Toulouse open Champions Cup campaign with 61-21 thrashing of Ulster / Photo: © AFP
Toulouse open Champions Cup campaign with 61-21 thrashing of Ulster
Defending champions Toulouse produced a stunning opening to their Champions Cup campaign as they hammered Ulster 61-21 in Pool 1 on Sunday while fellow French pretenders Bordeaux-Begles saw off English side Leicester 42-28.
Six-times champions Toulouse, who led 40-14 at halftime, ran in nine tries at a packed Stade Ernest-Wallon to take a bous point with French stars Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack both touching down.
There were also two tries each for France lock Emmanuel Meafou and Italy wing Angel Capuozzo, the others coming from Matthis Lebel, Santiago Chocobares and a last minute penalty try.
Ulster, the 1999 champions, dotted down three times but missed out on a fourth which would have netted them a bonus point.
Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said it was a "disappointing" performance ahead of next week's meeting with Bordeaux-Begles in Belfast.
"That's not a good enough performance for the Ulster jersey," Murphy told Premier Sports.
"We'll take a really hard look at ourselves and try and get ourselves right for next week."
Bordeaux, sitting second in the Top 14 behind Pool 1 rivals Toulouse, ran in six tries in total in the win over Leicester. Ex-Wallaby No 8 Pete Samu scored two with France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert converting them all.
Leicester lock Harry Wells burrowed over for the game's opening try in a high-tempo first 10 minutes of an entertaining match.
Samu hit straight back for the home side, showing a clean pair of heels from 40 metres after a clever inside ball from Jalibert.
Leicester regained the lead at a sell-out 32,000-capacity Stade Chaban-Delmas when Josh Bassett touched down in the corner.
Guido Petti scored from a lineout, the Argentina lock taking a short ball and squirming past Joe Heyes. French lock Come Joussain then scored to leave Leicester 21-14 up at the break.
Bordeaux came out a different side in the second period, France back Louis Bielle-Barrey crossing for a double either side of a second try for Samu within 10 ultimately decisive minutes.
Nicolas Depoortere then got Bordeaux's sixth.
Leicester left France with an attacking bonus point, however, as Australian centre Izaia Perese grabbed his team's fourth try with the final move of the game.
"With the weapons in our armoury, we made it happen and we ‘killed’ them when we had to," said Bordeaux captain Maxime Lucu.
"They wanted to break us down physically. They underestimated us a bit and we managed to keep our heads. We scored when we needed to."
Bristol host Leinster in Pool 2 in Sunday's late game.
(A.Stefanowych--DTZ)
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