Ugo Mola before Ulster-Toulouse: “It will be a feat to win by 6 points”
By Clement Mazella
Published on
This round-trip format of 8are Champions Cup final is quite unique. But it allows one thing: from the start of the second match, we know the context. Beaten 20-26 at the Stadium last Saturday, the Toulouse stadiumtitle holder, will leave with a handicap of 6 pointsand will have to impose itself in Ulster with a gap at least similar (to snatch the extension), or higher in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.
“We go there with not much to lose. I don’t think we are the favourites, but we go there without complex and to play our rugby there. Despite the defeat in the first leg, we had a lot of fun and it had been a long time since we had played like this. On a fact extraordinary actions. We are going there with the same intentions, and to have no regrets, ”said the international opener on Tuesday, February 12. Romain Ntamack.
Toulouse have not won away since mid-December
Toulouse’s mission is not impossible, but it must be recognized that not all the lights are green. In addition to this 6-point handicap, Toulouse can no longer travel, its last victory outside its land dating back to December 11, 2021 and the European Cup meeting in Cardiff. “Given the context in which we are, it will be an achievement to win by 6 points”, supports the head coach Ugo Mola.
What strategy to adopt?
Ulster is solid, and we saw it at the Stadium. With impressive pragmatism, the province based in Belfast, certainly in numerical superiority for 70 minutes, still managed to plant 3 tries and register 26 points for the reigning European champion. Far from being trivial. And in their lair at Kingspan Stadium, Duane Vermeulen and his teammates are very difficult to move. Therefore, what strategy to have for Toulouse?
“If we play small arm 6 points behind, I’m afraid it will benefit Ulster. We will have to keep our level of play in terms of intensity, and reduce the share of errors which cost us dearly in the first leg,” says Mola. The latter also insists on not collecting points too quickly and stupidly:
From 6 behind, we could go to too much. Discipline and our ability to defend against this Ulster team who play good rugby will be the main concern for the first part of the match at least. Depending on the facts of the game, which I hope in our favor, we will have to score.
Anthony Jelonch: “We must not overplay”
“We will have to take as few points as possible”, abounds Selevasio Tolofua, who will be back after his concussion against Castres. International Anthony Jelonch found: “We will have to take all the points that arise at the start of the match, without overplaying. The goal will be to win the showdown and build victory little by little. We know that it will perhaps be played out in the last 5 minutes… ”
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