Toulon turn over Leinster in European Champions Cup
By Rob Mulhern
Last Updated: 13/12/15 7:37pm
Euopean champions Toulon turned over Leinster 24-9 in rainy conditions at Stade Felix Mayol.
Leinster travelled as outsiders but they started brightly in grey conditions to lead 6-0 after only five minutes of the Champions Cup Pool 5 clash on Sunday.
It was nearly the perfect start for Blues against European kingpins further bolstered by the addition of All Black Ma'a Nonu.
But Leinster were soon back-pedalling and the pace of their retreat was boosted greatly by their own indiscipline.
Over the 80 minutes, referee Nigel Owens, sent Cian Healy, Devon Toner and Tom Denton to the sin bin - something that steepened the incline of their challenge significantly.
The nature of their indiscipline as well as the inaccuracy of their execution will be particularly hard to take for Blues coach Leo Cullen.
Because for all their stars, and the debut of Nonu, Toulon never really sparkled.
That adjective should not take from their efficiency elsewhere however, because at set scrum, rolling maul and at the breakdown, Toulon were tops.
Time after time, they turned over Leinster on the floor.
And each steal took a bite out of the visitors' challenge.
On another day, Johnny Sexton may have capitalised on the good work of his team-mates and Toulon's stuttering momentum. But the former Racing playmaker and Ireland star was out of sorts, missing passes and kicking possession dead on so many occasions that he looked, well, very un-Sexton like.
After his two successful penalty efforts, Toulon hit back with a rolling maul that steamrolled its way over the Leinster line and it was Steffon Armitage who emerged from the pile of bodies.
Escande converted to put the home side 7-6 in front.
Escande and Sexton then traded penalties and the Blues were still very much in the game at the break after somehow weathering Healy's sin-binning.
But two more Eric Escande penalties put a converted score between the teams (16-9) in the third quarter as Leinster's indiscipline began to toll.
Feeling the squeeze up front, the Blues replaced their entire front row - only a steady scrum was no counter for the battles at the breakdown and here, Leinster lost badly.
With Devon Toner sent to the sin bin, their lineout began to misfire and the penalty count continued to tick in Toulon's favour.
The hosts appeared home and hosed in the third quarter. Not even the dancing feet of Luke Fitzgerald could rescue the campaign.
And just to confound their errors, Tom Denton reduced his side's quota with another sin-binning, then Steffon Armitage rumbled over for the game's final score.