Toulon end Stormers' Champion Cup campaign in one-point affair
MATCH REPORT: The Stormers’ Champions Cup campaign came to a heartbreaking end, suffering a narrow 27-28 defeat to Toulon at the Stade Mayol on Saturday.
Despite a spirited fightback and late drama, the Cape side were edged out by the three-time Champions Cup, who outscored them four tries to three to book their place in the quarterfinals.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!!
The Top 14 side Toulon made a strong start, dominating the opening exchanges and immediately putting the Stormers under pressure. They looked set to open the scoring in the fourth minute.
However, the visitors held firm, before another attacking effort was denied when the ball was held up over the line.
The breakthrough eventually came when Scotland international Ben White finished off a superb break to cross the tryline. Marius Domon added the extras to hand the hosts a 7-0 advantage.
The Stormers responded through their powerful scrum, winning a penalty which Jurie Matthee converted successfully. Momentum soon swung their way as a slick attacking move saw Andre Smith burst through to score, giving the visitors the lead, 10-7.
Toulon, however, hit back to regain control. Wing Gaël Dréan finished off a well-worked move, with Tomás Albornoz converting to put the hosts 14-10 ahead.
Matthee reduced the deficit to a single point with a penalty, while Albornoz missed an opportunity to extend Toulon’s lead after pushing his attempt wide.
The Stormers pushed hard to finish the half strongly and looked dangerous in attack. Matthee’s cross-kick found Damien Willemse, whose quick pass found Dan du Plessis, but the centre was forced into touch before he could score.
That brought an end to a closely contested first half.
The hosts had multiple chances to extend their lead but were a little scrappy in their execution.
Instead, it was the Stormers who struck first in the second half. A Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu through kick found Warrick Gelant before the ball was recycled, and Evan Roos powered over the line.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the extra two for a 20-14 lead.
But Toulon hit back almost immediately. They built up solid momentum, and Mathis Ferté found some space and dived over. Albornoz handed Toulon the lead with the conversion.
The hosts extended their lead when Fiji winger Setareki Tuicuvu jinked his way through the South African defence to make it 28-20.
What followed was a frantic final 10 minutes. Ntuthuko Mchunu came agonisingly close to scoring, only for the referee to rule him short.
The Stormers had another chance; however, the maul was illegally brought down. The referee handed a yellow card to the hosts; however, he did not award the penalty try.
The visitors eventually got back on the board as Feinberg-Mngomezulu made a break before transferring the ball to Imad Khan, who still had work to do before dotting down. Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the conversion to narrow the deficit to one point.
The closing minutes were incredibly tense. Toulon went down to 13 men, and Smith thought he had won the match with his second try.
However, referee Christophe Ridley and his team deemed there was insufficient evidence of a grounding, and Toulon held on to win by the skin of their teeth.
Player of the Match: David Ribbans – the captain made massive tackles and his leadership was vital.
The scorers:
For Toulon:
Tries: White, Drean, Ferte, Tuicuvu
Cons: Domon, Albornoz 3
For Stormers
Tries: Smith, Roos, Khan
Cons: Matthee, Feinberg-Mgomezulu 2
Pens: Matthee 2
Yellow cards: Matthias Halagahu (Toulon, 72 – repeated infringements), Ma’a Nonu (Toulon, 79 – high tackle, head-on-head collision)
Toulon: 15 Marius Domon, 14 Gaël Drean, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Antoine Frisch, 11 Setariki Tuicuvu, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Ben White, 8 Mikheil Shioshvili, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 Junior Kpoku, 5 David Ribbans (c), 4 Corentin Mezou, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Giorgi Javakhia, 20 Matthias Halagahu, 21 Zach Mercer, 22 Mathis Ferte, 23 Ma’a Nonu
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Damian Willemse, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Wandisile Simelane
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), John Meredith (England)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)
