It was the first time RC Toulon had conceded 35 points at home all season, and that had clearly touched a nerve for the home side, despite Toulon's 72-42 win over Saracens.
Despite a much-changed XV, Saracens were the ones to start the quickest at the Stade Mayol. When Facundo Isa fumbled a catch for Toulon dangerously close to his side’s in-goal, Saracens’ Juan Martin Gonzalez was on hand to punish the hosts and crossed after just three minutes.
Toulon were straight back at Saracens, though, with Jiuta Wainiqolo finding space to break through and bring his side level just two minutes later.
But the frantic first 10 minutes weren’t over, as Nick Tompkins fended off the last-ditch Toulon tackles to grab the lead back.
And Sarries’ continued press soon bore fruit. The ball soon found its way to Olly Hartley after it was smartly fed out the back of a scrum, and he duly sliced through the Toulonnais defence to cross under the posts.
It was another defensive blunder that led to the English side’s fourth and Gonzalez’s second to give Saracens a commanding lead just over 20 minutes in.
The English side then continued to beat a shocked Toulon side while they were down when captain Van Zyl led by example to score the side’s fifth.
But this must have ignited the Toulon fire, and the French side upped the level in the final 10.
Stade Mayol found itself on its feet twice in the closing stages, first when Isa made amends for his earlier error before Melvyn Jaminet found himself in space on the wing to cut the gap to two tries.
A dominant start to the second half was welcomed by the home crowd, and Brian Alainu’uese set the hosts on the right tracks from the get-go.
Sustained Toulon pressure kept Saracens under the cosh, and French efforts were rewarded just before the hour mark.
The tries then just kept on coming for Toulon when Isa got his second and third to complete his hat-trick and Toulon’s comeback, much to Mayol’s delight.
Leicester Fainga’anuku added another a minute later before Saracens’ Jamie Hadfield reduced the deficit in response.
But that didn’t affect Toulon’s attacks. Back Jaminet soon grabbed his third score of the afternoon before Baptiste Serin finished a hurried move down the right to cement the comeback, if there were any doubts at that stage.
Setariki Tuicuvu wrapped up the afternoon with the French side’s tenth just before the final whistle.
RC Toulon now have a home quarter-final to look forward to next week. They will welcome either Stade Toulousain or Sale Sharks.
Scorers:
RC Toulon: Tries: Jiuta Wainiqolo, Facundo Isa (3), Melvyn Jaminet (2), Brian Alainu'uese, Leicester Fainga'anuku, Baptiste Serin, Setariki Tuicuvu. Conversions: Melvyn Jaminet (8). Penalties: Melvyn Jaminet (2).
Saracens: Tries: Juan Martin Gonzalez, Nick Tompkins, Olly Hartley, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Ivan van Zyl, James Hadfield. Conversions: Fergus Burke (6).
Teams
RC Toulon: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 13 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12 Jérémy Sinzelle, 11 Gabin Villiere, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Ben White, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Esteban Abadie, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 David Ribbans (c), 4 Matthias Halagahu, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros. Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Brian Alainu’uese, 20 Matteo le Corvec, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Marius Domon, 23 Setariki Tuicuvu.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Angus Hall, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl (c), 8 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Eroni Mawi. Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Louie Johnson, 23 Brandon Jackson-Richards.