TOPS/FLOPS – Stade Toulousain destroyed RC Toulon (57-5) on Sunday evening at the Stadium, at the end of the 8th day of the Top 14. Find the best and worst of the match.
TOPS
Angel Capuozzo three stars
A masterclass from the Toulouse three-quarter wing who is currently brimming with confidence. The Italian international finished the match with a hat-trick (28′, 42′, 75′). The 25-year-old showed his speed on numerous occasions to leave the Var defensive line in place. A real cheetah once launched. His connection with Antoine Dupont is (more than) effective. The Haut-Garonnais demonstrates every weekend that he is becoming a central element of this team. A change of dimension this season.
Also read Top 14: Toulouse annihilates Toulon and recovers its throne
Anthony Jelonch is (well) back
After suffering two cruciate ligament ruptures, in the right and left knees, the Toulouse third row made his comeback this Sunday evening by scoring a double (52′, 60′). The one who turned away a Top 14 field on September 21 in Montpellier, after his long months of absence, had not scored a try since… November 2023 and a match in Perpignan. A rebirth.
Juan Cruz Mallia, the Argentinian (Swiss) knife
The full-back also scored twice in this match (19′, 76′). The Argentine player knows how to do absolutely everything on the pitch. He knows the excess of function. One of the strong elements of this Toulouse team, which knows how to take over when executives are missing.
The Haut-Garonne recital
What a demonstration from Ugo Mola’s men once again this evening… 57-5, a huge beating. A monumental triumph which recalls Toulouse’s historic victory a few months ago in the championship final against Union Bordeaux-Bègles (59-3). Thanks to this success, the Rouge et Noir regained the throne of the Top 14 for the benefit of the Girondins. The spectators at the Stadium will remember this evening.
FLOPS
The Varois in hell
What a humiliation. Pierre Mignoni’s men were annihilated in Toulouse. The Rade players did not exist. Even if winning in Haute-Garonne is almost (always) a feat, the Toulonnais are covered in shame this Sunday evening. A debacle which will surely leave traces in the Var ranks, from which we will have to recover and which is a task when we are the RCT…
Also read Toulouse-Toulon: relive the Haut-Garonnais recital against the Varois
The RCT travels poorly
Fourth defeat in five trips for Toulon this season. Already the authors of a poor performance at Racing, a painful winner in Paris against a very weak Stade Français and defeated by a point on the gong in Clermont, even though they had led the entire match, the Varois are still far behind from their Mayol lair this evening and in what way… Pierre Mignoni’s team will have to learn to see the country in order to be able to dream of the final stages at the end of the season.
