Toulouse win to set up winner takes all Tigers clash

Toulouse kept in control of their Heineken Cup destiny with a 35-14 bonus point victory over Treviso at Stade Ernest Wallon on Sunday.

The victory sets up a potentially classic European Rugby match between two former Champions at Leicester Tigers home ground Welford Road next weekend where the winner will win the pool.

Treviso struck first with scrum half Tobias Botes on target with a penalty
but Toulouse responded with the ball in hand, albeit from close range as a quickly
taken penalty ended with hooker Gary Botha being driven over by his fellow forwards.

But the lead lasted just four minutes before centre Tommaso Benvenuti finished
off a sweeping virtual length of the field move to remind the four-times champions
they could not let their guard down for a moment.

And in a virtual repeat of their first try, Toulouse’s second also came from
a quickly taken penalty and then the forwards collectively doing the business
with lock Patricio Albacete adjudged to be the try score from under the pile
of bodies.

However, the home crowd were getting restless and when Botes landed a penalty
just before the break it was 14-14 with all to play for in the second period.

Treviso made a raft of replacements at the start of the second half and one
of them – prop Michele Rizzo – had only been on the field for a couple of minutes
before departing for a 10-minute spell in the sin bin.

And while they were down to 14 men the tournament’s leading try scorer Vincent
Clerc struck with his 35th Heineken Cup try courtesy of a pin-point cross-kick.

Luke McAlister added his third successful conversion and another cross-kick
and another try – this time for centre Florian Fritz – and that was the bonus
point in the bank with Yoann Huget getting a fifth at the death.

Final Score Toulouse 35 (14) Treviso 14 (14)

Scorers

Toulouse
Tries: Botha, Albacete, Clerc, Fritz, Huget
Conversions: McAlister 5

Treviso
Tries: Benvenuti
Penalties: Botes 3

Match Officials
Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng),
Assistant ref: Greg Garner (Eng),
Assistant ref: Robin Goodliffe (Eng),
TMO: Graham Hughes (Eng),
Citing Commisioner: Matt Bayliss (Eng)

Teams

Toulouse: Clement Poitrenaud; Vincent Clerc, Florian Fritz, Yannick Jauzion, Yoann Huget; Luke McAlister, Luke Burgess; Vasil Kakovin, Gary Botha, Census Johnston, Romain Millo-Chluski, Patricio Albacete, Gregory Lamboley, Yannick Nyanga (c), Louis Picamoles.

Replacements: Christopher Tolofua, Gurthro Steenkamp, Yohann Montes, Yoann Maestri, Sylvain Nicolas, Jean-Marc Doussain, Lionel Beauxis, Gael Fickou.

Benetton Treviso: Giulio Toniolatti; Ludovico Nitoglia, Tommaso Benvenuti, Andrea Pratichetti, Tommaso Iannone; Luca Morisi, Tobie Botes; Matteo Muccignat, Enrico Ceccato, Alberto De Marchi, Antonio Pavanello (c), Valerio Bernabo, Paul Derbyshire, Dean Budd, Robert Barbieri.

Replacements: Franco Sbaraglini, Michele Rizzo, Lorenzo Cittadini, Marco Fuser, Francesco Minto, Fabio Semenzato, Kristopher Burton, Brendan Williams.

ERCRugby.