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.