Toulon stun Smith's Warriors in Champions Cup knockout
MATCH REPORT: Toulon stunned Scotstoun Stadium into silence after defeating Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors by 22-19 in the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup.
The three-time Champions ended the Warriors’ unbeaten run in the competition and will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Leinster and Sale Sharks in the semifinals.
Toulon outscored Glasgow by four tries to three, with Italy centre Ignacio Brex’s try proving to be the difference in the end.
*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!
Toulon started off by doing all the playing in the opening two minutes in Glasgow’s half, but their handling and execution let them down.
The Warriors opened the scoring off a line-out move through Stafford McDowall in the 10th minute after declining multiple kicks at goal. Dan Lancaster slotted the conversion to make the score 7-0.
Toulon struck back in the 14th minute with a try by Gael Drean out wide. Melvyn Jaminet missed the conversion.
The visitors went down to 14 players in the 20th minute when Junior Kpoku was sent to the sinbin for repeated offences inside the red zone.
The Warriors made use of the extra player two minutes later and extended their lead through Ollie Smith, who was put into space by McDowall.
Toulon struck back in the 28th minute through Jean-Baptiste Gros, who went over under the posts after sustained pressure on attack. Jaminet’s conversion levelled matters.
The visitors took the lead for the first time in the match when Drean went over for the try in the 36th minute.
The article continues below…
Glasgow drew first blood in the second half when Gregor Hiddleston crashed over the line off a rolling maul in the 45th minute. Adam Hastings slotted the touchline conversion to get the Warriors in front once more.
The see-saw scoring continued when Italian international Brex made a stunning linebreak from first phase off a scrum, scoring a brilliant individual try in the 59th minute.
Glasgow had one final attacking opportunity, but Toulon managed to strip the ball in the tackle before Jaminet kicked it into the stands to eliminate the Warriors.
Scorers
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: McDowall, Smith, Hiddleston
Cons: Lancaster, Hastings
For Toulon:
Tries: Drean 2, Gros, Brex
Con: Jaminet
Yellow card: Junior Kpoku (Toulon, 20′ – Repeated team offences: Playing the man in the air)
Teams
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Ollie Smith, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 Ben Afshar, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Olujare Oguntibeju, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Patrick Schickerling
Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Angus Fraser, 22 Jack Oliver, 23 Adam Hastings
RC Toulon: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Gaël Drean, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Jérémy Sinzelle, 11 Setariki Tuicuvu, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Ben White, 8 Mikheil Shioshvili, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Junior Kpoku, 5 David Ribbans (captain), 4 Corentin Mezou, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Daniel Brennan, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Matthias Halagahu, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Esteban Abadie, 23 Mathis Ferte
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Adam Leal (England), Ben O’Connor (Ireland)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
