Toulon Top 14 Results Insufficient at Best
Many things in the world of rugby are assumed to be true. The All Blacks always win. Leinster is the best team in the Pro12. Toulon always win at home. Before this season, Toulon lost only seven home games over the last five years all to top flight opponents. The beginning of this years’ campaign has been the worst for Toulon since 2010. Last year Toulon did lose two out of their first three games, a home loss to Racing 92, and an away loss to Castres. Comparing that with an away loss to the recently promoted Bayonne, and a home loss to Brive should be highly concerning to any Toulon fan.
The concern for fans should not be the fact that Toulon lost to less than stellar teams, but the way they have played in those games. The three time Champions Cup winners have only scored three tries over their first three games. None of them being scored against Brive. That as compared to an average of five tries per team so far this season. Toulon’s penalty count, although lower than Brive’s were at significantly more costly positions. The mental mistakes were significant enough for Guilhem Guirado to gift Brive a penalty try for collapsing the maul 2m from the try zone. Rugby North America found the best way to describe Toulon’s performance against Brive.
Here is a live look at Toulon watching their game film against Brive. #myfavoritebit pic.twitter.com/ZoUwFbOkZX
— Rugby North America (@rugbynoamerica) September 5, 2016
The lack of discipline and care will have to be dealt with before travelling to Toulouse this upcoming weekend. Toulouse have performed extremely well so far this season and are returning home. If the Big Red Tank expects to make the playoffs again this year, their level of play must improve. If they fail to right the ship, they will end their season early.
Leigh Halfpenny Only Shining Light for Toulon
Although Toulon’s performance so far this season has been poor, Leigh Halfpenny has been establishing himself as the best kicker in Europe. The Welsh international was famous for his kicking before ever setting foot on a French pitch, and his performance at Toulon has added to his legend. Halfpenny has been absolutely perfect from the tee so far this season. At 18 for 18 he has shown that any money paid to keep him is worth it. Of Toulon’s 66 points this season, 51 of them were at the boot of Halfpenny. If Toulon can instill discipline and restore the fire to their team, they could be unstoppable with Halfpenny kicking.
Bristol Owner Trying to Steal Ma’a Nonu to Ashton Gate
Ma’a Nonu, who has 103 test caps for the All Blacks and two RWC championships, has caught the eye of Steve Lansdown. Steve Lansdown, owner of Bristol, recently talked about the future of his club with the Daily Mail. During his interview he mentioned his expectation to the first one million Pound per year player. He has set his eyes on none other than France’s own Ma’a Nonu.
“If I attract 27,000 to watch my team on a regular basis, I should be able to reinvest in the squad. Of course, we’d like to attract someone like Ma’a Nonu.” The Daily Mail
If Ma’a Nonu is able to be seduced to Bristol it will be a massive blow to an already struggling team.
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