 Mafileo Kefu, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Fabien Cibray, 8 George Smith, 7 Joe El Abd, 6 Jocelino Suta, 5 Dewald Senekal, 4 Kris Chesney, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sébastien
Bruno, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 Saimone Taumoepeau, 17 Benjamin Basteres, 18 Dean Schofield, 19 Olivier Missoup, 20 Matt Henjak, 21 Tom May, 22 Geoffroy Messina, 23 Davit Kubriashvili.
Referee: Patrick Péchambert
Assistant referees: David Rosich, Dominique Parrini
Television match official: Jean-Marie Piraveau
Friday results:
Apart from Toulon, Clermont won away from home.
Clermont vs Bourgoin, 25-12
Brive vs Perpignan, 26-11
Montpellier vs Racing Metro, 36-19
Bayonne vs Agen, 27-0
Stade Français vs La Rochelle, 41-26
Toulon vs Biarritz, 13-3
Saturday's fixture: Castres vs Toulouse
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising
