At the end of a match with ten tries, Toulouse signs a precious success on the lawn of Racing 92 (35-39) and takes a little more off in the classification of the Top 14.
This Racing 92 – Toulouse will be remembered! The leader of the Top 14 went to the synthetic turf of the Paris-La Défense Arena for a victory after a meeting that saw no less than ten tries. And it was absolutely not necessary to be late in the spans because Max Spring set the tone from the 2nd minute. Shifted by Finn Russell on a free kick played quickly, the Ile-de-France rear was able to take the advantage over Melvyn Jaminet in order to go to queen. A start to the match which was also animated by the yellow card received by Eddy Ben Arous after six minutes. The pillar was at fault on a very dangerous action on his own line and was logically sanctioned. Toulouse did not take very long to take advantage of this numerical superiority, Peato Mauvaka forcing the passage in the 8th minute. Shifted by Paul Graou at the end of the ruck, the hooker of the Rouge-et-Noir did not ask for his rest to put the two teams on an equal footing. While Racing 92 regained the advantage shortly before the quarter-hour mark on a penalty from Finn Russell, Dimitri Delibes flattened a try on his first ball. When he had just replaced Arthur Retière, visibly the victim of a sprained ankle, the winger went to conclude a long sequence of possession victoriously. A first advantage in the score which could only last five minutes.
Toulouse attack from start to finish
On a smoothly carried ball, Wenceslas Lauret only had to collapse in the in-goal to put Racing 92 back in front of the scoreboard. An advantage that Finn Russell took to six lengths with six minutes to play before halftime. However, it was Ugo Mola’s players who finished this first act strong. First of all, Dimitri Delibes went there with his double after an overflow from Juan Cruz Mallia coming from a free kick played quickly by Paul Graou. Then, on the last action, a penalty combination played by hand by Peato Mauvaka allowed Emmanuel Meafou to violently pierce the defensive curtain in the Ile-de-France and offer Toulouse a six-point lead at the break. Returning from the locker room, Melvyn Jaminet quickly put his team out of reach of a transformed try before Paul Graou went to conclude an anthology action. Matthis Lebel launched a counterattack from 90 meters on which he perfectly found his scrum half at the foot, not without having left two Racing 92 defenders on the spot. Half an hour from the siren and with a delay of sixteen points, Laurent Travers opened his bench to bring in new blood. Which quickly paid off. Three minutes after entering the game, the pillar Thomas Moukoro perfectly concluded a carried ball to register the first try of his career. On the hour mark, Antoine Gibert brought his team closer.
Russell cost Racing 92 dearly
The scrum-half, who entered after 30 minutes to replace an injured Teddy Iribaren, read a transmission from Toulouse perfectly to intercept him and go to the test without forcing. In the process, Melvyn Jaminet gave a little air to his formation on penalty. However, Vinaya Habosi allowed Racing 92 to fully recover as the last ten minutes approached. The Fijian winger, recently arrived in the Ciel-et-Blanc squad, celebrated his first match in front of his new audience by going to flatten in a corner despite defensive pressure from Melvyn Jaminet. But, as on the two previous tries, Finn Russell missed the target on the conversion, finding the post a second time. Six points left on the way which cost dearly. The meeting remained crazy until the end. As the siren approached, the Toulouse international striker tried his luck 60 meters from the poles, sealing the fate of the meeting or forcing Racing 92 to make a 100-meter counter to snatch victory. The shot from the former Perpignan had the direction but not the power. The Ile-de-France counter-attack, meanwhile, was stopped by a good scratch from Jack Willis. Melvyn Jaminet sending the ball into touch in two stages, the referee put an end to the debate. With this narrow victory (35-39), Toulouse now has an eleven point lead over La Rochelle, its new runner-up. Beaten for the third time in four days, Racing 92 fell to eighth place, three points behind Bayonne, who held sixth place.
