Toulouse v London Irish - Pool 5

[An Tarbh]

Backlash of all backlashes is what I'd expect from this one, Toulouse will be smarting after that opening day defeat at Ravenhill, London Irish won't be too chuffed with their form against the Scarlets, with both teams needing the win it does make for a corker of a game. Surely Toulouse can't be that bad again so London Irish should be fearing for their lives this Sunday methinks.

 

[An Tarbh]

Will be interesting to see whether this is the Toulouse team that actually starts after they made a rake of changes prior to kick off at Ravenhill. Gareth Thomas lines up at centre for injury-hit Toulouse, with Yannick Jauzion moving to fly-half.

London Irish received a major boost when Riki Flutey and Kieran Roche passed fitness tests yesterday morning. Flutey comes in at fly half with Roche starting in the second row alongside James Hudson. Delon Armitage takes over at fullback from the injured Michael Horak. Tonga Lea’aetoa starts at tighthead while Phil Murphy comes in a no. 8

Toulouse: 15 Xavier Garbajosa, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Gareth Thomas, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Yannick Jauzion, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Fabien Pelous, 7 Jean-François Montauriol, 6 Thierry Dusatoir, 5 Romain Millo-Chlusky, 4 Patricio Albacete, 3 Salvatore Perugini, 2 Virgil Lacombe, 1 Daan Human.
Replacements: 16 Omar Hasan, 17 Yannick Bru, 18 Grégory Lamboley, 19 Jean Bouilhou, 20 Valentin Courrent, 21 Benoît Baby, 22 Finau Maka.

London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Mike Catt (captain), 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Riki Flutey, 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Phil Murphy, 7 Declan Danaher, 6 Aidan McCullen, 5 James Hudson, 4 Kieran Roche, 3 Tonga Lea’aetoa, 2 David Paice, 1 Neal Hatley.
Replacements: 16 Richard Skuse, 17 Robbie Russell, 18 Gary Johnson, 19 Olivier Magne, 20 Juan Leguizamon, 21 Gonzalo Tiesi, 22 Barry Everitt.

Referee: Nigel Owens

 

[tituslechmakus]

and we've seen a very pleastent match with an opened game. toulouse has been quite creative and used a lot the outside players. what has been also nice is that the irish did not refuse to play and it gave some very interesting game phases ... this could be a key match in toulouse's season, as it could really start the season.

 

[An Tarbh]

the bonus point was certainly crucial given they missed out on one in Belfast but certainly makes for an intriguing next match against Llanelli, damn you Sky for not showing that one.

 

[tituslechmakus]

the next one or the one against the irish ? 'cause yesterday's match, as i've said, was very nice to watch. it was good rugby and 54 pts scored in a match is rather good for the show !!! should be tough in llanelli as they won against ulster.
btw we have the H cup on france 2 which is the equivalent of BBC 1 ... rugby is not baddly considered in france you see

 

[An Tarbh]

the next one or the one against the irish ? 'cause yesterday's match, as i've said, was very nice to watch. it was good rugby and 54 pts scored in a match is rather good for the show !!! should be tough in llanelli as they won against ulster.
btw we have the H cup on france 2 which is the equivalent of BBC 1 ... rugby is not baddly considered in france you see
[/b]

yeah the next one.

btw we have the H cup on france 2 which is the equivalent of BBC 1 ... rugby is not baddly considered in france you see [/b]

yeah the French coverage certainly seems to have improved, the only country now with free to air coverage now RTÉ lost our free to air this season to Sky. Just wish the French coverage had been as good last season.

 

[tituslechmakus]

we've had H cup on france 2 since its begining. but unfortunatly, top 14 matches are on canalsat (sattelite tv which is i suppose the equivalent of sky) damn private tv !!! so you're not the only ones to be wronged...

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

Just wondering, i haven't managed to catch the highlights for the Toulouse game yet: How did Gaerth Thomas cope at centre for them?

 

[tituslechmakus]

he was quite good in the center but not decisive as he didn't score. toulouse had a good game, playing wide. the best guy on the field was jauzion, for his first match as FH. for the irish it was also a good match, showing a certain will of play and also going to the wings. nice match !!!

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

Just needed to hear if he's put his hand up for a centre position for Wales, cheers.

So has jauzion now made himself as an option for Fly Half or do you reckon they'll kepp him in centre where he truly is the world class player that he can be?
I mean, France have a few inconsistencies with Fly Half at the moment, don't they?
Who's likely to be chosen as the starting no.10 come France's first international?

 

[tituslechmakus]

Just needed to hear if he's put his hand up for a centre position for Wales, cheers.

So has jauzion now made himself as an option for Fly Half or do you reckon they'll kepp him in centre where he truly is the world class player that he can be?
I mean, France have a few inconsistencies with Fly Half at the moment, don't they?
Who's likely to be chosen as the starting no.10 come France's first international?
[/b]

as you said, thomas will be very usefull for wales, due to his experience. he could go as center for wales (i think he would be better than FB, due to his size). but with henson top form, thomas is not as good. he could go as sub in the center. if henson is out of form then you could go with thomas, even if he hasn't score in H cup 2nd round.

for france, traille will be our starting FH, due to his recent matches in that position and his support to peyrelongue (biarritz FH, who is a bit foot injuried). jauzion has done a good match playing FH (a lot of teams would like to have him as FH) but he's better at the center (for me in the top 10 world centers with traille, BOD and henson top form). our usual backline is n°9 yachvilli, n°10 michalak, n°11 heymans, n°12 jauzion, n°13 traille and we'll have for the autumn tests : n°9 yachvilli, n°10 traille, n°11 heymans, n°12 jauzion and n°13 fritz. sounds quite good ...

