Toulon overpower Harlequins to claim comfortable Champions Cup victory

Another Champions Cup weekend, another stark reminder that the Premiership lags behind its Top 14 rivals with Harlequins falling victim to a turbo-charged Toulon. Quins have claimed some famous scalps on French soil in recent years but, just as Northampton found out 24 hours earlier, cross the Channel without the sort of physicality that is ubiquitous in the Top 14 – “a lot of powerful animals” as the head coach, Danny Wilson, put it – and you will get badly exposed.

As David Ribbans, the former England second row, who swapped Northampton for Toulon after the 2023 World Cup, explained after his side’s comfortable victory on Sunday, the biggest difference between the two leagues is physical prowess. Wilson did not disagree and though his side can still reach the knockout stages by beating Glasgow Warriors next week, he conceded they will also come to France in hope rather than expectation.

By April, after the last eight, it is not inconceivable that the English challenge is limited to the diaspora of players such as Ribbans. At Toulon he is joined by Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam, and if the squad does not possess as many star names as in their heyday, they pack a considerable punch. Indeed, it is 10 years since Toulon were last crowned champions of Europe but on this evidence, with the sun beating down on the Stade Mayol, the Mediterranean glistening in the distance, their fervent supporters would be forgiven for dreaming again.

“There’s definitely a difference in level of physicality,” said Ribbans. “In the Premiership they still play some really good rugby and some really good shape which maybe isn’t always the case in the Top 14, but in terms of physicality there’s definitely a step up. When you look at teams you are coming up against every week, they are filled with international players. Even ourselves, we are full of England, French internationals. When you train with that and play against that every weekend, it is a different level of physicality.”

Toulon’s French scrum-half Baptiste Serin dives across the line to score a try. Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Toulon raced into a 26-0 lead at half-time – Baptiste Serin turning in a masterclass from scrum-half – and though they took their foot off the pedal after the break, they had plenty in reserve to nip in the bud a briefly-threatened Harlequins comeback. The visitors finished with three tries, leaving Wilson clinging to the fact his side won the second half 21-7 as a reason for optimism before the visit of Glasgow.

Marcus Smith kept toiling away but found gaps in the Toulon defence hard to come by, while two other England hopefuls, Alex Dombrandt and Cadan Murley, had afternoons they’d rather forget – both players spurning try-scoring opportunities. Dombrandt was also sat on his backside by his opposite number, Facundo Isa, early in the second half – a demonstration of just how much more power Toulon could boast.

Toulon were in the ascendancy from the moment Tyrone Green’s clearance kick was charged down inside the first minute. Sixty seconds later and the hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi was over. It might have been a different story for Harlequins had Murley finished what was admittedly a tricky chance in the left-hand corner soon after, but he was adjudged to have knocked on.

Harlequins had defended the ensuing 10 minutes manfully but Serin’s dummy from the base of a ruck fooled everybody and he scampered through to dot down. Having left Will Evans out of the starting lineup, Harlequins found the breakdown an uphill battle and when James Chisholm was sent to the sin-bin in the 35th minute for a forearm to Serin’s face, Toulon put the game to bed with two tries before the half-time interval.

First, the mightily impressive flanker Esteban Abadie plunged his way to the try line before Jiuta Wainiqolo profited from a fortunate bounce to rack up the bonus point before the half-time interval. Harlequins should be applauded for their second-half response. Dombrandt really should have gone for the line himself rather than attempt the offload to Murley but Harlequins were up and running when Smith finally succeeded in engineering an opening for Chisholm to gallop into – Will Porter running the supporting line to cruise through under the posts.

When a second came a couple of minutes later from a well-executed lineout drive, Harlequins’ tails were up, but another flex of the muscles by Toulon, with Gaël Dréan stepping inside off his wing and weaving his way over put paid to any such ideas. Nick David’s consolation score at the death did little but make the scoreline a bit more palatable for Quins.