WAKEFIELD TRINITY 16 TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 18
STEPHEN IBBETSON, DIY Kitchens Stadium, Saturday

SUPER LEAGUE expansionists can rejoice further after Toulouse joined York in pulling off an opening-round upset.

They won only five times in their sole previous season at the top table – none of them in an away fixture – but caught play-off aspirants Wakefield cold with a gutsy display aided by the guile of two-try fullback Olly Ashall-Bott.

Like York and Bradford before them, Toulouse showed no fear at all against more established opposition. And like those two other promoted sides, they took the lead, after 17 scrappy minutes from Wakefield.

Max Jowitt lost the ball on the ground after taking a kick and, from the scrum, Ashall-Bott went for the line and bounced off Will Tate to find it.

César Rougé struck the post with his conversion attempt – unlucky, you would think, except he went on to do the exact same thing two further times.

Toulouse were the far tidier side and enjoyed the best of the territory as a result, while it took 27 minutes for Trinity to click into gear.

Aided by the first six-again of the match – James Vella was far more lenient with the ruck than other referees have been in this opening round – and the introduction of debutant Jazz Tevaga, a move left resulted in Josh Rourke touching down.

Initially it wasn’t given by Vella, but the review showed there was no obstruction while Jake Trueman, Mason Lino and Corey Hall crafted the try, leaving Jowitt to nudge Wakefield 6-4 ahead from the touchline.

Just as Wakefield appeared to be getting a foothold, Rougé kicked a 40/20 and, following a penalty, the halfback executed a delightful cut-out pass to winger Paul Ulberg, who smartly ducked inside to finish.

Rougé, otherwise impressive, again watched the ball hit the post and bounce out, but Toulouse had a well-deserved 8-6 lead at half-time.

And that’s how it stayed until past the hour, not least because Wakefield continued to make errors. In addition, Cameron Scott was tackled by the recovering Benjamin Laguerre after making a break, while the hosts opted against kicking to level when Rougé sent a drop-out straight into touch.

They finally hit back in the 61st minute, Scott this time getting his try after a coast-to-coast move launched by Hall’s offload for Rourke and, following plenty of improvisation, assisted by Jay Pitts.

Jowitt couldn’t convert, restricting their lead to two – which was wiped out five minutes later by a Rougé kick after two successive Toulouse penalties, the first given for an alleged shoulder charge by Jowitt in denying Laguerre a try.

And in the 69th minute Toulouse were back ahead, Roméo Tropis crashing over from a crisp pass out of dummy-half by Hugo Garrigues.

Remarkably, Rougé’s conversion attempt found a post for a third time, while he missed the target altogether five minutes later after Ashall-Bott dummied and drove for the line for what should have been a match-clincher.

Instead, Olympique were made to sweat to the finish, Tate finishing in the corner off a Trueman ball over the top and Jowitt sweeping over the conversion for a two-point game.

Tate then made a late break, his pass inside knocked down by Ashall-Bott, and was tackled into touch in the next set to end hopes of what would have been an undeserved comeback.

GAMESTAR: Olly Ashall-Bott loudly announced his return to Super League, just like his team.

GAMEBREAKER: Toulouse successfully challenged what initially looked like an excellent Max Jowitt tackle on Benjamin Laguerre, and went on to score ten points in as many minutes.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Wakefield kept the ball alive magnificently for Cameron Scott’s try.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Olly Ashall-Bott (Toulouse)
2 pts César Rougé (Toulouse)
1 pt Roméo Tropis (Toulouse)

MATCHFACTS

TRINITY
1 Max Jowitt
32 Will Tate
3 Cameron Scott
4 Corey Hall
23 Josh Rourke
6 Jake Trueman
7 Mason Lino
8 Mike McMeeken
9 Tyson Smoothy
15 Caleb Hamlin-Uele
11 Seth Nikotemo
12 Matty Storton
14 Jay Pitts
Subs
13 Jazz Tevaga (D)
17 Harvey Smith
18 Isaiah Vagana
25 Jordan Williams (not used)
18th man (not used)
20 Jack Sinfield
Also in 21-man squad
16 Caius Faatili
19 Lachlan Walmsley
24 Tray Lolesio

Tries: Rourke (27), Scott (61), Tate (76)
Goals: Jowitt 2/3

OLYMPIQUE
1 Olly Ashall-Bott
2 Paul Ulberg
3 Reubenn Rennie
19 Roméo Tropis
5 Benjamin Laguerre
6 Thomas Lacans
19 César Rougé (D)
8 Lambert Belmas
9 Brendan Hands
23 Tyler Dupree (D)
22 Henry O’Kane (D)
12 Mathieu Jussaume
13 Anthony Marion
Subs (all used)
15 Joe Cator
16 Joe Bretherton
17 Rob Butler
27 Hugo Garrigues
18th man (not used)
24 Pierre-Jean Lima
Also in 21-man squad
18 Baptiste Rodriguez
25 Luke Polselli
26 Trevor Chiffolleau

Tries: Ashall-Bott (17, 74), Ulberg (34), Tropis (69)
Goals: Rougé 1/5

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 6-4, 6-8; 10-8, 10-10, 10-14, 10-18, 16-18

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Trinity: Corey Hall; Olympique: Olly Ashall-Bott

Penalty count: 4-8
Half-time: 6-8
Referee: James Vella
Attendance: 8,555