Noves praises forwards’ hard work

EUROPEAN CUP SEMI-FINAL:  THEY STARTED with three backs of whom at this point a year ago we had never heard and only one back on the bench. Coming off the back of a crushing top-of-the-table domestic defeat to Clermont, decimated by injuries, they finished with a flanker on the wing and a wing in midfield, with Jean-Baptiste Elissalde's left leg looking like something borrowed from an Egyptian mummy outside a hobbling Byron Kelleher, and collectively they were running on empty for the last 10 minutes.

No club in the world has carried the load Toulouse have carried since the beginning of last June and yet they were still standing defiantly at the end in securing a record fifth Heineken Cup final.

Their courage reminded you of another bunch in red.

They're something else themselves.

"Obviously I have great admiration for the solidarity the players have shown this week, given the week they have had," said their head coach, Guy Noves, after guiding Toulouse to their fifth final in his remarkably enduring 15-year tenure.

"It's a vital ingredient in Toulouse rugby. It's true that we were a little unfortunate to be seven points down, although it was an exceptional individual try by the London Irish player. But what I was truly impressed with was the team's ability to believe in their own capacity. They didn't forget the gameplan, they stuck to the gameplan.

"It was particularly important in the second half when we only had one back on the bench. The forwards worked extremely hard to take the pressure off the backs, and players like Elissalde, (Byron) Kelleher and (Maxime) Medard worked extremely hard, knowing they hadn't got much back-up, and did everything possible to maintain the lead until the end."

Overall the more complete team, just about, won. Yet within the ranks of their noisy and colourful band of supporters (which certainly looked and sounded a good deal bigger than the estimated 1,000), there always lurked the fear that if Toulouse didn't win the game before the hour mark their weary limbs could leave them vulnerable to a late mugging. Ultimately, after Shane Geraghty and Topsy Ojo had opened them again, Toulouse were indebted to some huge defensive plays by Kelleher and Yves Donguy.

The performance of Topsy Ojo again makes a joke of Lesley Vainikolo's expensive fast-tracking into the England team, and but for the dynamic running of the London Irish wingers and the poor tackling of Cedric Heymans in particular, Toulouse might well have been out of sight.

When Toulouse were strong they were very good, dominating the second and third quarters in which two well-worked tries were the least they deserved.

The level of improvement in the Toulouse forward play with a largely unchanged squad is a tribute to the work of Yannick Bru, the hooker who went from retirement to coaching their forwards this season.

They varied their lineouts better than one can ever recall them doing before, limiting the damage from Nick Kennedy and Bob Casey to just three nicked throws, while pinching a couple themselves. One of these led to their own penalty into the corner from which the maul rumbled toward the line and hooker William Servat was helped over the line by winger Medard.

"This week some statistics were released to show that Toulouse are not the most physical or best contesters around the tackle area in the Top 14," said Noves.

"Today we played an English team, a team from the country who are the best in Europe in this area of the game - London Irish are particularly good at this - so I'd particularly like to thank Yannick Bru for his work with the forwards which enabled us to win the game today."

Toulouse haven't won the Bouclier du Brennus since 2001, and although the most recent of their three Heineken Cups was two years ago, that's a famine in their world.

"I know the feeling in Toulouse, with the people and the players; they haven't won for a long time," commented Kelleher afterwards. "They realise the expectation has risen and that it takes a lot to rise to that level. It's great that we've got to the final and I think we've got six weeks' preparation for that, which is well and truly due for us, and I'm sure that we'll be able to front up with an in-depth team and players recovering from injury. So we're very happy for this period of time."

Casey, still only 28, hasn't given up hope of reviving a Test career that was left on ice in the Eddie O'Sullivan era.

"On a personal level - as long as I'm playing at this level, there's always hope. Obviously a new coach gives me a greater chance than when Eddie was in charge. As long as London Irish keep up there and I keep performing, then there's a chance."

Looking ahead to the possibility of a Toulouse-Munster final, Casey described it as "two of the top teams going toe to toe. Munster can take them, they've a few guys coming back. It'll be a humdinger.

"We wanted to play at a high-tempo and we felt we could take them (Toulouse) on out wide, play them at their own game. We were disappointed to concede a driven lineout. We never do that. Munster will look at that and wouldn't let that happen."