Toulouse champions again
Toulouse claimed their 19th French league title on Saturday with an 18-12 win over Toulon in a try-less final at the Stade de France.
Last Updated: 09/06/12 7:29pm
Toulouse claimed their 19th French championship title on Saturday with an 18-12 win over Toulon in a try-less final at the Stade de France.
Once again Luke McAlister was the hero for Toulouse, kicking all of his side's points and proving to be their most dangerous player with ball in hand.
Despite Toulouse's domination at scrum time the scores were locked at 9-9 at the interval, as Jonny Wilkinson and McAlister exchanged three-pointers from the kicking tee in front of 79,612 spectators.
The pattern continued in the second period as the English fly-half and his Kiwi opposite number kept the scoreboard ticking.
Toulouse moved ahead in the last quarter though when Toulon prop Davit Kubriashvili saw yellow for his sins in the scrum and the defending champions finally cut loose.
Toulouse were camped in the Toulonnais 22 metre area and the pressure told as McAlister could add two more penalties.
In a tense finale, Toulon threw the kitchen sink at the Toulouse defence in the closing stages but RCT were denied their first title in 20 years by the dogged Toulouse defence.
