Leinster's reign suffers setback
CHAMPIONS CUP REPORT: Four-time European Cup winners Toulouse dealt a setback to Leinster's Leinster's reign as Euro kings when the French side that came out on top with a 28-27 at Stade Ernest Wallon.
The home side enjoyed a terrific start and went six points clear when full-back Thomas Ramos knocked over two early penalty kicks.
Toulouse then went further ahead when Julien Marchand broke clear of the Leinster line before play eventually found Maxime Medard who was able to dot down in the corner.
The two sides then began to trade penalties until the defending champions found a way to get over the whitewash when Jack Conan exploited a hole in the Toulouse line and sprinted clear before a simple hand-off to Sean O’Brien who dived over.
Toulouse hit back just before half-time after some unbelievable footwork from Sofiane Guitoune who broke past a pair of Leinster defenders with a delicious step and sauntered over the try line. Ramos would drill the conversion between the posts to give the French side an eight-point lead at the interval.
Two tries in quick succession from James Ryan and Sean Cronin gave Leinster the lead early in the second half but Toulouse would again bounce back through the in-form Medard.
Toulouse intercepted in midfield and with four incisive passes, they found Medard who bolted clear for a huge try. Ramos then nailed the crucial conversion to put the French side in front.
Leinster tried to battle back in the closing stages but to no avail, as Toulouse hung on for a famous success over the defending champions.
Leinster travel to face Bath in Round Three while Toulouse will visit Wasps.
The scorers:
For Toulouse:
Tries: Medard 2, Guitoune
Cons: Ramos 2
Pens: Ramos 3
For Leinster:
Tries: O’Brien, Ryan, Cronin
Cons: Sexton 3
Pens: Sexton 2
Teams:
Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Romain Ntamack, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Alban Placines, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand (c), 1 Clément Castets
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 David Faimafiliotama’ita’i Ainuu, 18 Maks Van Dyk, 19 Pierre Gayraud, 20 Louis Madaule, 21 Yoann Huget, 22 Antoine Dupont, 23 Arthur Bonneval
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton, (c) 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O’Loughlin
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)