Toulon cruised past Cardiff Blues thanks to seven tries in a 45-25 win over the Welsh side at the Stade Mayol in the Heineken Cup on Saturday.
The result leaves Toulon five points clear of Montpellier - whom they face next week - at the top of Pool Six.
The hosts were left stunned after the Blues took a surprise lead in the opening ten minutes, with Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny finishing in the corner after a break from Owen Williams, but from then on the traffic only went one way.
Toulon were given too much space to attack in the Blues defence and created a whole host of chances in the first half, coming away with three tries when they could have had more.
Jonny Wilkinson added the conversion to Rudi Wulf's try shortly after Halfpenny's score to reduce the visitors' lead to a single point, and just over five minutes later Xavier Chiocci strode over for another converted score to give the hosts a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
JC Orioli added a third try shortly before the break for Toulon and, though Wilkinson was this time wide with the extras, the hosts' dominance was apparent, and a comeback from the Blues appeared unlikely.
Looking for a response after their first home defeat since September 2011 against Racing Métro last weekend, Maxime Mermoz wrapped up the try bonus point after 43 minutes.
The Blues struggled to cope with Toulon's strength in depth as Joe van Niekerk, Matt Giteau and Simon Shaw entered the fray and the hosts racked up three more tries. Alexis Palisson and Mathie Bastareaud both touched down before Giteau converted Florian Fresia's clinical effort just after the hour.
The Blues stemmed the tide with an unconverted score from Alex Cuthbert and, to their credit, added two further consolation tries in the closing minutes through Halfpenny and Dafydd Hewitt to give the final scoreline a more credible look.
For Toulon:
Tries: Wulf, Chiocci, Orioli, Mermoz, Palisson, Bastareaud, Fresia
Cons: Wilkinson 4, Giteau
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Halfpenny 2, Cuthbert, Hewitt
Con: Halfpenny
Pen: Halfpenny
Toulon: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Rudi Wulf, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Frederic Michalak, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Pierrick Gunther, 5 Nick Kennedy, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Jean-Charles Orioli, 1 Xavier Chiocci.
Replacements: 16 Sebastien Bruno, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Davit Kubriashvili, 20 Joe van Niekerk, 21 Matt Giteau, 22 David Smith, 23 Nicolas Durand.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Owen Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Harry Robinson, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Lou Reed, 4 James Down, 3 Benoit Bourrust, 2 Rhys Williams, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Daffyd Hewitt.
Comments
leinster_goy says...
@pierre delot/melkdave
please see this link to a previous article where i set out in detail my wholly rational reasons for disliking toulonchester city. don't see the point in writing it all out again:
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16004_8259351,00.html
Posted 18:17 14th January 2013
pierredelot1 says...
Oh Leinster Goy you're just like all those football supporters who moan about City, United, Chelsea etc etc. The laws are quite clear about who you can play for and to continually moan about it makes life a little tedious. We all know that Leinster won their H CUps with teams full of Irish players. But this is all the plan of the IRFU to develope players for the national side, so you can't have your cake and eat it. Just enjoy good rugby when you see it and don't develope that partisan streak that threatens to turn rugby into a game watched by nationalistic supporters. Professional sport does polarise support but if you want to be like that go and watch football. Toulon played open attacking rugby, were good value for their win and only switched off late in the game when tackles started falling away and they knew they had it in the bag. Pity about the last bit, but despite it all they are still a french club and play like one. Humiliation of others doesn't seem to be on the agenda.
Posted 09:58 13th January 2013
makemehappy says...
@Melkdave - not sure it is a flattering score. Toulon battered Cardiff and scored pretty much at will at times, but their defence was poor on occasions.
Some bizarre refereeing out there. How it took so long to see Toulon had the dominant scrum was amazing. Also how did he award Toulon's second try? Clearly he didn't see the ball grounded initially, and you never should give anything as a ref if you are just guessing (if you saw someone lying on the floor you might send someone off for punching otherwise, with that logic).
Really not sure how Toulon will do later in the competition. They still don't always seem like a team to me.
Posted 09:19 13th January 2013
TVaddict says...
Called Toulon by 20! :)
@leinster_goy
Why do you hate Toulon so much? They're stealing English and South African players not Irish!
Posted 00:01 13th January 2013
melkdave says...
@Leinster_Goy
Why the venom,against Toulon.So theve used the cheque book,so have Leinster,Munster and Ulster,and many other teams in the past.Its not just a sport today,its also a bussiness,and atm ,a growing one in France and England.Supporters love wining teams ,its as simply as that,and now french teams are begining to look winners,with class players thoughout.Also its a bit hypicritical or you to complain about them using the cheque book ,when Leinster and Munster /Ulster use it to dominate the Pro12 ,and the HC in recent years Live with it as it wont change anytime soon.
Posted 17:44 12th January 2013
leinster_goy says...
toulonchester city got a piss-easy group this year, it won't be such a breeze once they get to the SF stage and meet a real team. if not Leinster, hopefully it'll be clermont, ulster or harlequins who expose them. your chequebook won't save you then, mourad
à propos, c'est qui, ce mec "habana" qui arrive l'année prochaine? un toulonnais né et élevé, on m'a dit
Posted 15:36 12th January 2013
melkdave says...
First off id like to say just how flatering the scoreline is to Cardiff.Toulon won the game easily,made the subsitutions ect,anfd just turned off.Still my favourites to lift the trophy at the end,Toulon had to much power,to much class and guile for Cardiff,who looked what theyare atm,a team rebuilding,that looks lost at times.
Posted 15:30 12th January 2013