BRAVE SCARLETS LOSE TO TOULOUSE
The Heineken Cup holders scored seven-tries in a powerful perfromance that will leave their Pool rivals feeling nervous about their up coming meetings, and a show that will send a clear message to rest of the competition. On this display it will take something special to knock Toulouse off their throne and certainly far more than a workmanlike Scarlets side could muster. But it was the away side that took an early 6-0 lead through the boot of Gareth Bowen.
This only served to awaken the huge Toulouse pack who gained the hard yards before outside-half Jean-Frederic Dubois chipped through for full-back Clement Poitrenaud to score the game’s first try. Jean-Baptiste Elissalde added a tricky conversion from the right touchline, making up for an earlier penalty miss, and soon after extended the lead with a penalty and a conversion of Jean Bouilhou’s try, when an inside pass sent the flanker over under the posts.
Toulouse soon added a third converted try, as Yannick Jauzion made the break in midfield and the French put the ball through the hands to send Thomas over for the try he craved. But right at the end of the half James gave the Scarlets something to hang on to, the wing following up to score after Regan King hacked on a loose ball.
However, it took Toulouse just seven minutes after the restart to claim their fourth try, and a bonus point, as a catch-and-drive from a lineout sent hulking number eight Isitolo Maka over. When Dubois scored under the posts soon after, gathering a chip over what few Scarlets defenders were still on their feet, the feeling was that it was now just a matter of how many Toulouse would score.
The Scarlets refused to lie down, though, and replacement lock Louw barrelled through to give the visitors a glimmer of hope. But normal service was resumed as Elissalde broke from his own 22 to send Cedric Heymans over, before Florian Fritz raced down the right wing to bring up the 50 points and conclude the scoring.
