Boudjellal: Toulon can dominate Europe for years to come

Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal wants his team to beat Leinster at the Stade Félix Mayol this weekend to confirm their arrival as giants of European rugby.

Boudjellal, who made his millions from Marvel-style comics and then dedicated himself to taking his hometown back to the top of French rugby, also claimed it was the biggest game in the club’s history. Although he made the same claim twice last year — ahead of the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leicester and final against Clermont — he added that a positive result against Toulon would reward their fans with a ‘home’ semi-final.

“For me, this is the most important game in the history of RCT [Rugby Club Toulon] because the European Cup did not exist at the time of the great teams of the RCT,” he told Toulon newspaper Var Matin.

“I’ll give you a scoop: the score will not be 60-5. It will be very tight. Today, we want to beat Leinster to provide a second party for our supporters. It would be a semi-final of the Heineken Cup at the Stade Vélodrome, 60km from home. It has never happened before.

“Then, we want to confirm there are no European champions by chance and we are able to dominate European rugby. I’m not saying it will happen, but we want to show that Toulon has the dimension to become a European giant.”

Boudjellal is confident his side will be ready for the challenge Leinster will offer. Victory over Toulouse last weekend, despite resting many frontline players, has left them second in the Top14 and confidence is oozing through his side. “If we lose, I think we should forget the place in the top six,” he said despite three regular season games still to play.

“On Saturday (against Toulouse), we played without Bruno, Sheridan, Botha, Williams, Masoe, Wilkinson, Giteau. Bastareaud played despite having backache. Which team can win by being deprived of such players? Us, we did.”

Italian prop Castro Giovanni looks to have recovered from broken ribs suffered in the Six Nations three weeks ago, though fellow front row Census Johnston has been ruled out with a neck complaint.