Tom Willis wins family affair to help Saracens topple Toulouse in Champions Cup
Even for the world’s best rugby player it is not all glamour.As he sniffed the damp air on a blustery, cheerless Sunday night in north London, Antoine Dupont must privately have been wondering if this was some sort of fiendish Anglo-Saxon conspiracy.Any similarity with the classic cathedrals and comforting familiarity of the Stade de France in next month’s Six Nations was conspicuously lacking.For a defiant Saracens, though, this chilly, sodden evening delivered the most beautiful of outcomes and a result that transforms the mood of their previous flagging season.They fully deserved this rousing victory, two first-half tries from Rotimi Segun and a barnstorming display from man-of-the-match Tom Willis laying the foundations for the hosts’ best performance of the season which has sharply improved their Champions Cup knockout qualification prospects.
Saracens had spoken about regaining some self-respect after a sobering defeat in Leicester that prompted a collective honesty session and a blunt message from the director of rugby, Mark McCall, “to do our talking on the field”.They more than delivered on that pledge, although their presence in the last 16 is not yet assured and depends on what happens away at the unbeaten Glasgow Warriors next Sunday.“It is a brilliant feeling,” said a delighted Willis.“We knew we were up against it against a really strong Toulouse side and we challenged ourselves to rise to the occasion.We have been quite up and down this year and hopefully this will springboard us into a bit of consistency.
We just spoke about gritting it out.”The potential for a good contest was always there with Toulouse, having already lost in Glasgow themselves, seeking a victory to enhance their own chances of a home knockout draw.Even playing into the Mill Hill mistral in the first half did not seem to bother them initially as they calmly dominated early territory and possession.French threats appeared to be everywhere although precise player identification was not helped by the cunning use of white numbers on the back of white shirts to disguise their identities.In some respects, though, that is the essence of Toulouse: a low jersey number does not mean the individual wearing it cannot take and give a pass with supreme assurance.
No one builds an attack with quite the same structural beauty and the only real surprise was that it took until the end of the first quarter for them to get the scoreboard ticking, Thomas Ramos sending Blair Kinghorn clear for a sharp-angled score,The other most striking sight was the battle between the competing Willis brothers, both clearly itching to secure the family bragging rights,The siblings were at it from early on, Jack collaring Tom at the back of a scrum before the pair were involved in a brief melee which involved rather more wry smiles than punches,What a shame neither will be involved for England for the foreseeable future,Sarries need something tangible to show for their first-half efforts, though, and began to locate some decent rhythm, helped by increasing joy at the breakdown.
If Segun’s first try was well taken his second was a gem, Alex Lozowski dummying his way past his opposite number Paul Costes and giving his wing the chance to step the cover and accelerate away to score behind the posts,There was a third try to add to the tally moments before half-time, a seriously pumped-up Willis blasting would-be tacklers aside from close range to put his side 10 points in front,The question, with the rain intensifying, was whether Sarries would have the second-half resilience to see the job through,Northampton were brought back down to earth after they suffered a 50-28 loss away to Champions Cup holders, Bordeaux, in a repeat of last season's final,Saints had already secured a place in the round of 16 after two wins from two in the competition and despite a double by Henry Pollock, they lost for the first time in Europe this season.
An irresistible Bordeaux side crossed over eight times in a scintillating display, but Northampton were able to leave with a bonus point after Danilo Fischetti touched down with two minutes left,A ding-dong battle in a repeat of the 2025 showpiece appeared on the cards when Pollock (pictured) instantly replied in the 10th minute to the first try by Bordeaux wing Salesi Rayasi,Ill-discipline proved costly for Saints as a raft of first-half sin-bins meant it was 24-7 to Bordeaux at the interval and Rayasi completed his treble two minutes after the restart,Cameron Woki joined Rayasi in scoring a hat-trick after he bundled over in the 50th minute, but the visitors showed character with England star Pollock able to add to a Tommy Freeman score late on before Fischetti clinched a losing bonus point to leave Northampton third in Pool 4,Munster slipped to a second Champions Cup defeat after going down 27-25 at Toulon in Pool 2.
Jack Crowley put Munster in front with two penalties, but they were reduced to 14 men in the 36th minute when Tadhg Beirne was sent to the sin-bin.Toulon responded just before the break as Marius Domon crossed before converting his own effort to give them a one-point advantage at half-time.Toulon were straight out of the blocks in the second half when Ben White touched down in the 43rd minute and Domon converted, but Munster responded three minutes later when a quick switch towards the right allowed Calvin Nash to ground in the corner and Crowley added the extras.A chaotic start to the half continued as Gaël Dréan scored for Toulon in the 49th minute with a try under the posts and Domon converted, while Munster were frustrated further six minutes later when Alex Nankivell was shown a yellow card.Esteban Abadie was then sent to the sin-bin for Toulon, but they extended their lead with a Domon penalty.
Jack O’Donoghue touched down for Munster after edging over the line, but Crowley missed the resulting conversion attempt.Charles Ollivon saw yellow for the French side, allowing the visitors to capitalise as Tom Farrell went over and Crowley’s conversion sent them ahead, but Domon’s penalty with five minutes to play proved enough for Toulon.PA MediaIt looked an ominous portent when, within six minutes, Matthis Lebel narrowed the deficit to five points.However, the arrival of Ben Earl and Owen Farrell, who had been nursing a slight hamstring strain in the buildup, further stiffened Sarries’ resolve and a Farrell penalty proved enough to frustrate a scratchy, out-of-sorts Toulouse, who will now be hoping to take out their disappointment on Sale in their final pool game this weekend.What it all means in terms of Six Nations formlines is open to debate given the unpredictable nature of this season’s pool stages.
Bordeaux sticking a half century of points on Northampton would not necessarily suggest the Prem is a growing force but at least there were some pointers here for England’s management.Even the best, Dupont included, can look human if they are sufficiently discomforted and Maro Itoje, for one, will be reminding the national team of this game when England head to Paris for the championship’s final weekend in March.
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