Toulouse hooker Julian Marchand celebrates scoring in his side’s 10-try demolition of Leicester Tigers – AFP/Valentine Chapuis
The tone of the Leicester fans present in the Stade Ernest-Wallon on Sunday told its own story. As the Tigers fell to their heaviest ever European loss, the mood among the travelling support took a turn with every Toulousain crossing of the whitewash. By the final whistle, Leicester fans had cast disappointment to the wind, battled anger and embraced grief; all that was left was deference.
Sides such as Toulouse do not come around very often and if your team is unable to beat them then, well, you might as well join them. When their stars shine as they did on Sunday, with the raucous drums and the whistling crowd, watching Toulouse at home is about as near as rugby comes to a religious experience – and one that should be savoured.
Leicester have an illustrious pedigree in this competition and this 80-12 obliteration should sting but all those in south-west France on Sunday knew they were in the presence of something extraordinary, of true greatness. Not that Michael Cheika and Julián Montoya, Leicester’s coach and captain, saw it that way. After the final whistle, Cheika was angry – mostly with himself, he said – while Montoya seemed on the verge of a full existential crisis, vowing to get better “as a person” following the defeat.
The Tigers arrived at the Stade Ernest-Wallon with near as damn it their best starting XV and they will bare their teeth again. This does not suit the high-performance, win-at-all-costs narrative but perhaps the best thing that Leicester could do now is not beat themselves up too much. One hopes they had a beer or two after the game (without crying into them). It should be dismissed as a bad day at the office; a freakish result carried out by a set of rugby freaks at the pinnacle of the sport. Make no mistake, that is exactly where Toulouse are, and all except those in Leicester’s squad and wider staff should rejoice. We should marvel at masters of their art, once-in-a-lifetime talents gelling so harmoniously that they make symbiosis seem disjointed.
Emmanuel Meafou scores one of his two tries during a rout that earned Toulouse a home tie in the Champions Cup last 16 – AFP/Valentine Chapuis
It did not take a mullering of England’s fourth-best side to confirm what is for many a long-held belief that this Toulouse crop are the greatest club side that the world has ever seen. This season, they are the defending European and Top 14 champions, just as they were in 2021. Even with Bordeaux’s form and Leinster’s unbeaten run, not even William Wallace would have the bravery to bet against Toulouse repeating the double this season. There are tier-one international sides who would come a cropper against them.
Of course, there are other contenders – Leinster, Toulon, Crusaders, Bulls, and even Toulouse or Leicester sides of yore could all stake a claim – but what sets Ugo Mola’s charges apart is not just their ubiquitous threats but also their style. Their attacks are not just effective but joyous and adventurous, endearing themselves to neutrals if not defence coaches.
Up front, beasts such as Emmanuel Meafou, François Cros and Jack Willis – a shoo-in for the Lions on form – beat you up and then the beauty of Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos and company cut you apart behind. Even that assessment is somewhat reductive because the footballing ability of forwards such as Thibaud Flament, Peato Mauvaka, Alexandre Roumat and Anthony Jelonch would not look entirely out of place in Premiership backlines.
Ange Capuozzo, the impish Italian full-back, scored two tries in the defeat of Leicester and looked every bit the all-star who burst on to the Six Nations stage three years ago, but such is Toulouse’s depth that the 25-year-old does not regularly start. In fact, Capuozzo has not begun one match at full-back for Toulouse this season, with all his starts coming on the wing. Toulouse are experimenting with the Italian, playing him at scrum-half, too, because they can; just as they are with Dupont, the magician switching to outside centre for the final quarter of the Leicester victory and already looking Test class.
Cheika was right to refuse to make excuses out of budget discrepancies. It is true Toulouse are able to spend more money on their squad and, often, that is proportional to success but what is often overlooked is the number of Mola’s men who came through the club’s academy; half of the match-day squad against Leicester, to be precise. It is a club, too, who turned Meafou from a rough diamond into a World XV contender, and helped Blair Kinghorn to begin fulfilling his huge potential.
The coaching staff are rooted in the club, too, with the current squad standing on the shoulders of giants who came before. The eight senior coaches, led by Mola, all played for Toulouse, as did every head coach in the club’s history.
The question of how long this group will be able to keep performing at such an enhanced level can wait for another day. Until then, Leicester fans are right to salute the grandeur of a team on top of the rugby world. It should be enjoyed and embraced while it lasts.
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