Stade Toulousain, defending champion, qualified this Sunday for the knockout stages of the European Cup despite their defeat on the green carpet due to Covid-19, received other results which were favorable to them. Beaten on green carpet by Cardiff (28-0), Toulouse was under the threat of elimination, provided in particular that Stade Français largely dominates the Irish of Connacht this Sunday to overtake them in the standings,
It was not the case (37-31 victory for the Parisians).

Two disputed matches only

The Toulousains are 7th in Pool B, ahead of Stade Français (same number of points), and can no longer be dislodged from the first eight places, synonymous with qualification. The meeting against Cardiff, scheduled for Saturday, had been canceled due to Covid-19 contamination in the Toulouse ranks and the Welsh club had been declared the winner on the green carpet.

“The risk of additional contamination having been deemed too great, it was unfortunately decided to cancel the match. As a result, the Cardiff Rugby club was awarded the Pool B match 28-0 with five ranking points, in accordance with the tournament regulations,” said EPCR (European professional club rugby). in a press release.

Against Ulster or Racing in the round of 16

“An iniquitous decision”, according to the president of the National Rugby League René Bouscatel, for whom “the EPCR (…) decides to cancel a match by not respecting its rules. This discredits those who made this decision but also the organizer and the competition itself”. The Toulouse have only played two games, all away, beating Cardiff (39-7) before losing against Wasps (30-22). They will face Ulster or Racing in a round-trip match on April 9 and 16.