Toulouse’s slip only a minor blip ahead of Dublin mission

All things — good and bad — come to an end. So it was, on the first Saturday in April, six days after they had defeated Racing 92 in the Champions Cup quarter-final, by a single point and with 14 players, Toulouse’s record-breaking unbeaten domestic run finally hit the rocks, against Toulon.

They had, admittedly, rested several players — including Jerome Kaino, Sofiane Guitoune, Richie Gray, Yoann Huget, and Charlie Faumuina — following the heroics of their European success. But they looked leg-weary, brain-numb and off-the-pace.