Toulouse relishing the chance to settle old score

TOULOUSE are relishing their Heineken Cup semi-final appointment with Munster on Saturday, April 26, and they reckon, like Munster did with Leicester, they have an old score to settle.

Guy Noves, who has coached Toulouse for all eight Heineken Cup seasons, described the match as "a dream come true", particularly as it offers a chance of retribution for their defeat to Munster three years ago in Bordeaux at the same stage of the competition.

Despite Munster's momentum this season and their impressive record on French soil, Noves has vowed his side will be no walkover.

"For us, it's the semi-final we dreamed of to play Munster," Noves said yesterday. "We haven't reached this stage of the competition since our catastrophic performance in the spring of 2000 against Munster in Bordeaux. The Irish team hadn't yet reached the level they are at now but even then they showed their potential.

"While Toulouse went to sleep following that defeat, Munster went on the rampage and destroyed all the French teams that stood in their path, even on French soil."

Toulouse, who won the inaugural Cup in 1996, looked impressive in their 32-16 victory over Northampton at Le Stadium de Toulouse last Saturday. The inaugural European Cup winners scored tries through Christian Labit and Cedric Heymans, while Yann Delaigue added 16 points with the boot and Frederic Michalak also kicked two penalties.

Toulouse, who topped Pool Five, defeated London Irish, Newport and Edinburgh. However, their 100% record was dented in the final group outing with a defeat to Conor O'Shea's Zurich Premiership side.

Noves is well aware of the Munster mindset, especially after their witnessing their success against Heineken Cup champions Leicester at Welford Road and the contribution of players from the province to Ireland's bid for Grand Slam glory.

"Two thirds of the Munster team are Irish internationals so they will be a huge obstacle in our way," he admits. "While Perpignan did very well to beat Llanelli, Munster achieved an enormous feat in beating double Heineken Cup champions Leicester on Sunday. And we know how determined Leicester were to lift the Cup for a third time.

"So, we have a huge challenge ahead of us we must get revenge for Bordeaux and become one of the first French teams to beat Munster."

He said the threat of an all-Irish final is another motivating factor.

"I can't imagine the Heineken Cup final will take place in Dublin without an Irish team, which is why I think it will be very difficult for Perpignan to beat Leinster.

"That means it is down to us to prevent it being an all-Irish affair and you can rest assured we won't play the way we did three years ago.

"If Munster get to the final they will deserve it because we certainly won't be a walkover."

Meanwhile, as whatever celebrations Munster allowed themselves after beating Leicester came to a hasty end this morning with a return to hard training, captain Jim Williams admitted to having his eyes opened when he settled into training with his new colleagues at the start of last season.

He said: "What I found was as much a family group as a rugby team.

"It was something I hadn't really experienced before and at this stage won't experience again. But it has been very special."

Williams is elated this season's targets have been achieved: "It's a very special feeling to have beaten Leicester and it's a sign of how much this team is capable of.

"Quite honestly, I'm proud to play alongside them. There are some quite remarkable personalities in this team.

"We found ourselves playing against the European champions on their home patch but even the youngsters weren't fazed by that.

"There was a steel-like determination that I have never seen even in my best days in the southern hemisphere."

Williams praised the Munster defence, saying: "That was the first point of our attack and we managed to put them under huge pressure as a result. People may point to the number of mistakes Leicester made but I would argue we forced them into a lot of them.

"Leicester are past masters are slowing opposition possession down but it didn't work for them because we were very focused on the cleaning out process. We took a very aggressive attitude and we managed to do the opposite, slow them down."

Munster hooker Frankie Sheahan has had a fair share of criticism for his lineout throwing but the statistics suggest he had a great day.

"The aim is to win all of our own ball and I think we lost just one throw. They lost a lot more. That was all down to the competitive way lads like Donncha (O'Callaghan), Paul (O'Connell) and Alan (Quinlan) approached the contest."

When Munster fell 7-6 down midway through the second half, Sheahan revealed there was absolutely no panic in the ranks: "You would think there should be but it wasn't the case. In general, things had been going well for us and we looked upon the try as one single setback. We were determined to go back up the pitch and score."

Coach Alan Gaffney yesterday said his side knew all last week they had to be totally focused and in control to beat Leicester.

And he reckons it will be more of the same against Toulouse.

"That will certainly be the case again in two weeks' time," he said. "They have been to the forefront of the competition since it began and they have proved themselves over and over again this season.

"The challenge will be equally as big as it was in Leicester but the value of beating the champions is to know we are capable of winning the big matches, the tight ones."