Leicester Tigers returned from Stade Mayol empty-handed after losing their European Rugby Champions Cup Round 4 clash against defending champions Toulon 23-8.
Tigers scored a first-half try through USA international Blaine Scully, who finished off a smart break by Owen Williams and neat handling from Julian Salvi and Jamie Gibson for his first try in this season’s competition.
However, Toulon, the defending Top 14 champions and league leaders, were always ahead on the scoreboard after Ali Williams’ early try, plus three penalties and a conversion for Leigh halfpenny gave the hosts a 16-0 lead after 25 minutes.
Williams, the Heineken Man of the Match, had a creative hand in their second try, feeding France international Mathieu Bastareaud to score under the posts during the second half.
The Tigers defence held firm to deny Toulon any further tries, but they were only able to add a Williams penalty themselves during the second period.
The result leaves Tigers in second in Pool 3, behind Toulon, with Scarlets and Ulster Rugby meeting on Sunday. Tigers host Scarlets at Welford Road and travel to Ulster in January.
International forwards Geoff Parling, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Robert Barbieri returned to the starting line-up while the backs are unchanged from last weekend’s win over the defending European champions at Welford Road.
Toulon threatened in the opening moments when Habana took advantage of hesitancy in the Tigers defence to latch onto a loose ball on the left. He fed Chris Masoe on his inside who had Guirado Guilhem in support but he could only hack into touch with the Tigers defence under pressure.
Juan Smith’s clever pick up had Toulon on the attack in midfield where Tigers were pinged for failing to roll and Leigh Halfpenny landed his kick to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.
A clever kick by Allen over the onrushing Toulon defence took Tigers into the opposition territory for the first time. Tigers retained possession through a number of phases before Allen was whistled for holding on and Toulon cleared deep into Leicester territory.
And they made the position count. Halfpenny and Smith were stopped close to the line but Ali Williams followed up and drove down the side of a ruck to score the game’s opening try. Halfpenny landed the conversion to give Toulon a 10-0 lead after 12 minutes.
Mathieu Bastareaud made a half break to take Toulon back into the Leicester 22 where the visitors were again penalised, this time for going off their feet, and Halfpenny added a further three points.
A mistake by Habana, who failed to kick from a mark, gave Tigers a scrum on the Toulon 22, which then brought them a penalty. However, Williams was wide with his kick from the right touchline.
Sebastian de Chaves replaced Brad Thorn, who took a knock, after 22 minutes before a penalty for offside allowed Halfpenny to stretch the Toulon lead to 16-0.
Tigers hit back to make the most of Habana taking a ball in touch on the Toulon 22 to score their own try. They were awarded a penalty at the lineout and Williams made the break, Youngs recycled, Salvi found Gibson with a lovely long pass who had Scully on his outside to score at the right corner. Tigers trailed 16-5 after 28 minutes.
Determined Tigers defence held firm in the face of waves of Toulon attacks, sparked by Bastareaud’s break. Sebastien Tillous Borde was well tackled by Mathew Tait just short of the line before Tigers forced the knock-on at the next phase. Good work by Barbieri at the back of the scrum tidied up possession and Williams kicked to the 10m line.
The contest at the breakdown was ferocious, with Bakkies Botha forced to leave the field for running repairs as half-time approached. The score remained 16-5 to Toulon at the break.
Halfpenny was off target with an penalty from the right touchline early in the second half, his first miss of the game.
A nice break by Tait onto Ghiraldini’s inside pass opened up the Toulon defence. He got a pass away to Vereniki Goneva, who checked inside when he appeared to have a chance to go for the corner. Ben Youngs’ long pass to Smith kept the attack alive but he was pinged for holding on 8m short of the line.
Tigers had the edge in the third quarter and thought they had a lineout as Goneva had Halfpenny under pressure close to his line, but referee George Clancy ruled the Fiji international had the final touch and awarded the hosts the throw.
Toulon weathered the pressure and responded with their second try. Maxime Mermoz’s run gave Habana the chance to step off his left wing, Nicolas Sanchez was stopped just short of the line before Bastareaud picked Williams’ pass off his toes and dived under the posts to score. Halfpenny converted to give Toulon a 23-5 lead.
Tigers responded through a Williams penalty to cut the gap to 23-8 before Tom Croft was introduced for Gibson for the final quarter.
Tigers came under further pressure as Toulon searched for a third try. Halfpenny sparked the attack with a scything run from deep but the hosts were unable to capitalise, Mermoz eventually knocking-on in the shadow of the Tigers posts.
Tigers ran a series of late penalties as they hunted a try that would give them the chance of a losing bonus point. But they were unable to threaten the line one more time as the Toulon defence held firm.
