TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE 16 WARRINGTON WOLVES 24
PETER BIRD, Stade Michel Bendichou, Colomiers, Saturday

WARRINGTON recovered from their Challenge Cup exit with a much-needed victory in Toulouse.

It was a lively start from both teams, but a touch of class from Marc Sneyd in the seventh minute with a well placed 40/20 was taken full advantage of when centre Toby King went over from a Sam Powell pass. Sneyd, however, couldn’t convert.

Two minutes later Toulouse conceded a cheap penalty 25 metres out almost in front of the posts which Sneyd made short work of.

The home side looked disjointed and careless with handling errors costing them dearly, but it appeared as though it would be Sylvain Houles’ men that would score next.

When a Warrington loose ball was picked up by Toulouse winger Ben Laguerre, he seemed destined to reach the corner after a 75-metre run, but he was tackled a couple of metres from the line with some excellent covering defence from Albert Hopoate and fullback Josh Thewlis.

There wasn’t much to choose between both sides up until then, but a sharp outside pass from prop Liam Byrne found the fast running centre Josh Smith on hand to burst through.

And Smith did the rest, evading three Toulouse defenders to cross over right of the posts. Sneyd slotted home the extras for a 12-0 lead.

Things went from bad to worse for the French side five minutes from the break when Ellis Gillam received a yellow card for delaying the play of the ball.

From the next play a Sneyd high ball was fumbled by the home defence and the ever imperious Warrington hooker Powell collected cleanly to push over under the posts from short range. Sneyd again made no mistake.

And, even though Toulouse forced a couple of goal line dropouts in the final seconds, the visitors held out well.

It was a similarly frenetic start to the second-half too with Toulouse competing well witt their makeshift halfback pairing but it was the Wolves who struck first with Toby King pushing over from a couple of metres close to the left corner. Sneyd kicked well from the touchline.

But, the hosts replied in style as centre Mathieu Jussaume held off two defenders to crash over on the right edge. César Rouge pulled his conversion attempt right of the posts.

Four minutes later, though, with Toulouse’s tails up, Olly Ashall-Bott burst through to register a fine score as Rougé this time converted the kick.

Toulouse were given even more hope when Sneyd was sinbinned on the hour for dissent. And the hosts took full advantage of the extra man with Ashall-Bott completing his brace six minutes later, picking up a Maxime Stefani grubber. Rougé again slotted home the two-pointer.

It proved to be a tense time for the visitors who defended well against the rejuvenated French outfit.

But, with Sneyd returning to the field, the Wolves looked more assured and managed to play out the remaining minutes to hang on to claim the points.

GAMESTAR: Marc Sneyd and his usual immaculate kicking game

GAMEBREAKER: Toby King second try early in the second period helped seal the game

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Marc Sneyd’s 40/20 in the seventh minute made an statement of intent.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts – Marc Sneyd (Warrington)
2 pts – Sam Powell (Warrington)
1pt – Josh Thewlis (Warrington)

Toulouse
1 Olly Ashall-Bott
5 Ben Laguerre
25 Luke Polselli
12 Mathieu Jussaume
2 Paul Ulberg
29 César Rougé
13 Anthony Marion
10 James Roumanos
9 Brendan Hands
30 Tiaki Chan
11 Maxime Stefani
22 Henry O’Kane
15 Joe Cator
Subs (all used)
17 Rob Butler
18 Baptiste Rodriguez
21 Ellis Gillam
20 Ajahni Wallace
18th man (not used)
27 Hugo Garrigues
Also in 21-man squad
6 Thomas Lacans
16 Joe Bretherton
28 Mathieu Pons

Tries: Jussaume (55), Ashall-Bott (59, 65)
Goals: Rougé 2/3
Sin bin: Gillam (33) – professional foul

WOLVES 
2 Josh Thewlis
4 Albert Hopoate
26 Josh Smith
3 Toby King
5 Matty Ashton
18 Ewan Irwin
7 Marc Sneyd
8 Luke Yates
14 Sam Powell
16 Liam Byrne
17 Jordan Crowther
20 James Bentley
13 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
9 Danny Walker
15 Tof Sipley
25 Max Wood
34 Kelepi Tanginoa
18th Man
35 Lachlan Webster
Also in 21 man squad
29 Zach Gardiner
22 Joe Philbin
12 Sam Stone

Tries: King (7), Smith (27), Powell (35)
Goals: Sneyd 4/5
Sin bin: Sneyd (60) – dissent

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-6, 0-12, 0-18; 0-24, 4-24, 10-24, 16-24

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Toulouse: Mathieu Jussaume; Wolves: Marc Sneyd

Penalty count: 6-5
Half-time: 0-18
Referee: Liam Rush
Attendance: 4,634