Following a 28-20 victory over Montpellier in the Top 14 final at the Stade de France on Saturday, here are the player ratings for Toulouse.
15 Blair Kinghorn: Had a quiet opening 30 minutes with Montpellier controlling possession but burst into life to take a lovely outside arc to break clear in the build-up to Antoine Dupont’s try. 7
14 Teddy Thomas: Has enjoyed a fine season and showed his class with a superb off-load to Dupont for the score which took them clear at the break. Also defended well as Toulouse were stretched a couple of times on the left. 7
13 Pierre-Louis Barassi: Not a whole lot to write home about with ball in hand as his skills were not utilised too much, but Barassi was solid in defence until he made an error for Leo Coly’s try. 5
Underrated
12 Santiago Chocobares: The powerful centre continues to be among the best for club and country, but it still feels like the Argentine is an underrated presence in the midfield. Hit hard on both sides of the ball, consistently carrying well in traffic. 7
11 Matthis Lebel: Thought he had scored when a superbly worked move resulted in him breaking through, but Donovan Taofifenua’s brilliant cover tackle hauled him down just short. That showed Lebel’s threat, however, with the wing a real menace on the left in the first half before he received a yellow card for a couple of cynical infringements in the same phase at the start of the second period. 6
10 Romain Ntamack: Injected himself into the game when he spotted an opportunity but, as tends to be the case alongside Dupont, Ntamack was not responsible for moving his team around the field. 6
9 Antoine Dupont: There has been some criticism over the maestro’s form for Toulouse this season, and he certainly isn’t quite at his best, but Dupont is still operating at a very high standard. Granted, some of his kicking wasn’t accurate but his decision-making at the breakdown is probably the best of any scrum-half in the world, while he was there to mop up in both attack and defence. 7
8 Alexandre Roumat: One of the better lineout defenders in the Top 14, but Montpellier limited his influence in that area. Did his bit on defence but was pretty quiet around the field, despite a couple of decent surges off the back of the scrum. 6
What are the RFU doing?
7 Jack Willis (c): Utterly magnificent, to the point where it is slightly depressing that we’re not seeing him in Test rugby. The RFU surely have to change the laws as at this point it is hurting Steve Borthwick and England. Their breakdown work has not been up to scratch for the past couple of years and Willis will bring about a huge improvement in that area. He made four turnovers in the French showpiece event, including a couple which were absolutely vital as Montpellier pressurised inside the Toulouse 22. 10
6 Francois Cros: Does the dirty work which allows Willis to roam and pick his moments in both attack and defence. A key man without the ball as he made his tackles and was often first to the ruck when Toulouse had the ball. 7
5 Emmanuel Meafou: A beastly performance from a gargantuan human. Set the physical tone as he played a key role in repelling a fearsome Montpellier start. The histrionics aside, where he appeared to dive after a slight touch during a scuffle, Meafou produced a magnificent display which almost rivalled Willis’. 9
4 Joshua Brennan: Supplemented the work of his lock partner well by being a key component in the lineout. Can also put himself about in the physical exchanges but it was Brennan’s set-piece work which was particularly useful for Les Rouge et Noir before he went off after 37 minutes. 6
3 Joel Merkler: There were concerns about the scrum with Montpellier having one of the best in the league, and Merkler was under pressure at times, but he didn’t make it too much of a factor. Outside of the set-piece, the Spanish tighthead put in a mammoth shift in the loose. 7
2 Peato Mauvaka: His opening try was other worldly as the hooker did a one-two with Dupont at a lineout and ran 50 metres to touch down, which included stepping Taofifenua. Mauvaka is an athletic forward but it was absolutely outrageous from the front-rower. Then went over for a second try later in the match as the France forward played a key role in his side establishing a comfortable lead at the break. 8
1 Rodrigue Neti: Similar to Merkler, the loosehead would always struggle to hold off his opposition tighthead in the scrum, but he made up for those deficiencies with some huge impacts around the field. Neti made some monstrous hits in the loose. 8
Replacements: Mixed. They found themselves under pressure with Montpellier refusing to go away, but there were some important interventions from Julien Marchand. Paul Graou also calmed things down when he came on for Dupont and had a good final 10 minutes, but the bench did not necessarily lift matters. 6
READ MORE: Toulouse v Montpellier: Result, stats, match details, line-ups