Super League – 2nd day: beaten in Salford, Toulouse Olympique is disillusioned in the rain (38-12)
Beaten in the north of England, the Toulouse treizistes suffer a second defeat in two inaugural meetings, after the disappointment at home against Huddersfield on the first day. Learning the Super League is difficult for the TO.
A “so British” time. A real. A deluge before kick-off, another just after. One from the sky, the other from the field. The Toulouse were put to the test, this Sunday, February 20 afternoon, on the lawn of Salford, in the suburbs of Manchester.
Gusts of wind, curtain of rain, the warm-up gave a glimpse of what the afternoon of the troops of Toulouse coach Sylvain Houlès could be: complicated It was so from the kick-off with Red Devils hot as embers who immediately took over the management of operations.
On their first incursion, the terrible Ken Sio came to plant a first banderilla on his wing after a pass at the foot of the metronome Marc Sneyd. A successful introduction from which the Toulouse would have difficulty recovering, surprised by the rhythm imposed by the troops of Paul Rowley not hesitating to try, to play quickly and to place deadly accelerations against a Toulouse defense not always attentive.
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What Tony Gigot’s teammates paid a high price with two additional tries conceded, one after a 60m suitcase from Brodie Croft at the heart of the TO defense to serve the inevitable Ken Sio who came to support, the other after a terrible acceleration from Deon Cross on the left side, concluded by Ryan Brierley.
A14-0 after less than twenty minutes of play, we could be worried. Especially since Salford added a new try on a breakthrough by Marc Sneyd in the heart of the Toulouse defense far from being exempt from any reproach on the spot.
Flood from the sky before the Sio storm
At 20-0, Toulouse could have drowned. On the contrary, they were able to get by with the contribution of the bench in particular which did a lot of good. More aggressive, better inspired, the teammates of Tony Gigot will push the English to the fault and find the first time the fault by Chris Hankinson on a pass at the foot of Joseph Paulo. A welcome try just before half-time which reinvigorated Toulouse who confirmed their revival after returning from the locker room, with this time Paulo finishing after a game at the foot of Tony Gigot against, but perfectly followed by his teammate.
At 20-12 (45th), we said to ourselves that the Toulouse thinning might perhaps bring back the good weather.
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It did not happen. In the sky, the elements are unleashed. The rain doubling in intensity complicated the task of each other. Tim Lafai first revived Salford after a game at the foot of pressure in the Toulouse 20m by eliminating the last defender with a nice inside hook.
And then Storm Sio hit in the finale. The terrible Australian winger devastated everything in his path by adding two tries to his counter to sign a superb quadruple: first by improving a kicking game for himself, finally, by placing a deadly 80m counter by recovering in front of his line a Toulouse ball on their sixth down. The case was folded. And the Toulousains, stunned after this second defeat in the league, will have to digest and react as quickly as possible because the two successive receptions of Warrington and Wigan do not bode well…
SALFORD 38 – TOULOUSE OLYMPIC 12
MT: 20-6; arbitrator: Mr. Griffiths; 3300 spectators.
Winners: 7E Sio (3, 12, 69, 74), Brierley (17), Sneyd (26), Lafai (53), 5T (17, 26, 53, 69, 74) Sneyd.
Defeated: 2E Hankinson (38), Paulo (45), 2T Hankinson.
Evolution of the score: 4-0, 8-0, 14-0, 20-0, 20-6 / 20-12, 26-12, 32-12, 38-12.
SALFORD RED DEVILS:Brierley; Sio, Lafai, Cross, Burgess; (o) Croft, (m) Sneyd; Taylor (Cpl.); Greenwood, Wright; Burke, Ackers, Vuniyayawa. Came into play: Sarginson, Akauola, Addy, Gerrard.
OLYMPIC TOULOUSE: Leg (cap.); Armitage, Hankinson, Vaivai, Russell; (o) Paul, (m) Albert; Cunningham; Dixon, Bretherton; Navarrete, White, Garbutt. Came into play: Pélissier, Sangaré, Puech, Marion.
The score of the game : 12/20; men : Ken SIO, Marc SNEYD, Deon CROSS (Salford); Éloi PELISSIER, Justin SANGARE (Toulouse).