Tigers scored a first-half try through USA international Blaine Scully, who finished off a smart break by Owen Williams and neat handling from Julian Salvi and Jamie Gibson for his first try in this season’s competition.
However, Toulon, the defending Top 14 champions and league leaders, were always ahead on the scoreboard after Ali Williams’ early try, plus three penalties and a conversion for Leigh halfpenny gave the hosts a 16-0 lead after 25 minutes.
Williams, the Heineken Man of the Match, had a creative hand in their second try, feeding France international Mathieu Bastareaud to score under the posts during the second half.
The Tigers defence held firm to deny Toulon any further tries, but they were only able to add a Williams penalty themselves during the second period.
The result leaves Tigers in second in Pool 3, behind Toulon, with Scarlets and Ulster Rugby meeting on Sunday. Tigers host Scarlets at Welford Road and travel to Ulster in January.
International forwards Geoff Parling, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Robert Barbieri returned to the starting line-up while the backs are unchanged from last weekend’s win over the defending European champions at Welford Road.
Toulon threatened in the opening moments when Habana took advantage of hesitancy in the Tigers defence to latch onto a loose ball on the left. He fed Chris Masoe on his inside who had Guirado Guilhem in support but he could only hack into touch with the Tigers defence under pressure.
Juan Smith’s clever pick up had Toulon on the attack in midfield where Tigers were pinged for failing to roll and Leigh Halfpenny landed his kick to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.
A clever kick by Allen over the onrushing Toulon defence took Tigers into the opposition territory for the first time. Tigers retained possession through a number of phases before Allen was whistled for holding on and Toulon cleared deep into Leicester territory.
And they made the position count. Halfpenny and Smith were stopped close to the line but Ali Williams followed up and drove down the side of a ruck to score the game’s opening try. Halfpenny landed the conversion to give Toulon a 10-0 lead after 12 minutes.
Mathieu Bastareaud made a half break to take Toulon back into the Leicester 22 where the visitors were again penalised, this time for going off their feet, and Halfpenny added a further three points.
A mistake by Habana, who failed to kick from a mark, gave Tigers a scrum on the Toulon 22, which then brought them a penalty. However, Williams was wide with his kick from the right touchline.
Sebastian de Chaves replaced Brad Thorn, who took a knock, after 22 minutes before a penalty for offside allowed Halfpenny to stretch the Toulon lead to 16-0.
Tigers hit back to make the most of Habana taking a ball in touch on the Toulon 22 to score their own try. They were awarded a penalty at the lineout and Williams made the break, Youngs recycled, Salvi found Gibson with a lovely long pass who had Scully on his outside to score at the right corner. Tigers trailed 16-5 after 28 minutes.
Determined Tigers defence held firm in the face of waves of Toulon attacks, sparked by Bastareaud’s break. Sebastien Tillous Borde was well tackled by Mathew Tait just short of the line before Tigers forced the knock-on at the next phase. Good work by Barbieri at the back of the scrum tidied up possession and Williams kicked to the 10m line.
The contest at the breakdown was ferocious, with Bakkies Botha forced to leave the field for running repairs as half-time approached. The score remained 16-5 to Toulon at the break.
Halfpenny was off target with an penalty from the right touchline early in the second half, his first miss of the game.
A nice break by Tait onto Ghiraldini’s inside pass opened up the Toulon defence. He got a pass away to Vereniki Goneva, who checked inside when he appeared to have a chance to go for the corner. Ben Youngs’ long pass to Smith kept the attack alive but he was pinged for holding on 8m short of the line.
Tigers had the edge in the third quarter and thought they had a lineout as Goneva had Halfpenny under pressure close to his line, but referee George Clancy ruled the Fiji international had the final touch and awarded the hosts the throw.
Toulon weathered the pressure and responded with their second try. Maxime Mermoz’s run gave Habana the chance to step off his left wing, Nicolas Sanchez was stopped just short of the line before Bastareaud picked Williams’ pass off his toes and dived under the posts to score. Halfpenny converted to give Toulon a 23-5 lead.
Tigers responded through a Williams penalty to cut the gap to 23-8 before Tom Croft was introduced for Gibson for the final quarter.
Tigers came under further pressure as Toulon searched for a third try. Halfpenny sparked the attack with a scything run from deep but the hosts were unable to capitalise, Mermoz eventually knocking-on in the shadow of the Tigers posts.
Tigers ran a series of late penalties as they hunted a try that would give them the chance of a losing bonus point. But they were unable to threaten the line one more time as the Toulon defence held firm.