Toulouse took advantage of an early Sale red card to come away as clear victors at the AJ Bell Stadium. In a game that was predicted to be a toughly fought match up of international stars, the French side have well and truly come out on top.
Guided by international halfbacks, Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, Toulouse started to strut their stuff after a shaky first 20 minutes. 27 unanswered points later, mainly from the pinpoint accurate boot of Mathieu Jaminet, saw the former European Champions stride well ahead of the English side.
Their dominance from the second half onwards could be argued to have been a direct result of Cobus Wiese’s red card. The second row came flying in with a no-arms clear out when attempting to win the ball back for Sale. Unfortunately for Wiese, he came into contact with the Toulouse players head, resulting in no other option for the referee than to provide him with a red card.
Cobus Wiese is shown a red card for a dangerous clear out at the ruck 🟥
An uphill task for @SaleSharksRugby now… #HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/McSx0bMAvp
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) January 14, 2023
Easy red card. Nasty.
Cobus Wiese sent off.#HeinekenChampionsCup #SALvTOU pic.twitter.com/DoY6l8eFo3
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) January 14, 2023
The red card proved disasterous for the Manchester based side, with Toulouse starting to find gaps all around the park.
.@SaleSharksRugby really feeling the pressure of being a man down
Toulouse running away with it now as they get their second try of the match 🏉#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/2OuYhNiDiu
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) January 14, 2023
End result: Sale 5-27 Toulouse
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