Toulouse has a score to settle for France

OPINION: The events of the past 18 months will provide Toulouse as well as the Sharks with added motivation ahead of their Champions Cup meeting in Durban on Saturday.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for the South African teams ahead of the third round of the Champions Cup.

The Bulls and Stormers have yet to win a match, and another defeat could dash their respective play-off prospects.

Jake White’s charges will travel to Castres this week, while John Dobson’s side will host Sale Sharks in Cape Town.

While it’s not quite do-or-die for John Plumtree’s team, a loss to Toulouse this Saturday will compromise their chances of qualifying for the play-offs and, at best, result in them travelling overseas for the knockouts.

There’s something else at stake, of course, for Toulouse as well as the Sharks.

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The European champions will play their first match in the Republic this Saturday.

While they’ve faced South African teams before – thrashing the Sharks 54-20 in the 2023 Champions Cup quarterfinal staged in Toulouse – they’ve enjoyed the benefit of home advantage on each occasion.

Last season, Toulouse wasn’t drawn against any of the South African qualifiers in the pool stage of the tournament and played European opposition on their way to the Final.

While they certainly made a point when they beat Leinster in Dublin in the Final, it remains to be seen whether they can beat a top South African side in local conditions.

To be fair, they’ve never had an opportunity to do so. Until now.

So, how badly do Toulouse – and by extension French rugby – want this particular win?

Last week, Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou, Francois Cros, and Romain Ntamack were rested for the Top 14 fixture against La Rochelle.

It remains to be seen if all of these Test players will be unleashed on the Sharks at Kings Park, but if they are, they will be fresh for what should be an almighty physical fight.

After all that’s transpired over the past 18 months, a battle between the top players from France and South Africa is long overdue.

France felt that they were hard done by in a narrow loss to the Boks in the 2023 World Cup quarterfinal staged in Paris.

Dupont denounced the quality of the officiating in the aftermath, which only fanned the flames of entitlement within the French rugby community.

Many still believe that France was robbed – of a win in that quarterfinal, and of the World Cup title itself.

The 2024 calendar year provided some perspective, though.

The Boks followed up their 2023 World Cup title success with 11 wins in 13 matches – a run that included a rare Rugby Championship success.

France was well beaten by Ireland in Paris in the first round of the Six Nations, but looked like a different team in November, following the return of their talisman, Dupont.

Debates have raged for the better part of a year regarding the world’s leading player, and whether Dupont is worthy of the accolade.

That Dupont is a worthy candidate is not up for debate.

The scrumhalf has been at the heart of France’s resurgence at Test level over the past five years and propelled Toulouse to the Champions Cup title last season.

He proved the difference for the national sevens side at the 2024 Olympic Games, particularly in the decider, which France went on to win.

Many critics have pointed out that Dupont is yet to win a major Test or series outside of Europe.

Opportunities have been few and far between, though, with France refusing to send their best players to the southern hemisphere during the July Test window – which follows the lengthy French Top 14 season.

And until now, Dupont’s Toulouse haven’t played in South African during the Champions Cup.

Fast forward to the present, where Dupont and some of France’s best players have travelled to South Africa ahead of the showdown with the Sharks.

It’s interesting to note that Toulouse have won their first two Champions Cup matches and can, in theory, afford to lose to the Sharks in Durban this Saturday.

Toulouse could have sent a second-string side south, and saved Dupont and co for the fourth and final pool phase fixture against Leicester. The Tigers are ranked fourth in the English Premiership at the moment, and will be no pushovers, even though the game in question will be staged in Toulouse.

Nevertheless, Toulouse are bringing their best to Durban, perhaps to prove they are up for the challenge of facing a Bok-laden team in South African conditions.

A win would boost Toulouse’s hopes of hosting a play-off, but it could also mark an important first for the players who have not travelled to South Africa – or won here – before. Dupont was last here with the French national side in 2017, but is yet to win a big game in the Republic.

Few French teams have travelled to South Africa with the intent and expectation of winning in recent years. This Toulouse side, however, won’t want for belief and motivation. They may also have noted how Toulon beat the Stormers in Port Elizabeth in December.

So, how will the Sharks combat a highly motivated French side packed with international stars?

It may seem an impossible task, given the quality of the Toulouse individuals and all that the team has achieved in recent seasons. On form, they are the best club side on the planet.

But South African teams are at their best when they are written off, and when they are in a do-or-die situation.

This Sharks team will start the game as underdogs – regardless of home-ground advantage. They will be desperate to secure a win and keep their play-off hopes alive.

The Sharks aren’t short on individual quality and boast a large contingent of players who prevailed over France in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final.

How they perform collectively, in terms of matching the Toulouse pack’s physicality and nullifying Dupont, will shape the flow of the contest and the outcome of the game.

@rugby365com