TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 58 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 6
PETER BIRD, Stade des Minimes, Saturday
TOULOUSE made the most of the conditions as the mercury hit 40C during this match, despite starting two hours later than originally billed to avoid the worst of the heat.
The hosts outplayed Sheffield in every department with the Eagles’ only ray of sunshine coming after seven minutes as the excellent Jack Walker burst through right side after good work from Kris Welham and winger Jayden Billy.
Cory Aston kicked well from the right touchline but the visitors didn’t trouble the scorers for the remainder of the match despite some good chances in the first half which were squandered by basic errors.
Toulouse, meanwhile, took full advantage of their superior fitness levels in the extreme heat.
The Eagles’ lead only lasted three minutes as skipper Anthony Marion collected a neat inside pass from Reubenn Rennie to score under the posts from short range.
Jake Shorrocks levelled the scores and although Sheffield competed well, silly handling errors cost them dearly.
The French took the lead through veteran winger Paul Marcon with a diving try in the right corner. Shorrocks missed the tricky two-pointer from the touchline, his only failure of the evening.
On 33 minutes and with the game well balanced, prop Maxime Stefani showed blistering pace over 30 metres to extend the lead before half-time to 16-6.
Sheffield came out full of running in the second half but bad handling again let them down. Toulouse took full advantage as the extreme heat didn’t relent.
Winger Paul Ulberg and Rennie maintained the high octane pace along with the upwardly mobile prop Stefani and powerful forward Rob Butler.
The Eagles held out until the 53rd minute when prop Lambert Belmas fed Shorrocks who strolled through to score close to the posts.
That was the beginning of the end for the visitors who gave everything in the furnace but capitulated as the French took control.
Promising academy centre Romeo Tropis made the game safe on the hour mark, followed by a succession of four-pointers all kicked well by Shorrocks.
Rennie burst through with a brace of tries fed by Ulberg, and the dynamic Stefani completed his double on 71 minutes to seal yet another impressive day at the office.
There was still time for the stand-in fullback Radean Robinson and Marcon, with his second at the end, to complete the rout.
Toulouse head coach Sylvain Houles was rightly proud of his team, saying: “We were strong throughout and played the conditions perfectly.
“Our fitness levels are impressive and we managed the game well ahead of the crunch match against York in six days’ time.”
GAMESTAR: Left centre Reubenn Rennie gave a powerful display of front-running for the full 80.
GAMEBREAKER: Jake Shorrocks try on 50 minutes to effectively secure the points.
MATCHFACTS
OLYMPIQUE
27 Radean Robinson
2 Paul Ulberg
3 Reubenn Rennie
26 Romeo Tropis
5 Paul Marcon
25 Thomas Lacans
7 Jake Shorrocks
8 Lambert Belmas
35 Brendan Hands
17 Rob Butler
4 Mathieu Jussaume
11 Maxime Stefani
13 Anthony Marion
Subs (all used)
14 Baptiste Rodriguez
10 James Roumanos
15 Joe Cator
28 AJ Wallace
Tries: Marion (13), Marcon (21, 78), Stefani (33, 71), Shorrocks (55), Tropis (59), Rennie (65, 68), Robinson (74)
Goals: Shorrocks 9/10
EAGLES
26 Jack Walker
25 Jayden Billy
3 Kris Welham
11 Connor Bower
21 Ryan Millar
37 Danny Craven
6 Cory Aston
38 Marcus Green
9 Corey Johnson
8 Eddie Battye
18 Jack Bussey
36 Brad Gallagher
32 Harry Bowes
Subs (all used)
14 Reiss Butterworth
16 Blake Broadbent
1 Matty Marsh
22 Masi Matongo
Tries: Walker (7)
Goals: Aston 1/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-6, 10-6, 16-6; 22-6, 28-6, 34-6, 40-6, 46-6, 52-6, 58-6
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Olympique: Reubenn Rennie; Eagles: Jack Walker
Penalty count: 5-3
Half-time: 16-6
Referee: Ryan Cox
Attendance: 2,076