Harlequins 10 Toulouse 21:HARLEQUINS HAVE risen to every previous occasion this season but the multi-coloured magic finally deserted them last night. Only rarely did they threaten to add Toulouse to their impressive list of early season victims and the French champions duly became the first side to defeat England's leading club in 15 games stretching back to early September.
Quins also had their talented loosehead prop Joe Marler stretchered off with a leg injury in the final quarter, potentially bad news for England’s new caretaker coaching team led by Stuart Lancaster.
Marler is among the next generation of promising English forwards but this was an evening when too few Quins’ players produced their best rugby.
The backrow duo of Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter both showed up well and fullback Mike Brown had another reliably good game, but Toulouse enjoyed by far the better of the forward exchanges.
The return trip to the Midi next Sunday, on this evidence, will not be a pleasant experience. The likes of French captain Thierry Dusautoir will not want to slacken their grip on Pool Six and Quins will have to improve substantially on this performance to gain any kind of reward.
Five of the visiting matchday squad played a part in October’s World Cup final in Auckland and the presence of two Kiwi outside-halves added extra piquancy. Neither Nick Evans nor Luke McAllister were involved in the tournament but they swapped early penalties with the air of men intent on proving a point or three.
The sight of the Samoan brothers Johnston, James and Census, lining up on opposing teams further underlined what a global village the club game has now become.
It was clearly one of those nights when Quins needed to establish some early momentum. Instead, apart from one promising break-out created by Easter, they were mostly on the back foot, trying to stop a rampaging Louis Picamoles.
It was not a huge surprise when the big number 11 again surged deep into home territory after 17 minutes and fed Dusautoir who duly supplied a scoring pass to the powerful Fijian winger Timoci Matanavou, a first cousin of Racing Metro’s Sireli Bobo.
A further penalty from McAllister stretched the gap to 11-3, a fair reflection of an opening half-hour when Quins’ justified air of pre-match confidence visibly seeped away.
Apart from their scramble defence there was a lack of accuracy in too many areas to trouble an increasingly dominant Toulouse, for whom scrum-half Luke Burgess again looked a shrewd signing.
Quins’ game is based around tempo but when they fail to generate any rhythm there are as vulnerable as anyone else.
Quins could only redouble their efforts in the second half and tell themselves they had not become a bad side overnight. A lovely show and go from the former Cornish Pirates centre Matt Hopper helped generate a promising position and, following a quick penalty tap from Care, Robshaw sent Brown scooting over for a trademark try after 49 minutes. Evans’s fine conversion reignited the contest but a third McAllister penalty and a second try from the flying Matanavou after 65 minutes ultimately curtailed Quins’s golden run.
HARLEQUINS:Brown; Stegman, Hooper, Urdapilleta, S Smith; Evans, Care; Marler, Brooker, Johnston, Vallejos, Robson, Fa'asavalu, Robshaw, Easter. Replacements: Monye for S Smith (41), Lambert for Marler (65), Gray for Brooker (49), Wallace for Fa'asavalu (69).
TOULOUSE:Medard; Clerc, Fritz, Jauzion, Matanavou; McAllister, Burgess; Poux, Botha, Johnston, Lamboley, Maestri, Nyanga, Dustautoir, Picamoles. Replacements: David for Fritz (54), Donguy for Matanavou (76), Doussain for Burgess (63), Servat for Botha (52), Boutemane for Johnston (78), Millo-Chluski for Maestri (56), Sowerby for Picamoles (71).
Ref:George Clancey (RFU).
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