French captain Antoine Dupont inspired classy Stade Toulousain to a 48-24 win over Ulster Rugby in a round 3 Champions Cup match.
The victory secured Stade Toulousain passage to the knockout stage as they search for a record-extending sixth title in EPCR’s elite competition, and all but ensured they will have home advantage in the Round of 16.
Dupont was inspired, playing a major role in several of the TOP14 club’s seven tries – two of which he scored himself – as they secured a third bonus-point win in three Investec Champions Cup games.
Stade Toulousain crossed three times in the first period, with wing Matthis Lebel getting the first after he collected a cross-field kick from Thomas Ramos, playing at fly-half, who also converted.
Hooker Mauvaka got the second, and he was also involved with the third; Anthony Jelonch made a line-breaking run from deep, laying it off to Mauavka who produced a no-look pass to send scrum-half Antoine Dupont through.
A penalty from fly-half John Cooney had ensured that Ulster Rugby would not go in scoreless at the break, but a late surge of pressure saw hooker Tom Stewart reach for the line.
Cooney converted, and with Ramos kicking a penalty and two conversions the home side went into the halftime break 22-10 down.
However, within ten second half minutes the record five-time winners of EPCR’s elite competition extended their lead. It was Ramos again, who raced away after full-back Blair Kinghorn had split the Ulster Rugby defence.
Ramos was involved in Stade Toulousain’s fourth and fifth scores too, combining first with Mauvaka in a silky one-two move as the hooker grabbed his second before creating the space for the fifth try with an extraordinary switch pass, Number 8 Alexandre Roumat finishing the job.
Ramos added all three conversions, and by the 60th minute, Ulster Rugby found themselves 31 points down.
Ulster Rugby were not going to give up easily, and knowing a losing bonus point could be the difference maker in their quest to qualify for the Round of 16 they pushed until the end, picking up tries from replacement Will Addison and Number 8 Nick Timoney, both converted by replacement scrum-half Nathan Doak.
But it was Stade Toulousain who had the last say – lock Emmanuel Meafou powering over with the clock in the red, Kinghorn converting to put the cherry on top of the icing on the cake for the Investec Champions Cup hopefuls.
Ulster Rugby’s future in the competition will come down to their Round 4 tie at Harlequins next week, while Stade Toulousain will face Bath Rugby as they look to become top seeds for this year’s knockout stage in a showdown battle.
Scorers:
Ulster Rugby: Tom Stewart, Will Addison, Nick Timoney. Conversions: John Cooney, Nathan Doak (2). Penalty: Nathan Doak.
Stade Toulousain: Tries: Matthis Lebel, Peato Mauvaka (2), Antoine Dupont (2), Alexandre Roumat, Emmanuel Meafou. Conversions: Thomas Ramos (4), Blair Kinghorn. Penalty: Thomas Ramos.
Teams:
Ulster Rugby: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Matty Rea, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Will Addison.
Stade Toulousain: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Juan Cruz Mallia, 13 Dimitri Delibes, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Richie Arnold, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille. Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 David Ainu’u, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Joshua Brennan, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Paul Graou, 22 Santiago Chocobares, 23 Setareki Bituniyata
