Toulouse respond in style
By Andy Clarke
Last Updated: 01/01/70 1:00am
Toulouse bounced back from their defeat to Ulster with a fine victory over London Irish.
Toulouse 37-17 London Irish, Heineken Cup Pool 5, Sunday October 29
London Irish face the prospect of an early elimination from the Heineken Cup after they went down to a 37-17 defeat to Toulouse at the Stade Ernest Wallon.
Toulouse, beaten heavily by Ulster in their opening match, got their campaign back on track thanks to tries from Yannick Jauzion, Xavier Garbajosa and Florin Fritz.
Substitute forward Jean-Francois Montauriol then barged over in injury time to secure a bonus point for the French club.
The Exiles, who scored tries through Delon Armitage and lock Kieran Roche, now know they have to win their remaining four games and even that may not be enough.
The Guinness Premiership club lost their opener to Llanelli Scarlets last weekend and their second successive defeat leaves them bottom of Pool Five.
Their preparations were hit by an injury to Riki Flutey, who could be out for a month with a groin strain, but they battled hard and the final margin of victory was a little harsh on them.
Indeed, the visitors caught Toulouse cold with a try in the second minute as wing Topsy Ojo skipped past some weak tackling before Roche delivered the telling pass for Armitage to score.
The angled run from Armitage left Barry Everitt a simple conversion for a 7-0 lead, but the French side responded quickly with a try of their own after Jean-Baptiste Elissalde had slotted a penalty.
A slick passing move between Cedric Heymans and Fritz created the opening for Jauzion to round off an inventive attacking move.
Elissalde added the extras and then eased his side 13-7 in front with his second penalty of the afternoon.
Toulouse were now in the ascendancy and they crafted another excellent try for Garbajosa, who sprinted over unopposed.
Once more Elissalde converted, although Everitt soon stopped the rot with a penalty for the Exiles.
The visitors were disrupted by an injury to Mike Catt early in the second half and Toulouse took full advantage when a magnificent off-load from Gareth Thomas sent Fritz through for a try which Elissalde improved.
Irish grabbed a second try through the hard-working Roche, which Armitage converted, and Toulouse were pegged back when Heymans was sin-binned for killing possession.
However, Elissalde's third successful penalty and Montauriol's close-range effort calmed their nerves, sealing an anticipated victory that put them back on course in Europe.
