Fourteen-man Toulon pummel Benetton to reach Challenge Cup Final
CHALLENGE CUP REPORT: Toulon will face Glasgow Warriors in the Challenge Cup Final after they beat Benetton 23-0 in their semifinal on Sunday at at the Stade Félix Mayol.
The home side never seemed troubled in the match despite being down to 14 men since the sixth minute when captain Charles Ollivon received a red card for a high tackle.
Duncan Paia’aua and Beka Gigashvili scored Toulon’s tries with flyhalf dan Biggar contributing 13 points with the boot.
Benetton, who became the first Italian side to play an EPCR semifinal, saw their historic campaign come to an end as they failed to capitalise on their extra man.
Toulon immediately stamped their authority on the contest and scored the game’s opening on try on four minutes as No.8 Sergio Parisse produced a brilliant grubber kick in behind the Benetton defence to allow centre Paia’aua to dot down, flyhalf Biggar converting.
But the hosts would suffer a huge setback moments after the restart as flank Ollivon was sent off for a high tackle on Benetton fullback Matteo Minozzi.
Toulon remained composed and in charge of proceedings, though, with Biggar extending their lead with a penalty before prop Gigashvili powered over from close range on 17 minutes.
Biggar’s conversion put the TOP 14 outfit 17 points up and they would take that lead into half-time as Benetton failed to capitalise on lengthy spells of possession and pressure.
The visitors endured a nightmare start to the second half as hooker Siua Maile was sin-binned for taking Paia’aua out off the ball and Biggar added two quick-fire penalties.
The game fizzled out over the closing stages as Toulon managed the game smartly and Benetton attacks repeatedly broke down amid handling errors.
The EPCR Challenge Cup final takes place in Dublin on May 19
The scorers:
For Toulon:
Tries: Paia’aua, Gigashvili
Cons: Biggar 2
Pens: Biggar 3
For Benetton: None
Red card: Charles Ollivon (Toulon, 6′ – foul play, high tackle)
Yellow card: Siua Maile (Benetton, 42′ – cynical play, taking out a player without the ball)
Teams:
Toulon: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo, 13 Waisea Vuidravuwalu, 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Charles Ollivon (captain), 6 Cornell du Preez, 5 Brian Alainu’uese, 4 Mathieu Tanguy, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Dany Priso.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Bruce Devaux, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Adrien Warion, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Jérémy Sinzelle.
Benetton: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Seb Negri Da Oleggio, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Thomas Augustin Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Henry Stowers, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacob Umaga.
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
Additional source: @ChallengeCup_
