Sunday, April 29, 2012
Toulon through to Challenge Cup final after nail-biting win over Stade Francais
Jonny Wilkinson kicked a last minute drop goal to secure an Amlin Challenge Cup final spot for Toulon as they beat Stade Francais 32-29 in an enjoyable semi final on Friday night. They will face Biarritz in the final after they beat Brive 19-0 in the other semi.
Toulon got off to an incredible start as Steffon Armitage scored down the left wing, but Stade Francais came back into the match through their young number ten Jules Plisson.
The Parisian side then led the game for most of the half, and scored a try in the second period through former Wallaby Morgan Turinui, who had George Smith as his centre partner on the night.
Wilkinson steered Toulon home though, picking up a personal tally of 27 points and kicking the decisive drop goal with time almost up and the scores tied at 29-29. The former England hero missed a few kicks on the night, attributing that to the conditions.
"It was very tricky out there with the wind. It was disappointing as well because had I put a couple of the other kicks over then maybe we might found ourselves with a lead," he said.
"As it was they just kept getting back into the game, playing brilliantly and forced us to go right to the end. It could have gone either way. I missed a couple off the tee and I thought with the drop goal at the end that if I miss this I might not go back into the changing room afterwards.
"I thought the guys deserved better than this after working so hard to get the penalties - I should have put a few more over. All you can do is keep fighting towards the end and keep trying to do the right thing. I was trying to think clearly about the process, of where I was on the field.
"I was thinking about what I was trying to go and getting the right contact and visualising in my mind what needed to be done to try to make it more said and done deal. You try to line the physical thing with what you put in your head before hand and thankfully that went well."
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Posted at 7:50 pm | 13 comments
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Viewing 13 comments
Number11 April 29, 2012 9:20 pm
Antonio V April 29, 2012 10:03 pm
cool calm and collected April 29, 2012 10:19 pm
Perfect for taking on the big, beastly SA back rowers!
The only problem is where do put Robshaw? the current captain!
On current form I do not see any reason why Steffon Armitage will not make the lions team! its never too late.
convey April 29, 2012 10:53 pm
stroudos April 30, 2012 11:07 am
He is absolutely the type of natural openside that's currently missing from the England team. I hope Lancaster et al can find a way of getting him into that role. Would be a tough break for one of Robshaw, Wood or Croft, but surely having the best players in their best positions takes priority. And any of those three can make a decent contribution from the bench anyway.
thunor April 30, 2012 1:29 pm
So, hopefully he gets a place, but perhaps not starting.
Given his sevens pedigree, decent kicking and good handling skills, I think he could probably also play in the backs at outside centre too. Good to have that sort of flexibility.
stroudos April 30, 2012 5:32 pm
Robshaw's arguably better at blindside anyway, but that's obviously tough on Wood and Croft especially who seemed to be getting back to his old form in the six nations. Ben Morgan has quickly installed himself as easily the best option at Number 8. Haskell coming back with a load of Super Rugby experience under his belt will be worth watching too.
The thing is none of the above represent a better choice at openside than Armitage.
Mind you, I must say I quite like the idea of a Steffon Armitage-Manu Tuilagi midfield!
Nick April 30, 2012 11:47 am
Transcendent commentary right there.
stroudos April 30, 2012 4:18 pm
TechnoMouse April 30, 2012 12:07 pm
Pretzel May 01, 2012 3:32 am
Unless of course the IRB has attempted to step backwards and revoke some of their "soft" decisions. Also enjoyed seeing the use of the boot in the ruck!
DBRowan May 01, 2012 3:00 pm
Pretzel May 02, 2012 7:26 am
Again, I must reiterate that I have no desire whatsoever to see this sort of tackle penalised/punished etc, however I am merely stating that it is surprising that it was not pinged. However I suppose incidents on the pitch are judged by what happens not "what could have happened!"
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