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Toulon player ratings vs Glasgow | 2023 Challenge Cup final

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Toulon player ratings live from Aviva Stadium: Ten years on from their maiden Heineken Champions Cup title in their still unrivalled three-in-a-row success, Toulon were back in Dublin on Friday night looking to become second-tier champions for the first time.

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Showpiece defeats to Bristol and Lyon in recent times had given the French club a sharp reminder that life has very much changed from their days of ruling Europe with the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Bakkies Botha and Matt Giteau heading up a galaxy of bright and shining stars.

They still like household names on their books. Just look at the presence of Cheslin Kolbe, Dan Biggar and Sergio Parisse in this class of 2023, along with stand-out locals such as Gabin Villiere, Baptiste Serin and Charles Ollivon.

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However, with the club having not contested a Top 14 final since 2017 and with the cloth now cut differently at the club in this post-Mourad Boudjellal era, mid-table league campaigns have become a habit as evident in their latest eighth-place effort with one match remaining.

Winning the Challenge Cup, then, was a must in front of a 31,514 attendance and they turned up in rude health, unlike the last time they were in Dublin when their April 2021 round-of-16 match was cancelled at Leinster to leave them eliminated from the Champions Cup.

Despite losing Dan Biggar to a failed HIA, everything else ran smoothly with Baptiste Serie the star of the show, scoring two first-half tries and assisting Sergio Parisse with the other for a commanding 21-0 advantage.

With the inaccurate Glasgow continuing to repeatedly kick penalties to touch on the resumption and not at the posts to chip into the gap, there was never going to be a revival and the second half was a question of how much the winning margin would be.

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Twenty-four was the answer, Toulon enjoying second-half tries from Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo, Waisea Vuidravuwalu and Ihaia West to head off some consolation Glasgow tries and confirm an impressive 43-19 victory. Here are the Toulon player ratings:

15. Cheslin Kolbe – 8.5
Came to the club as a 2021 double-winner with Toulouse, he now has more silverware on the back of a solid performance where his frills were his early second-half try-saving tackle on Sebastian Cancelliere followed by a peach of a 50:22 and then a try assist pass. Another crunching tackle on Cancelliere followed later on.

14. Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo – 7
The young Fijian had been in the finishing form of his life this term and it showed with his classy finish on 58, stepping in off his line and gliding through the cover. That intervention made sweet amends for his mishap just minutes earlier when buying a dummy from the try-scoring Kyle Steyn.

13. Waisea Vuidravuwalu – 8.5
Snapped up after a decade at Stade Francais, his highlight was the terrific carry to create Toulon’s try, accelerating with panache in between two would-be Glasgow tacklers. Loved the enthusiasm. Loved the hair, too. Deservedly rewarded with a 64th-minute try.

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12. Duncan Paia’aua – 6 (Jeremy Sinzelle – 6.5)
One of the half-dozen players to start all three Challenge Cup finals with Toulon, and unfortunate dunt in a collision with Sione Tuipulotu ended his evening on 32 minutes. Sinzelle, a summer signing from La Rochelle, didn’t let Toulon down after his entry.

11. Gabin Villiere – 6.5 (Mathieu Bastareaud – 6)
A star of the 2022 Grand Slam, injury wrecked his year and that frustration continued here as he didn’t return for the second half. Showed his value, though, when reacting first to a dangerous kick ahead that had Kolbe beaten with Glasgow trying to chisel into a 0-14 deficit. Bastareaud, the old centre, had been named as a sub forward, but he played in the midfield given the backline’s glut of injuries. Was given one sit-down by Sione Tuipulotu.

10. Dan Biggar – No rating (Ihaia West – 7)
On a day of headline Test retirements in Wales, the veteran out-half sadly lasted a mere four minutes and didn’t return after a failed HIA. His replacement was far from shabby, Ihaia West showing why he was a Champions Cup winner last term with La Rochelle. Delightfully rounded things off with his team’s sixth try.

9. Baptiste Serin – 9 (Benoit Paillaugue – 7)
Living in the shadow of Antione Dupont at Test level, but very much a club rock star and he took this contest by the scruff of the neck and had it killed by the 25th minute with two fine tries and a slick assist. His kick for the first was sweet and the dummy for his second score was top-drawer. As with Toulon’s other early bench introductions, Benoit Paillaugue didn’t disappoint with his half-time introduction.

1. Dany Priso – 8 (Jean Baptiste Gros – 6.5)
Another of the players snapped up last summer from La Rochelle, he gave Zander Fangerson all sorts of trouble, so much so that the opposition prop was whipped on as early as the 46th minute. Priso followed five minutes later to give Gros the opportunity to adequately see it through to the finish.

2. Teddy Baubigny – 7.5 (Christopher Tolofua – 6.5 )
The import from Racing 92 was one of the prime robust reasons why Toulon has Glasgow’s number. Demonstrated his immense value with a maul turnover early in the second half. Gone on 46, though, to allow Tolofua to finish the job.

3. Beka Gigashvili – 7.5 (Kieran Brookes – 6) 
Six years after packing down in Federale 1 at Chambery, the Georgian is now a European title winner. Was on top of his game when it mattered. Exited on 51 minutes for Brookes and then came back seven minutes from the end.

4. Mathieu Tanguy – 7.5 (Facundo Isa – 6)
A fringe European player in recent seasons at La Rochelle, his heft was invaluable to Toulon in getting the edge here on the Warriors. Left on 57 for a HIA and returned on 70 to allow Parisse to take the acclaim of an adoring crowd.

5. Brian Alainu’uese – 7.5
Had his Glasgow connections, having spent time in Scotland, but there was no love lost here as his engine room grunt helped tilt the balance.

6. Cornell Du Preez – 7
From the now-defunct Worcester to a cup-winning team by the Med, the South African showed his bruteness when giving Fraser Brown the smack that dislodged possession when Glasgow were trying to grab a lifeline at 0-21.

7. Charles Ollivon – 8
Having had his semi-final red card rescinded at a disciplinary hearing, he was a breakdown nuisance here and his lineout steal was the genesis of the contest-deadening third try.

8. Sergio Parisse – 8
The rugby romantics demanded that the 39-year-old got the perfect send-off as a winner and boy did he enjoy celebrating his 18th-minute try under the posts. Left to a heartening standing ovation shortly before the finish. A classy European exit for a class operator.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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