Toulouse highlight need for Irish sides to rebuild
Toulouse 21 Biarritz 19
Toulouse's scrumhalf Byron Kelleher vies for the ball against Biarritz's centre Karmichael Hunt. Picture: Getty Images
It was nowhere near the spectacle ERC would have hoped for on their showpiece occasion of the year with the boot the order of the day in Paris.
Thirty-five of the 40 points scored came from kicks and, even though they were clearly superior for most of the day, Toulouse still managed to give themselves some nervous moments against a typically limited Biarritz side.
In many respects, Saturday's Heineken Cup final reminded us that the northern hemisphere continues to lag behind its southern counterpart for attacking intent, entertainment and running rugby. The primary philosophy in this part of the world remains defence, forcing mistakes by opponents and kicking or dropping goals to triumph on the scoreboard.
Toulouse tried to play some rugby, make something of it and live up to the occasion. But frankly, the final was often a boring, inferior product in which even the winners struggled to rise to the occasion. No wonder Toulouse coach Guy Noves wore the look afterwards of a distinctly unimpressed business manager who had just endured a pretty ordinary day at the office.
But there was another issue that emerged from this final that should cause furrowed brows in other European countries like Ireland. Beyond dispute, the power in European rugby has swung decisively to France and you only had to look at the squad Toulouse compiled for this final to see that point vividly emphasised.
To see players like Cedric Heymans, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, Louis Picamoles, Daan Human and Yann David -- just about all of whom would walk into the Ireland or England side -- sitting on the bench for most of the match, was a startling reminder that France possesses strength in depth beyond the wildest imaginations of others in the northern hemisphere.
Furthermore, clubs like Toulouse have the financial muscle to maintain and even enhance that situation. Munster, Leinster and the major English clubs do not.
The French challenge to the Irish, Welsh and English sides is going to get even tougher.
Big-spending Toulon will be even stronger. Ambitious Racing Metro are sure to strengthen over the summer while Toulouse and Clermont Auvergne will remain powerful. Add Perpignan and Castres and you have six very powerful French sides ready to battle in next season's Heineken Cup -- and Michael Cheika's new-look Stade Francais will surely come back stronger in 2011 after missing out on qualifying for next season's competition.
The problem facing Leinster and Munster is that they are both ageing teams, soon to require some serious rebuilding in key areas. Almost certainly, we have seen the best of wonderful players like Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy, David Wallace, John Hayes, Marcus Horan, Alan Quinlan and Leo Cullen.
Talent
But do the Irish provinces have the money to buy the sort of high-quality replacements that the French clubs can attract? If they don't, they are going to have to bring through their own young talent, but that is a long-term policy.
In one area alone -- and this was another strong warning to Irish rugby -- Saturday's decider was outstanding. The scrummaging of Toulouse was phenomenal: they utterly destroyed a Biarritz pack which was thought to be a threat in the set-piece. After all, Biarritz were much superior to Munster in that department in the semi-final.
This time, the bullies found themselves bullied. So much so that it became an embarrassment. This one phase of the play decided the game.
Which Irish side could have stood up to that sustained assault? None, I suspect. And that is another difficulty for Leinster and Munster as they plan their Heineken campaigns for next season for all the French clubs will be immensely powerful in this area.
So Toulouse became European champions for a record fourth time but they never came close to hitting the high notes always within their potential. They made too many mistakes, lacked sustained penetration and were frustrated by Biarritz's gameplan which involved little more than just frustrating them and hoping to kick penalties from the resulting errors.
To a degree, the plan worked as they twice led by six points but once Toulouse cranked up the pressure, their class won out with 15 points from out-half David Skrela decisive.
A fine try from Australian centre Karmichael Hunt, who is set to switch to playing Aussie Rules, got Biarritz back to within two points seven minutes from time, but they could not find a winning score in what would have been one of the great smash-and-grab raids in the competition's history.
"We weren't in the game for 55 minutes. We were very flat, we had no dynamism and were loose in tackles. A team like Toulouse will capitalise on that," said Biarritz's English Iain Balshaw afterwards.
"We had none of the abrasiveness we had against Munster in the semi-final -- our set-piece, by our standards, was not very good.
"I don't think Toulouse played particularly well, they just played smart. Their forwards, in the end, won them the game. I don't mind losing if you have given it your all and come second-best, but we under-performed and Toulouse took their chances. They were very methodical.
"We've got a good team, but we have been our own worst enemy this season. We've under-performed, and we have to address that in the summer."
Toulouse -- C Poitrenaud (C Heymans 69); V Clerc, F Fritz (Y David 71), Y Jauzion, M Medard; D Skrela, B Kelleher; J-B Poux (D Human 61), W Servat (A Basualdo 72), B Lecouls (C Johnston 64); R Millo-Chluski (Y Maestri 59), P Albacete; J Bouilhou, T Dustautoir, S Sowerby (L Picamoles 71).
Biarritz -- I Balshaw; T Ngwenya, K Hunt, A Mignardi, J-B Gobelet (P Bidabe 59); J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili (V Courrent 71); E Coetzee (F Barcella 51), B August (R Terrain 69), C Johnstone; J Thion, T Hall (M Carizza 60); M Lund, W Lauret (F Faure 60) I Harinordoquy.
Ref -- Wayne Barnes (Eng).
- Peter Bills
Irish Independent
