Preview: London Irish v Toulouse
April 25 2008
Paper tells a bare tale of this match. France's star-studded Kings come to Twickenham to face a team struggling in the wrong half of the Guinness Premiership, but it is a bedraggled royal party that Guy Noves is bringing.
There is still no regular fly-half in the party, meaning Jean-Baptiste Elissalde will play fly-half outside of Bryon Kelleher. Half-back Valentin Courrent and loose forward Thierry Dusautoir have been named on the bench, but both are unsure of making it to Twckenham. French international Dusautoir buried his father on Tuesday after sustaining a concussion last Saturday in Toulouse's home defeat to Clermont in the Top 14.
Coach Guy Novès has said that he will wait until the very last minute to make a call on Dusautoir's participation, even if it means withdrawing him the morning of the game.
Courrent has a thigh injury, and if is not fit for Saturday, Toulouse could find themsleves in the bizarre situation of having only one back-line player, Maxime Mermoz, on the bench. It is that bad in la ville rose.
Still: count the internationals. There are only two players in the starting XV yet to win a full international cap, both of them on the wing, and lest we forget, Maxime Médard is second on the list of top try-scorers in the Top 14. Is it all that bad in la ville rose? Noves is not shy of the occasional mind game, and the continued noises from his camp about fatigue, while not without foundation, could ring a little hollow when you consider the embarrassment of riches at his disposal.
They are still well on-course to complete a domestic and European double, although Clermont are now hot favourites for the French championship. Toulouse do have the easier run-in, with only an awkward trip to Perpignan likely to create a significant stumbling block.
The Exiles have been given a little extra motivation, courtesy of the Heineken cup qualification system. If they manage to win, England get seven places in next season's competition, and given their league form, they could well be that seventh team.
Their job has not been made any easier by the withdrawal of Mike Catt, and their resources are thin enough on the ground that scrum-half Peter Richards is another taking on an emergency role, this time at centre.
And somehow, looking down the teamsheet, it is hard to see how they could beat the French. Nowhere in the forwards do you see a man-for-man contest that the Exiles win. In the backs, you could concede that Yves Donguy could be eclisped by Topsy Ojo, and critically, Shane Geraghty might get the run over Elissalde by dint of positional experience. But elsewhere? Please. The Exiles punched above their weight in knocking out Perpignan, but Toulouse is another level. If you want fairy-tales, Munster are playing on Sunday.
Form: Toulouse's form is hard to gauge, given all the chopping and changing made to their team over the past few weeks. But the disappointing loss to Clermont last week aside, their only loss in the past six matches was the 29-0 defeat at Stade Français, where Noves fielded youth team players in order to keep the seniors fresh. And nobody should forget the intensity of their quarter-final victory over the Blues either. Irish have ground out two dour wins over the past fortnight, meaning their defence is tight, but the points, and more specifically, the tries, have not been flowing. The teams have met four times, with London Irish winning only once: 32-29 in 2003. Otherwise, Toulouse rules - few Irish fans will forget the 37-17 drubbing in October 2006.
Ones to watch:
For London Irish: Shane Geraghty has a lot to prove at fly-half, after bemoaning the loss of Brian Ashton earlier this week. Having made it to the fringes of the England team, a big performance against the cream of Europe would give a timely boost to his stock.
For Toulouse: The Exiles ruled the roost against Perpignan at the line-out, so Patricio Albacete's role is going to be paramount. But the hard-working and fearless Argentinian lock, who was an unsung hero at the Rugby World Cup, ought to be up to the task.
Head-to-head: Sailosi Tagicakibau v Maxime Médard. Tagicakibau is the armour-piercing element of the Irish attack, while Médard has been in supreme form in the Top 14, finally beginning to fulfil his potential. Which of these two can find the most space? There might also be an interesting goal-off between Peter Hewat and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde
Prediction: Toulouse still have too much class. Toulouse by 12 points.
London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Peter Richards, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Phil Murphy, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Bob Casey (c), 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 17 Stuart Mackie, 18 James Hudson, 19 Richard Thorpe, 20 Juan Leguizamon, 21 Nils Mordt, 22 Eoghan Hickey.
Toulouse: 15 Cedric Heymans, 14 Maxime Médard, 13 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 9 Bryon Kelleher, 8 Shaun Sowerby, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Fabien Pelous (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 2 William Servat, 1 Daan Human.
Replacements: 16 Omar Hasan, 17 Alberto Basualdo, 18 Romain Millo-Chluski, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Thierry Dusautoir, 21 Vincent Courrent / Finau Maka, 22 Maxime Mermoz.
Date: Saturday, April 26
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 15:00 (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Allan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges: George Clancy (Ireland), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian Fitzgerald (Ireland)