Toulon look to French lessons in bid to upset Leinster

Toulon and Scotland scrum-half Ben White knows many of the Leinster players from being part of last summer's Lions tour of Australia

Toulon defeated Glasgow Warriors to set up Saturday's Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

As a Scotland player, Ben White knows all about the agonies of facing a Leinster-backboned Ireland side but the Toulon scrum-half is banking on his French team-mates’ more pleasurable experiences to unlock the secret of claiming victory in this Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final.

White, a Test player since 2022, has been part of a Scotland set-up that has repeatedly been unable to crack the code, playing in five of the last six defeats to Ireland, the most recent reverses in a miserable losing run which started in 2017. Last month’s 43-21 loss was the latest Six Nations disappointment at Aviva Stadium as Caelan Doris lifted the Triple Crown on a final day of the championship when the Scots found themselves in the long-awaited position of being in the hunt for a trophy.

Yet as Toulon prepare to visit Dublin in their first Champions Cup semi-final appearance since their galactico predecessors beat Leinster in extra time in Marseille 11 years ago en route to their third successive title, their scrum-half is preferring to lean on club-mates Charles Ollivon, Jean-Baptiste Gros and Baptiste Serin, all of whom played their part in France’s 36-14 demolition of the Irish in Paris at the beginning of February, 11 months on from a comprehensive 47-21 romp at the Aviva.

“It's predominantly the same players,” White said of the Leinster team Toulon will face on Saturday for a final berth in Bilbao on May 23.

“It's a large bulk of them and they get to play with each other a lot, and they're very cohesive in the way that they play. So, yeah, we've spoken around what worked for the France boys and using their experience in those big games against Ireland.

“We're trying to implement some of those things. But a lot of it is about how we want to impose ourselves on the game, what we want to focus on, how we want to attack and defend and if we can play our game and do that, then we have a good chance as well. So, not focusing too much (on Leinster).

“The last couple of weeks, we've put a lot of focus on how we're training, how we're playing and being really close-knit as a group and I think that will hold us in good stead going into these big games.” 

White is grateful for the time spent in the company of many of those Leinster players he toured with to Australia last summer, as a call-up to Andy Farrell’s British & Irish Lions squad which beat the Wallabies 2-1. The Scottish number nine joined the tour as cover for the injured Tomos Williams and played three tour matches but it was his time on the training field that impressed him just as much.

“I guess one of the things that I was really impressed with was just the connection that the Irish boys have,” White said.

“They've been playing together for a long time and they're very habitual in the way that they play. They're very connected and their connection is probably one of their biggest strengths.

“Obviously, playing with some of those Irish boys, you got to feel the way that they hit rucks and were physical in that area. The speed of ball that it gave you off the back of that was obviously nice to play with.

“On the flip side of that, you know that it's a massive part of the game and if we can control that part of the game, it will give us a good chance.

“That battle there is going to be a big contest.” 

So too White’s upcoming head-to-head with Lions Test starter and Leinster linchpin Jamison Gibson-Park.

“Jamo is a great player,” the Toulon star said. “Got to spend some time with him in the summer and see how he operates. He's a very skilful player and it's always a great opportunity to go up against a top player like Jamo.

“It's just about being in control of the team, not necessarily as individuals, but if we can impose ourselves physically and be controlled around the ruck, be controlled in our defensive structures and then with the ball, if we're dominant in that area and we can play fast and get on top of teams, we can play the style of rugby that we want to play.

“It's all about just that collectiveness and togetherness in our attack and defence, which is something we've been working on.”