Another gallant English defeat, another story of the brave losers of the Premiership, but ultimately another one marked by contrition. Toulouse booked their place in the final to ensure a widely anticipated showdown with Leinster, but just like at Northampton 24 hours earlier, the Harlequins will be wondering what could have been.
They had Toulouse in the ropes for big periods of the second half, striking free from their slingstrikes without bringing the telltale blow in the middle of the eyes of one of the European rugby giants.
Attribute to the Harlequins how they fought 31-12 at halftime. They vowed to swing the bat one more time, and tries from Cadan Murley and Tyrone Green brought them back to five runs against a team with a lot more resources. They were in such a pedigree that if they had managed to get their nose forward, a victory would have been overshadowed to overshadow even their heroic “Bristanbul”.
Jack Walker’s yellow card finally gave the hosts a break for a frontal clearance, but for the second day in a row, the favorites breathed a sigh of relief by keeping the Premiership strikers–for whom Chandler Cunningham – South, Tyrone Green and especially André esterhuizen shone–at a distance.
“Proud of the group but very disappointed at the moment,” Harlequins captain Stephan Lewies said. “I think it will be difficult against a team like Toulouse if you give them 28 points on a board. The way we came out in the second half, we’re really proud of it, we became Quins again, if we could have eliminated a few of those mistakes, then [think] what could have been.”
There is no shame about the defeat, no more frustration about their mistakes in the first half, which were mercilessly punished, and as they have shown throughout the competition this season, Toulouse has equipment that no one can live with. Her 15-minute period at the end of the first period, in which Antoine Dupont scored two tries, turned out to be decisive. They will be looking forward to a final against Leinster after this month and the chance of a sixth title. Like the Leinsters, they have things to stash, but there are times when they are untouchable.
These two teams like to play and there have been times when both have shown their entire arsenal of skills. The difference is that Toulouse possesses a strength and ferocity in breaking that Harlequins cannot match.
In the first half they were repeatedly knocked off the ball, and while the Harlequins have clever operators like Will Evans, they have no one like Emmanuel Meafou, the 23-stone juggernaut of the second row. They do not have a hooker with the pace and power of Peato Mauvaka and, in the end, they could not live with the cruelty that Toulouse showed after they turned the ball over.
Then there’s Dupont, who was in the mood from the start. There was an early failure on the left side, goes through the back and, pinpoint throws both feet and two attempts – each due to his ability to be in the right place at the right time.