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

...our usual backline is n°9 yachvilli, n°10 michalak, n°11 heymans, n°12 jauzion, n°13 traille and we'll have for the autumn tests : n°9 yachvilli, n°10 traille, n°11 heymans, n°12 jauzion and n°13 fritz. sounds quite good ...
[/b]

Sounds petrifying.
What's happened to Michalak? Is he injured?

 

[tituslechmakus]

<div class='quotemain'>
...our usual backline is n°9 yachvilli, n°10 michalak, n°11 heymans, n°12 jauzion, n°13 traille and we'll have for the autumn tests : n°9 yachvilli, n°10 traille, n°11 heymans, n°12 jauzion and n°13 fritz. sounds quite good ...
[/b]

Sounds petrifying.
What's happened to Michalak? Is he injured?
[/b][/quote]

??? what do you mean by petrifying ??? and yes michalak is injuried (btw that's why jauzion played FH for toulouse)

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

When i say petrifying i mean it's a scary line up.
I always hate to see what kind of a back line the French have to put out when they are playing against Wales. Each and every player a dangerous one.
Of course, i forgot he played for toulouse.

Can i ask, what are you views on people saying Michalak isn't the fly half France need. When i listen to commentaries over here, they often comment on how talented and spectacular his playing is, but also that he just doesn't seem to play like a fly half. He doens't stamp his authority on the game and feels like he's in the wrong position.
I don't personally hold these beliefs, but i was wondering whether he has any critics in France who think the same thing.

 

[tituslechmakus]

When i say petrifying i mean it's a scary line up.
I always hate to see what kind of a back line the French have to put out when they are playing against Wales. Each and every player a dangerous one.
Of course, i forgot he played for toulouse.

Can i ask, what are you views on people saying Michalak isn't the fly half France need. When i listen to commentaries over here, they often comment on how talented and spectacular his playing is, but also that he just doesn't seem to play like a fly half. He doens't stamp his authority on the game and feels like he's in the wrong position.
I don't personally hold these beliefs, but i was wondering whether he has any critics in France who think the same thing.
[/b]

michalak is the FH we need ... see the mess in fance around this point ... we're obliged to use a center as
FH !!! he is for me the incarnation of the french flair ... but you're right on the fact he dosn't play as a FH but more as a center ... with a lot of sidesteps and fewer kicks than a regular FH. he isn't also a leader born player, so his impact on the team mental and autority on the game is not as big as with players like carter ... but he's more devastating ... and score more tries than a regular FH... he uses more other type of kicks (like up and unders and other types i don't know the name in english). he's a world class player, but not as good as SH FHs. actually, he's not criticized in here. he might be criticized in wales 'cause they are jalous of him i guess !!! he'll be a big player of the next wc. i think now, he's quite young and can still progress and become one of france's major players. defenetly our backline is better than front i think (even if we have world class front VIII), i think we have a better backline than nz but for these tests, i don't know what will it do, as we don't have our top team.

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

As a player i admire Michalak. He brings glamour to the game, and what's more enjoyable than a player creating a positive spectacle?
Jonathan Davies, one of our primary commentators here, has made those claims about Michalak.
Having played in the same position himself, i'm sure you're right, he'a just jealous he never played that kind of rugby in his day.

Talking about French flair, check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Y-b1mfEDc

If you remember anything about that, i really want to know what started it and why no.9 was on the floor throughout it all. Because he looked like he was the victim from the beginning and something bad happened to him.

 

[tituslechmakus]

yeah i remeber that ESPN classic big fight ... it all started with the agen player that came near the bourgoin n°9 to speak to him and give him several uppercuts !!! the reason is unknown (certainly a vengence) but it gave a nice boxing match ... but this is not rugby ...

for michalak, he could become one of the best FH in the world if he gets better with the tactical kicks (even if he's far away from being a ****). and i remeber your commentator i think ... wasn't he wales FH in the 95 wc ? i think i can remember he was in jonah lomu rugby on ps1 ...

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

Haha, yeah that's him alright.
He knows his rugby, i can't deny him of that, but sometimes he makes some outrageous claims. E.g. the Michalak statement.

 

[tituslechmakus]

Haha, yeah that's him alright.
He knows his rugby, i can't deny him of that, but sometimes he makes some outrageous claims. E.g. the Michalak statement.
[/b]

certainly because of passion. the fact is that he could criticize players when they make the wrong choice (wouldn't have he done the same ?), but does he recognize he wouldn't have done such a good move when a player does something amazing ???

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

No. No he does not.
He's very quick to praise great play though.
He's not bitter in the slightest.
He sounds a very fair commentator.