Toulouse 17 – 3 Newport Gwent Dragons
Toulouse made it 11 victories on the bounce in the Heineken Cup but they were made to work extremely hard for their 17-3 victory by a dedicated Newport Gwent Dragons outfit.
The European Champions continue to top their pool with a round of fixtures still remaining and even though the Dragons cannot progress any further in the competition they will take a lot of confidence from the performance at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.
Jason Tovey missed the opportunity to put the Dragons ahead with an early penalty attempt just before Toulouse captain Thierry Dusautoir crossed for the afternoon’s opening try. Fly-half David Skrela missed the chance on offer for the extra two points.
With large parts of the game being played in the midfield it took a further twenty minutes before any other score. France wing Vincent Clerc touched down as half time approached and again Skrela couldn’t add to the score, missing the conversion.
On the stroke of half-time Tovey opened the Dragons account with a penalty to take the scores to 10 – 3 at the break.
The Dragons fought hard throughout the second period and absorbed phase after phase thrown at them from Toulouse.
The French side battled their way towards the line but just couldn’t find the final pass on numerous occasions.
On top at the set-piece the French forwards finally got the try they deserved with just ten minutes remaining, Dusautoir grabbing his second from his position at the back of a fierce rolling maul.
