Bankrolled to an altogether different level, and having become the first side to complete a modern-day European Cup/domestic league double last season, Toulon and their cast of global galacticos, are two games away from becoming the first side to win three European Cups in a row. To put the scale of the task facing Leinster this Sunday into context, Jimmy Gopperth simply describes Toulon as the best club side in the world.
Nevertheless, in last season's 29-14 quarter-final defeat away to the same opponents, Leinster trailed by 16-9 approaching the hour mark with an attacking line-out, which admittedly had been brittle all day. Danie Rossouw disrupted the throw, Stefon Armitage hacked down field and, after Mathieu Bastareaud beat three tackles, Drew Mitchell scored.
In reviewing that game, and that huge turning point, Gopperth took some heart from the opportunities Leinster left behind and that they were in touch for 60 minutes.
‘Superstars’
“We are going to take a lot of lessons out of that game and a lot of a lot of positives but we are going down to their patch and they are probably the best team in the world at the moment with all their superstars. It’s going to be a hell of a task but we will give it every shot.”
Comparing Toulon to leading Super Rugby sides, Gopperth added: “It’s probably the most talked-about team in the world. They have some class internationals and they could put out a second 15 and still fill it with international players. The calibre is there, the experience is there and they seem to be enjoying it. They are down in the south of France, they’re loving life and their rugby, and when you are enjoying your rugby with the talent they have then you have a formidable force.”
Unusually porous
The key for Leinster’s hopes this Sunday is, according to Gopperth, shoring up a defence which has been unusually porous of late. “You’ve got to make your first-up shots, first-up tackles, because they are big, big men. They are going to run at you and if you don’t make your first-up shots they are going to get in behind you and get momentum. Then the likes of (Matt) Giteau, Mitchell, Bastareaud will just keep coming at you.
“Then when we’ve got the ball we’ve got to respect it and look after it. Try and move them around the pitch because they are a big unit. If we do those two things well then we are going to give ourselves an opportunity.”
Perhaps partly because of the threat posed by Armitage and co at the breakdown, Gopperth only once put width on the ball, and that that was with an advantage. Whether or not that was playing to orders, Gopperth conceded that Leinster would have to emulate aspects of the more ambitious displays of Wasps and Grenoble in the last fortnight when taking Toulon through phases and finding space out wide.
“Yeah, we have got to play what we see and play the opportunity. We know that they do leak a few tries, we know there’s opportunities there and we know we’ve got to take them. We’ll do our homework on them and see where the opportunities are, so then it’s up to us to exploit those and make those opportunities count.”
Gopperth’s performance on Sunday against the Dragons mirrored that of Leinster. For 50 minutes he played very well, taking the ball to the line and contributing to two tries by Ben Te’o as well as scoring a fine effort himself, before a wayward kick out on the full contributed to the Dragons’ comeback.
“Look, our form hasn’t been great coming in,” he concedes. “I thought the first 50 minutes was very good. We put them under a lot of pressure and led 22-8 and then slipped a couple of simple tries. Yeah, it does hurt. That’s the league. As soon as that game was finished and we came in Monday morning it was cup rugby.
“It is a one-off game so just draw a line in the sand and look forward to this game. A lot of guys were out and didn’t play in that game, a lot of guys were playing their first game in it for a long time, so it was a little bit disjointed. Now we have the opportunity to put things right.”
The brace of tries by Te’o should also be encouraging for the centre and his team-mates. “He’s impressed me a lot in how he’s learned really quickly. He’s really keen to understand the game and he’s adapted really quickly,” says Gopperth.
‘Massive threat’
“Each game he’s gotten better and better. He’s a massive threat with ball in hand, he’s so powerful and he can move quickly. It’s about giving him the best possible opportunity we can to get him in space and let him do his thing. We’ve got to get on his shoulder, because he loves to offload. It’s something different and if we use him well, we can use him as a threat or a decoy and it makes the defence second-guess and it’s a good dynamic to have a guy like that in your backline.”
This is a particularly significant game for the Kiwi outhalf. If Leinster lose, this will be Gopperth’s 15th and last European Cup game for the province before he relocates to Wasps in the close-season.
“This is why I came to Leinster, to have the opportunity to win big trophies and if I get the opportunity this week then I’ll be putting my body on the line and giving everything I’ve got. Everyone wants to play in that final on May 2nd in Twickenham, so it will mean a lot for me personally and it’s one I’m looking forward to.”
