Toulon V Leinster - How they compare
Have made a change at loosehead from the quarter-final win over Wasps, dropping Alexandre Menini to the bench after he was penalised four times by George Clancy in a scrum-heavy contest. Xavier Chiocci comes in and is a more reliable operator.
On the other side, Carl Hayman continues to be a massive presence although his Wasps opponent Matt Mullan held his own with the former All Black. Last weekend, Toulon’s scrum demolished Grenoble’s in a 35-24 win. 3.5/5
Cian Healy retains his place at loosehead from the quarter-final win over Bath and packs down in an experienced Test front row with Sean Cronin and Mike Ross. The Leinster scrum will be looking to send a message in the early engagements that they can be a match for the Toulon pack and will not be dominated.
That means sending the right messages also to referee Wayne Barnes, not the Irish front row’s best friend in the recent Six Nations. Leinster need a good, clean, strong start. 3.5/5
In Bakkies Botha and Ali Williams, Toulon have a veteran, World Cup-winning second row still operating at the highest level in the lineout in defence and attack. Massive strength and Botha in particular has great technique to disrupt oppostion ball.
On their own ball, if allowed to set as they please, they can punish with their driving lineout. This season, Toulon have won 92 per cent of their lineout ball. 3/5
Forwards coach Leo Cullen’s lineout outfit has an 86 per cent success rate in Europe this season but are missing Wallaby second row Kane Douglas, with Mike McCarthy retaining his place alongside Devin Toner from the win over Bath.
Leinster had a couple of wobbles against the English side, their ball stolen twice, while once stealing Bath’s with Jamie Heaslip an excellect back-row lineout operator. 3/5
ith poachers of the quality of Chris Masoe and Mathieu Bastareaud, with Steffon Armitage kept in reserve, Toulon have the personnel on the field and from off the bench to disrupt Leinster ball at the ruck throughout the 80 minutes.
And if they don’t force turnover ball they are mighty good at slowing it down, which has the capacity to ruin Leinster’s attacking tempo and reduce their try-scoring ability. Very, very dangerous. 4/5
Have registered the best breakdown success rate in Europe this season at 97 percent but will need to bring the intensity like never before if they are to counteract Toulon and lay the ghost of a poor performance in this area in last season’s quarter-final between the two sides.
Leinster have to maintain quick ball so they need their cleaners in quickly and strongly to stay on the front foot. 3.5/5
In Leigh Halfpenny, Toulon have the most consistent goal kicker in Europe, currently leading the competition this season with an 83 percent success rate, having converted 29 of 35 attempts at goal.
Veteran fly-half Frederic Michalak is not afraid to kick from hand and in wings Bryan Habana and Delon Armitage they possess excellent kick-chase exponents, the latter also providing a goal-kicking option from long-range with his prodigious boot. 4/5
Ian Madigan’s six penalties from six attempts won the game for Leinster against Bath and the Blues’ inside centre tops the competition charts for most successful kicks, 36 from 46 attempts, a 78 percent success rate.
Against a Toulon team which averages 12 penalties conceded per European game this season, that could prove telling, particularly if they play as Bath did and prove adept at killing ball rather than risking the concession of tries. Tactically, Leinster and fly-half Jimmy Gopperth in particular must kick cleverly out of hand to keep the ball away from Toulon hands and risk their powerful backline running at their defence, causing havoc. 4/5
This is a powerful, physical Toulon backline that loves to go wide but is equally happy to just run straight at defences and offload, averaging a tournament-leading 17.7 per game this season compared to Leinster’s 5.3.
They will score tries for fun if allowed the chance and the space to run, although they were kept tryless by Munster in last season’s semi-final at the same stadium. 4/5
The biggest gripe against Matt O’Connor’s side this season has been their attacking prowess although any team left without Sexton, Nacewa and O’Driscoll would struggle to match previous heights.
Went tryless against Bath in the quarters, which reduced their try-per-game average in Europe this season to 1.9 compared to Toulon’s 3.0. Leinster need the quick, clean ball as outlined above to maintain their desired high tempo and give themselves the opportunities to score because they have the players in their backline to do damage. 3/5
Their high penalty concession rate has been mentioned previously as has their excellent defensive work at the collision area but Toulon do concede points, leading the Top14 but with more points against than all but two of the other top eight sides.
Leinster have to exploit that. 3.5/5
While Toulon leak tries, they score more than they concede and Leinster have to stem the tide, which means employing aggressive line speed to get in their faces, limit their decision-making time and force mistakes.
The worse thing they can do is allow the French club to pick up a head of speed and run at the Leinster defensive line. And that means from the first whistle of both halves, because Toulon start both strongly, outscoring Leinster 13 tries to four in the first 20 minutes of each half. Defence has to be Leinster’s strongest weapon but it wasn’t against Bath, who outscored them two tries to nil. 3/5
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