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Résumé: Zebre / Toulouse - 18/01/2014 17:00
Four time champions Toulouse burst the Saracens bubble at Wembley in round two when they triumphed 17-16. That early advantage was lost, however, when they returned home to lose in round three to Connacht.
It means the English outfit have been able to close the gap and going into the re-match there is simply little or nothing to separate the two teams at the top of Pool. Both have 15 points and they occupy the top two try scoring positions in this season’s competition – Saracens with 17 and Toulouse with 15.
Saracens have been to the ‘Pink City’ and won before. That was back in the first round in 2000/01 when they pulled off a 32-22 victory before going on to do the double with a 37-30 home win.
Since losing to Wembley, and getting a hammering at Northampton Saints the next weekend in October, Sarries have strung together a 10 match winning streak that is bound to have given them the confidence and belief they need to go and win in Toulouse. If they do, they the Pool will be theirs to lose.
A 19-12 home win over ASM Clermont Auvergne last weekend was the perfect warm-up for Guy Noves and his team. That made it eight straight home wins in the Top 14 and the only team to beat Toulouse on their own patch this season is Connacht.
Match Notes
- Saracens have won two of their three meetings with Toulouse in the Heineken Cup. However, Toulouse triumphed 17-16 at Wembley Stadium in Round 2.
- Saracens are the tournament’s top scorers so far with 17 tries and an average of 35.5 points per game.
- Toulouse have the poorest goalkicking success rate in the tournament (56%).
- Toulouse average 29 defenders beaten per game this season, more than any other club and well above the tournament average of 15.9.
- Louis Picamoles leads the defenders-beaten chart after four rounds having evaded 22 attempted tackles to date.
- Saracens lead the way in turnovers in the competition with an average of 12.8 per game after four rounds.
- Maxime Médard and Chris Ashton are joint top of the try-scoring charts with four apiece before Round 5 (Naipolioni Nalaga of Clermont also has four tries).
- Saracens have won two of their last three away fixtures cross-channel (both against Racing Metro 92), but have won just three of eight overall in France.
- Toulouse have won 15 of their last 16 home matches against English opposition.
- Saracens (15,285) and Toulouse (15,184) have accumulated more Amlin Opta Index points than any other club in Europe this season.
Une prestation très solide des Rouge et Noir leur offre la victoire face aux Saracens (21-11). Un dernier effort sera à fournir samedi prochain à Parme pour décrocher une nouvelle qualification en quart de finale de H Cup. - 12/01/2014 17:30
Toulouse stepped up their quest for a fifth Heineken Cup crown as they booked their place in the last eight with a hard-fought win over fellow tournament heavyweights Saracens.
Jean-Marc Doussain kicked seven penalties for Europe’s most successful side to ensure they qualify for the quarter-finals with a week to spare.
They will have to wait until Round 6 to try and top the pool and claim a home tie in the knockout stages but they are now guaranteed to finish as at least one of the two best runners up in this year’s tournament.
Saracens scored the only try of the game through England wing Chris Ashton, with Owen Farrell adding a brace of penalties, but they now face a must-win clash with Connacht that will determine whether they join Toulouse in the quarter-finals.
The opening points of the game came immediately after the kick off as a huge chase from Toulouse forced Billy Vunipola to hang on to the ball, with Doussain slotting the penalty from 10 metres to the right.
But it was Sarries who were celebrating the first try after eight minutes as Ashton darted down the blindside when Toulouse were sloppy around the fringes and Gear got sucked in at a close-range ruck. Farrell uncharacteristically sent the conversion across the face of the posts after Ashton had done well to race around 10 metres in from touch.
Doussain kicked a second penalty from straight in front after Sarries were caught with hands in the ruck after 14 minutes but superb scramble defence from the visitors prevented them falling further behind when Huget and Maxime Medard began a brilliant breakout that took Toulouse from one 22 to the other before the visitors could draw breath.
Farrell kicked Sarries in front when Census Johnston was penalised at a 27th-minute scrum but the score swung back in Toulouse’ favour straight from the kick off as Doussain struck his third penalty to make it 9-8.
That single-point advantage soon became four when Doussain added another penalty three minutes past the half hour but Saracens were fortunate not to have fallen further behind after a missed tackle from Ashton left them in all sorts of trouble. Ashton handed his opposite number a free run down the left after being bumped off on halfway and Gear’s clever step and offload to Chilliboy Ralepelle had Toulouse within five metres of the tryline. Sarries scrambled superbly as the likes of Louis Picamoles, Yann David and Yohan Maestri all battered forwards, with Yannick Nyanaga eventually held up over the line and skipper Thierry Dusautoir opting for the posts from the resulting penalty.
Sarries trailed 12-8 at the break and they could have been further adrift in the opening stages of the second half as Toulouse began brightly. Saracens were again exemplary in defence, though, and a Doussain penalty on 50 minutes was Toulouse’ only reward.
Doussain missed with a drop goal attempt seven minutes later as Sarries all but emptied their bench and he was off target from the tee on the hour. Sarries’ task got significantly tougher moments later, though, as Mako Vunipola saw yellow for a breakdown offence and Doussain’s penalty made it 18-8.
Farrell brought Sarries back to within bonus point range with a quarter of an hour left but a seventh strike from Doussain robbed them of that consolation with three minutes remaining.
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