Toulouse Lowdown: €17m aristocrats of French rugby

Who are they? Before 1907 rugby union in Toulouse was only played in schools and universities but an amalgamation of several…

Who are they?Before 1907 rugby union in Toulouse was only played in schools and universities but an amalgamation of several student bodies, including Stade Olympien des Etudiants de Toulouse and l'Union Sportive de l'Ecole Vétérinaire led to the formation of Stade Toulousain.

There were two golden periods for Toulouse in the French Championship, winning four titles in succession in the 1920s and five in six years during the 1990s en route to a tally of 17 Boucliers Brennus.

The club believe in long-standing ties as Peugeot, their principal sponsors, have supported the club since 1996, their president Rene Bouscatel has fulfilled that role since 1992, while head coach Guy Noves has been in charge since 1993, having previously played for the club.

Toulouse have a budget of €17 million, allowing them to have arguably the strongest playing roster in European club rugby, one that could compete favourably with many a national team: the aristocrats of French rugby in style and substance.

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Home from home?

Over the seasons Toulouse have played a host of Heineken Cup and French Top 14 games at Stade Municipal (38,000), the home of the city’s soccer team, as well as the rugby club’s traditional home ground Stade Earnest Wallon.

The rouge et noir include among their victims Northampton twice, Munster, Edinburgh, Sale Sharks and Stade Français in European matches at today’s venue but Leinster defied the odds in 2006 by winning 41-35 in a marvellous quarter-final encounter.

Heineken Cup pedigree?

Kingpins. Eight times semi-finalists – they won five and lost three times – they have triumphed in the tournament on three occasions, more than any other club.

They have contested five finals, beating Cardiff in the inaugural season (1995-’96), Perpignan (2002-’03) at Lansdowne Road and Stade Français (2004-’05), but losing a brace, to Wasps (2003-’04) and Munster (2007-’08).

A consistent presence throughout this remarkable sequence is their coach Noves. A former winger with the club from 1975 to 1987, he was capped six times by France before taking over the coaching reins in 1993.

His unswerving desire is mimicked by his teams.

Form this season?

It’s been distinctly average on the basis of previous achievements. Winning on the road in France is notoriously difficult and Toulouse have certainly found that to be the case, losing at Perpignan, Clermont, Toulon, Racing Metro 92, Castres, Brive, Biarritz and Bourgoin. Clermont and Toulon completed a home and away double over Toulouse, while Stade Français managed a draw in the Pink City. Toulouse won five of six pool matches before producing a stunning second-half performance to thrash Stade in the European quarter-final.

Strengths?

The depth and latent talent of the squad, the excellent manager team with Noves at the top aided by his trusty lieutenants Yannick Bru and Phillippe Rouge-Thomas. Excellent at set-piece, their patterns are based on athleticism, sumptuous lines of running, vision, offloading in or before the tackle and the facility to adopt to whatever style of play is required to win, whether forward oriented or more subtle.

Weaknesses?

Outhalf has been an issue and at time David Skrela can look a little ponderous. Jean Baptiste Elissalde has been injured, so too Freddie Michalak, both of whom bring more artistic qualities. There lineout can also be a little flaky from time to time.

On the bad days then, they can push the pass a little in trying to play their offloading game and are vulnerable to teams who attack from long range as they tend to have their number eight and two of the back three stay deep.

Key Man?

It’s possible to pick half a dozen but from a defence perspective it would have to be captain Thierry Dusautoir, who sets the tone with the volume and quality of his tackling, while going forward it would have to be Yannick Jauzion, literally at the centre of everything that’s good about this team.

– JOHN O’SULLIVAN