Champions Cup. Toulouse qualified in Ulster, but Ugo Mola dissatisfied: “We are against it”
By Simon Galinier
Published on
At the end of the suspense Toulouse did it! the Toulouse stadiumreigning European champion, beat theUlster (23-30) in Belfast in 8and second leg of the Champions Cup, and made up for their delay in the first leg by a very small point (50-49, cumulative score over the two games). The Red and black played 15 against 14 in the last quarter of an hour, after the exclusion of Northern Irish prop Tom O’Toole, and forced the decision in the 76thand minute of play thanks to a liberating try from the savior Antoine Dupont.
“It was very hard, a real big fightbut we were able to respond present, “said the man of the match Anthony Jelonch after the meeting. “We showed a lot of courage to come back. I am very happy and proud of the team. In the quarter-finals, Toulouse will travel to another Irish province, the Munsterthe weekend of May 6, 7 and 8.
Ugo Mola: “Imagine the day when there will be less waste…”
After this victory of character, the manager Ugo Mola was far from being completely satisfied with the performance of his players in Ulster, even if he was of course happy with the qualification in quarters snatched from pride by his team:
We win with this try (by Dupont) in the middle of the posts, but we hasten to transform it quickly… Sincerely, I promise you that there are evenings when you have spent your time praising intelligence and talent of our players, but sometimes we are very, very, very stupid. I don’t know if that’s the right word, but stupid, that’s for sure. As much as I know how to tell the players when it’s good, so much there… We realize that we put 30 points with waste, so imagine the day when there will be a little less.
To conclude, the strongman of Stade Toulousain nevertheless insisted on underlining the strength of character and self-sacrifice of his players, after a match lost at the Stadium de Toulouse (20-26): “It’s the pride who spoke. The pride of not wanting to let go of this trophy and the pride of playing a quarter-final,” he said.
Even if Ugo Mola is slightly choosy, the essential is assured since the Red and Black will see the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. On the weekend of May 6,7 and 8, they will challenge the Munster in Ireland. Another huge challenge to keep their European crown.
Note that this clash could take place at the Aviva Stadium in Dublinand not in Thomond Park, the historic lair of Munster in Limerick, because it must accommodate a Ed Sheeran concert the same weekend and could therefore not receive this match, according to Rugbyrama.
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