Stade Toulousain Crushed Youthfull Hollywoodbets Sharks

 

Stade Toulousain kicked off their Investec Champions Cup campaign on a flying note on Sunday, as they outscored a youthful yet brave Hollywoodbets Sharks team by scoring eight tries to three for a convincing 56-19 victory at Stade Ernest Wallon in France.

The hosts completely dominated the match from the outset and left the KwaZulu-Natalian defence flustered as they ran in one try after another, and despite the visitors’ best efforts, they were unable to stop to flood of attack.

Such was their dominance, Toulouse crossed the tryline four times in the opening 23 minutes, and Thomas Ramos was on form with the boot, converting all of them, which handed the hosts an encouraging 28-0 lead.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks hit back with a try by Nick Hatton in the 25th minute, but with the conversion proving unsuccessful and the visitors being unable to break through the defence again before halftime, they found themselves trailing by 28-5.

The Durbanites fought back after the break and scored a try by Ross Braude eight minutes into the second half to reduce their deficit to 28-12, and they showed character to hold them out until the fourth quarter; however, their defence again let them down toward the end of the match.

Toulouse put their enterprising and determined attack to good use to break away on the scoreboard, thanks to three tries in eight minutes, which secured Ange Capuozzo his hat-trick, with the Hollywoodbets Sharks scoring a consolation try by Le Roux Malan. But this was cancelled out on the stroke of full-time, as the hosts broke through for their eighth try to secure a well-deserved 56-19 victory.