A devastating scrum and a full back but also an early red card and a clear management error… Find the Tops and Flops of the match between CA Brive and Stade Toulousain.
Tops
Thomas Ramos, man of the match
Despite a blunder at the very start of the match on a ready-made try (7th), Thomas Ramos quickly pulled himself together to make a copy of the standing of his high-flying season. Imperial in coverage, the Toulouse back also proved valuable in his occupation foot game, finding several touches in the 22 Brive meters. Solid against the poles, he also scored 16 points (6/7) to complete the success of the Red and Black in Corrèze. Logically elected man of the match.
Stade Toulousain takes a big step towards the final stages
Relegated out of the Top 6 after the results of Saturday afternoon, Stade Toulousain could have lost big on the lawn of the Stadium de Brive. It did not happen. Authoritarian, the champions of France in title go back to the sixth provisional place (66 points), before the reception of the red lantern, the Biarritz Olympique, in fifteen days. An improved victory could even allow Ugo Mola’s men to dream of a home play-off. For once, we will have to count on the most successful club in French rugby at the end of the season.
The Toulouse scrum crushes the CAB
Despite his numerical inferiority after Charlie Faumuina’s early red card (17and), the Toulouse fray literally put its Brive counterpart to the torture on Saturday evening. With four penalties in closed scrum and two others on the ball carried, the eight in front of Haut-Garonnais has perfectly mastered its subject. As evidenced by the try of the incoming Emmanuel Meafou at the end of the match, on a charge at the exit of a scrum (70and), the Toulousains constantly pushed back their opponents in contact and dominated the debates of the conquest, well helped by the entries of the other substitutes Marchand, Aldegheri or Ainu’U.
flops
Charlie Faumuina sees red, confusion in management
It’s a nasty gesture that could have cost Stade Toulousain dearly. In the 17th minute of the game, with his partners leading 7-0, the prop Charlie Faumuina is illustrated in a very pale way in a ruck zone, with a powerful charge at the level of the head of Luka Japaridze, its Georgian counterpart. After video arbitration, Mathieu Raynal has no choice but to give him a red card. Outnumbered for more than an hour of play, Toulouse still managed to hold their rank. In the second half, a management error caused Toulouse to play 15 against 15 for 14 seconds, which was pointed out by the Brive staff on the sidelines. A complaint could therefore take place on the part of the Brivistes, even if the meeting was clearly not played on this fact of play, as Esteban Abadi recognized after the meeting, at the microphone of Canal +: “The match was not lost in 14 seconds but in 80 minutes. I didn’t even notice they played fifteen“.
The chronic indiscipline of the CAB
The most penalized club of the season, CA Brive has not managed to correct its errors of indiscipline, despite a week in training with referee Cédric Marchat last week. Late in the ruck areas, barely in the closed scrum or disorganized on their throws in touch, the Brivistes multiplied the faults throughout the meeting, allowing the Toulouse to gradually fly away to the score.
Brivistes without ideas and cornered in their camp
Despite a start to the match to the advantage of Toulouse, many people thought that the Faumuina red card could have tilted the match into another dimension for the Corréziens. Too imprecise on their too rare offensive sequences, with several dropped balls, the Coujou waited until the fiftieth minute to score their first points, 15 against 14. Outrageously dominated in the occupation of the field, the Brivistes saved their honor in all end of the match with a splendid solo try by Esteban Abadie. But as far as maintenance is concerned, it will be necessary to wait for the final day so that they hope to be able to continue their journey in the elite of hexagonal rugby.
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