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Wasps centre Elliot Daly wants his men to topple European giants Toulouse and seize control of Pool 2. - 19/10/2016 12:23
Wasps centre Elliot Daly wants his men to topple European giants Toulouse and seize control of Pool 2.
The England centre crossed for one of 12 tries in the 82-14 demolition of Zebre last weekend while Toulouse succumbed to a Connacht fight-back in Galway. The four-time Champions Cup winners will be eager to bounce back at Stade Ernest Wallon after their 23-21 defeat in round one.
But they face a daunting task against Wasps, who have scored on average 42 points in seven matches this season. And Daly is eager to land a knockout blow on the French heavyweights and continue their perfect start to the pool stage.
He said: “It’s a massive game this weekend, going to Toulouse, who have so much history, is a massive test for the boys. They are a huge club with a lot of history and we are under no illusions of how tough it is going to be.
“We’re really focusing on this game. We will put ourselves in a great position after the first two rounds if we can goo there and get a win, after we got five points against Treviso last week. It would be amazing if we could take control of the pool after the first two rounds, and we’re all really excited for it.”
Danny Cipriani is set to continue at outside-half after a man-of-the-match performance in round one. Daly could be joined in the centre by Kyle Eastmond or Jimmy Gopperth, while Rob Miller could continue at full-back after a brace of tries last weekend.
Toulouse have suffered an indifferent start of the season. Four wins from eight matches sees them sitting mid-table in the TOP14, and they are playing catch-up to Connacht and Wasps after one round of Champions Cup action.
And centre Florian Fritz knows his men have to react quickly if they are to get back in the quarter-final race.
He said: “We will have to digest the round one loss and evaluate where we went wrong quickly. That will not be easy because of what awaits us next weekend. It is a very very big challenge against a Wasps side who are in very good form.”
Match facts
- This will be the seventh meeting between Wasps and Toulouse in Europe. The Premiership club have won three of the previous six, with Toulouse winning two (D1).
- Excluding games at neutral venues, the home side on the day has never been beaten in matches between the two former tournament winners.
- Wasps are responsible for Toulouse’s heaviest European defeat, a 77-17 win in 1996. That victory was also Wasps’ biggest over a TOP 14 side and the fourth biggest overall in the European Cup.
- Joe Simpson was directly involved in four of Wasps’ 12 tries against Zebre last weekend, scoring two himself and assisting a further two.
- Toulouse have lost their last five games in the Champions Cup, their worst run in the competition.
Jimmy Gopperth converted Nathan Hughes's last-gasp try to earn Wasps a gritty 20-20 draw at Toulouse in Pool 2 of the European Rugby Champions Cup. - 23/10/2016 17:29
Jimmy Gopperth converted Nathan Hughes’s last-gasp try to earn Wasps a gritty 20-20 draw at Toulouse in Pool 2 of the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Gopperth kicked 10 points in all with Hughes and wing Josh Bassett getting over the whitewash to deny their French hosts a valuable win following their round 1 loss at Connacht.
Toulouse twice held a lead of seven points but tries from replacement Census Johnston and centre Gael Fickou, plus 10 points from Sebastien Bezy could not give them the spoils.
Gopperth, playing in the unfamiliar position of full-back, gave the home side an early lead but Bezy soon levelled matters as the home side made the better start.
The scrum-half then gave them the lead after Maxime Medard’s adventure from deep had sparked a flowing attack which ended deep in Wasps territory.
However, the French side failed to claim the restart and infringed to allow Gopperth the simple chance to bring the sides level again.
Wasps were having to put plenty of defensive work in and had to survive a siege on their line on the stroke of
half-time after Christian Wade had given up a five-metre scrum by misjudging Toby Flood’s kick for touch.
Time and again the scrum was set and reset by referee George Clancy, but the English side lifted the pressure when Danny Cipriani held Carl Axtens up over the line.
However, they undid their good work by conceding a soft try 10 minutes into the second half. Wade’s decision to take a quick line-out deep in his own 22 as Wasps failed to clear their lines.
It ended with Thierry Dusautoir charging down Cipriani’s kick and Johnston picking up to rumble over.
Bezy converted but the game was beginning to loosen up and Wasps looked the happier with that development and put together their best passage of play in the game only for Gopperth’s final pass not to go to hand.
They did not have to wait long for a try however, with Gopperth sending Bassett racing over and adding the extras to level.
Back came Toulouse and they reclaimed the lead when Fickou feinted this way and that to cut through the spread Wasps defence and crash over.
Bezy converted for a seven-point Toulouse lead, but Wasps would not wilt and they got their reward as Hughes slipped through Paul Perez to score, with Gopperth nailing the crucial conversion.
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