Dubbed by many as a ‘David vs Goliath’ tie, Toulouse wasted no time in proving why they are one of the favourites to earn a would-be record seventh crown with a 64-21 win over Exeter Chiefs.
François Cros made valuable ground through Exeter bodies unable to cope with his strength before the ball was eventually offloaded to a charging Dupont who swooped in to touch down.
French dominance in the collective actions was further proved when, following a dangerously positioned line-out, Julien Marchand was the one to force it into touch for the visitors.
Pierre-Louis Barassi was the star of Toulouse’s third as his blistering run carved straight through much of the Exeter calvary. When he was eventually torn down, Matthis Lebel was lying in wait to breach the Chiefs backline once more.
The home side did not let this get them down, however, and they struck back just minutes later through Tommy Wyatt. Cleverly shadowing the run of his teammates, he snuck in behind to collect the offload and touch down.
Toulouse soon found their rhythm again though, with Thibaud Flament waltzing down the right flank to end a well-worked move, sealing the bonus points before the halfway point.
Their assault on the Chiefs was not over, as Pierre-Louis Barassi charged through to secure a deserved fifth Toulouse try before heading in for the break leading 35-08.
The domination was quick to continue when the two sides reappeared after the break. Lebel made the most of a gaping hole on the left wing to prance home for his second and Toulouse’s sixth.
Now only motivated by a possible four-try bonus point, the Chiefs quickly got one back in a similar fashion to Lebel’s three minutes before. It was Tommy Wyatt who touched down after he found himself in ample space down the left.
Chiefs’ quest for the bonus point took another step forward when Josh Hodge cleverly kicked a pass into his own path which he gladly leapt on when he re-met it in touch.
But it was too little, too late for Exeter who, being on the receiving end of five second-half tries from their visitors, were understandably unable to deal with the reigning champions’ might.
Stade Toulousain beat Exeter Chiefs 21-64 with ten tries to the three scored by the Chiefs.
Scorers:
Exeter Chiefs: Tries: Tommy Wyatt (2), Josh Hodge. Conversions: Henry Slade (3).
Stade Toulousain: Tries: Antoine Dupont, François Cros, Matthis Lebel (2), Thibaud Flament, Pierre-Louis Barassi (2), Théo Ntamack, Blair Kinghorn, Paul Graou. Conversions: Thomas Ramos (7).
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Ben Hammersley, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Tommy Wyatt, 10 Henry Slade, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Jacques Vermeulen (c), 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Richard Capstick, 4 Rus Tuima, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke. Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Greg Fisilau, 21 Will Becconsall, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Zack Wimbush.
Stade Toulousain: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Juan-Cruz Mallia, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Jack Willis, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Rodrigue Neti. Replacements: 16 Guillaume Cramont, 17 David Ainu’u, 18 Joel Merkler, 19 Joshua Brennan, 20 Théo Ntamack, 21 Mathis Castro-Ferreira, 22 Paul Graou, 23 Blair Kinghorn.