Gloucester 14-31 Toulon: Cherry & Whites crash out of Europe following Champions Cup exit

The visitors got the first score, much against the run of play when a breakdown infringement resulted in a scrum and the looping ball over to Gael Drean allowed the winger to overrun his opposite man to dive into the corner in the 10th minute. Tomas Albornoz got the extras.

One try quickly turned into two when just three minutes later Toulon’s other winger, Mathias Ferte, displayed some dazzling footwork to jot down in the opposite corner. Marius Domon took over kicking duties and got the conversion.

A quiet period of play was broken just after the half hour mark when a series of Toulon penalties gave Gloucester their first real chance. A strong maul and some superior strength by Jack Clement saw the Gloucester academy product power his way over the line. George Barton got the extras.

Toulon extended their lead back to a two try margin in the 37th minute when a rolling maul proved to be too much for the Gloucester pack as Lewis Ludlam bundled over the line. Dormon once more got the extras.

The first twenty minutes of the second half were quite uneventful; Toulon got the closest to scoring in the 43rd minute when Zach Mercer was ruled just short of the line but apart from that it was solid set of defensive phases from both sides.

The second half deadlock was eventually broken when Dormon kicked a penalty from 30 yards out in the 58th minute.

Gloucester got their second try of the match after Lewis Ludlow booted the ball 40 metres and Tomos Williams got the put down in the most dramatic fashion after out pacing the defenders. Barton once more got the extras reducing the deficit to ten points.

The visitors wrapped the game up just before the final whistle when Drean got his second of the match with a diving lunge.

FULL TIME: GLOUCESTER 14- 31 TOULON

Gloucester Rugby

Tries: 2 (Clement 31’, Williams 68’)

Conversions: 2 (Barton 32’ 68’)

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0

15. George Barton 14. Josh Hathaway 13. Will Butler 12. Seb Atkinson 11. Jack Cotgreave 10. Charlie Atkinson 9. Tomos Williams (captain) 1. Dian Bleuler 2. Will Crane 3. Nepo Laulala 4. Danny Eite 5. Matias Alemanno 6. Will Trenholm 7. Lewis Ludlow 8. Jack Clement

Replacements

16. George Knowles 17. Val Rapava-Ruskin 18. Ciaran Knight 19. Deian Gwynne 20. James Venter 21. Mikey Austin 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jake Morris

RC Toulon

Tries: 4 (Drean 10’ 80’, Ferte 13’, Ludlam 36’)

Conversions: 4 (Albornoz 11’, Domon 14’ 38’ 80’)

Penalties: 1 (Dormon 58’)

Yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0

15. Marius Domon 14. Gael Drean 13. Juan Ignacio Brex 12. Oliver Cowie 11. Mathis Ferte 10. Tomas Albornoz 9. Ben White 1. Jean-Baptiste Gros 2. Teddy Baubigny 3. Kyle Sinckler 4. David Ribbans 5. Brian Alainu’uese 6. Lewis Ludlam 7. Charles Ollivion (captain) 8. Zach Mercer

Replacements

16. Jeremy Paul Toevalu 17. Leo Ametlla 18. Dany Priso 19. Giorgi Javakhia 20. Esteban Abadie 21. Baptiste Serin 22. Mateo Garcia 23. Jeremy Sinzelle

The inside centre has been a wrecking ball since returning from injury in the autumn. He made his England debut in the summer and if he had not have gone down with a knee injury before the autumn international was very likely to have been wearing the 12 jersey for Steve Borthwick’s side.

His return to injury has reignited a Gloucester side who seem to be reliant on his hard running and immense defensive effort. He is a shining light in a poor Gloucester side and his run of form definitely warrants him an opportunity in the six nations. There is some strong competition in the centres but his talent and form should be enough for him to get a much awaited opportunity.

The young fly half is seasoned at England A level but has never made a senior test appearance. This feels like the year he is introduced into the senior squad. He may sit behind both Smith’s, Ford and maybe even Farrell but he has overtaken Ross Byrne for the Gloucester 10 jersey and has been shining the last couple seasons.

He is a fan favourite at Kingsholm and the Cherry and Whites will be keen to keep him in the West Country as the young flyhalf/ full back is rumoured to be going to Northampton Saints at the end of his contract. He has the ability to flip a game on his head and his moments of brilliance have been riveting to watch the past few seasons.

White has been a premier scrum half for both Toulon and Scotland for some years now, the British and Irish Lion is surely going to get the nine shirt from Gregor Townsend for this year’s six nations but with fierce competition from George Horne and Jamie Dobie, form may make that decision closer than first thought.

This is really the ride or die year for Scottish rugby, an ageing team and years of falling short weighing on their shoulders, senior players including White will be keen to silence the critics and take a step further than they have ever managed and lift the coveted trophy.

Baubigny has three senior caps to his name and is looking to add more in this year’s competition. He currently sits third in the pecking order for the French side but the 28 year old is not easing up any time soon. He was excellent around the park tonight and his set piece was also top notch. He is sandwiched between two excellent props in Gros and Sinckler but Baubigny does not fade into the shadows, he carries and creates play well and seems to cover everywhere defensively. A standout player who should probably have more caps than he does.

The 20 year old Frenchman has a lot of Rugby ahead of him but he’s worked his way into a strong Toulon side and his form since emerging has been excellent as well. There is a lot of senior French talent at the centre positions but he looks like the future and he is only going to get better and better. He was superb tonight alongside Ignacio Brex and even though Huw Jones is arriving in the south of France, Cowie’s future is a bright one.

Three tries from the wings saw RC Toulon overcome their opponents tonight. The speed of play and ability to shift it wide was the difference between the two sides tonight and the French side showed all their class. The size and speed of Toulon was evident as they were a step above Gloucester tonight.

Before this match both teams could qualify for the next round of the Investec Champions Cup but a five point win from Toulon moves them up to second place in the group just behind Bath and tonight’s win may prove vital for the rest of their cup journey. They could’ve finished anywhere from second to fifth before the match so the win really helps the historic side’s draw later on in the cup. The six time winners will be looking to add a seventh title to their name.

The European campaign is over for The Cherry and Whites this season after finishing bottom of the group. The west country side trailed the group by two points behind fifth placed Munster. If the Edinburgh match had swung the other way they would’ve qualified for the challenge cup and those fine margins have been the story of the season for Gloucester. Another disappointing end to a cup campaign for Gloucester. Although tonight may have been their best performance of the competition against a stacked Toulon side.

Recently, Gloucester have been playing with two distributors in Charlie Atkinson and George Barton and tonight the pairing was the heartbeat of the Gloucester side. They were dynamic in attack and defensively flew around the park. The Gloucester faithful have been calling out for this pairing for a while and you can see why. It was exciting to watch and in what has been a stalling Gloucester attack this season, George Skivington may have just found his sixth gear to get the Gloucester engine firing again.

when it comes to injuries Gloucester have been absolutely ravaged with them. The team are down to their fine digits and with over 10 starters out they really are stretched thin. However, the young players who step up have been dealt a horrible hand but they are playing well with what they have been dealt. Toulon are no easy side but they stepped up strong in a game where the scoreline made it seem worse than it actually was.

Speaking on the young players stepping up, Gloucester Director of Rugby, George Skivington said “ a lot of these guys playing now are in your third column when you look at your starters and they’re getting to play, individually they’re doing as much as they can and theyre doing a good job, so I think there’s no doubt come next season that third column looks a lot more experienced, you just want that first and second column too have played a bit”.