Stuck paratrooper prevents play before Sale slump to Toulouse defeat

It is rare that Toulouse do not live up to the pre-match theatrics but it is not every day that a paratrooper attempting to land on the pitch gets snagged on the stadium roof and suspended in midair for half an hour. As it was, the paratrooper in question was rescued by the fire brigade before Toulouse dug in to beat a dogged Sale side, finishing with a flourish to send their supporters home happy.

Ultimately, the Sharks’ defeat caps a thoroughly miserable weekend for the Premiership clubs and for the first time since 2019 there will be just one representative – Northampton – in the last eight. As far as England’s British & Irish Lions hopefuls are concerned, it has not been a great weekend either and Andy Farrell will anxiously await news of Tom Curry’s suspected wrist injury which forced the flanker off during the first half here.

Toulouse added some gloss to the scoreline thanks to late tries from the irrepressible Ange Capuozzo and Guillaume Cramont but they will know they were in a game for an hour. Sale scrapped their way to a five-point lead at half-time and avoided the kind of capitulation seen by Saracens and Harlequins this weekend. For the Toulouse faithful, meanwhile, this match will largely be remembered for what happened in the buildup.

The incident happened shortly before kick-off. Two paratroopers had already successfully landed on the pitch when a third, Captain Yannick Trouille, approaching from the north-east corner of the stadium, was caught on the edge of the roof. It soon became clear that he was stuck, dangling 30 metres above the ground for around half an hour.

Supporters were evacuated from the area underneath before stewards began setting up a makeshift crash mat out of tackle bags. The Toulouse mascot, dressed as a lion, lent a hand, carrying post protectors for further ballast and a bouncy castle, complete with blow-up rugby posts, was hoisted on to the empty seats to further act as a landing spot. La Marseillaise sporadically rang out.

The belated arrival of a fire engine prompted huge cheers and two firemen eventually made their way to the stricken paratrooper via the cherry picker. Trouille was lifted to safety and, after another delay to detach his parachute from the roof, he was brought down to earth. He was said to be unharmed, barring an entirely understandable bit of shock, and he was met by the chairman of European Professional Club Rugby, Dom McKay. The organisers have also offered him tickets for a quarter-final match.

Ange Capuozzo scores for Toulouse Photograph: László Gecző/INPHO/Shutterstock

The match kicked off 39 minutes later than planned and Toulouse were determined to make up for lost time. They had the opening try within two minutes after a dash down the left from Blair Kinghorn. The hulking second row Emmanuel Meafou was stopped short of the line but the excellent Jack Willis finished off from close range.

Sale refused to buckle. They responded with an excellent try, patiently going through the phases before Luke James slipped the leash to go over on the right and a George Ford penalty midway through the half gave them the lead.

Toulouse threatened, Capuozzo showing off his remarkable footwork, before Sale were dealt a major blow when Curry was forced off – he, alongside his brother Ben, was having a significant influence on the breakdown. They regrouped to extend their advantage, however, with Jonny Hill fighting his way over through heavy traffic – just reward for Sale’s endeavour, not least at the scrum.

A Thomas Ramos penalty pegged Sale’s lead back to five before the visitors had a try chalked off for Tom Roebuck’s foot clipping the touchline. The hosts capitalised on that reprieve to take the lead soon after the interval with François Cros bulldozing his way to the try-line.

Toulouse were struggling to find their rhythm, to locate the gear needed to pull comfortably clear of Sale but the captain Julien Marchand squeezed the ball down to give them breathing space before Capuozzo’s dart to the line late on. They will hope that the ankle injury Capuozzo sustained in scoring is not serious, though at first it didn’t look good for Toulouse’s jet-heeled winger. Cramont bludgeoned over for the fifth try with Sale running on empty.