Toulon v Harlequins winners and losers: Steve Borthwick ‘enviously’ watches hosts’ English contingent while Premiership’s ‘soft’ underbelly exposed
Lock David Ribbans in action for Toulon and England head coach Steve Borthwick.
Following a 33-21 victory for Toulon over Harlequins the Stade Mayol on Sunday, here are our winners and losers from the Investec Champions Cup clash.
Winners
Baptiste Serin
Antoine Dupont is clearly France’s first-choice scrum-half and understandably with the debate about who his replacement on the bench being the main debate whenever the internationals draw near.
Fabien Galthie has no shortage of options and that is certainly highlighted by Baptiste Serin’s absence in recent seasons before he starred in Argentina last year. However, today he produced yet another spellbinding performance that will do his hopes of a call-up for the Six Nations a world of good.
He threw a delicious dummy to slice through Harlequins’ defence and that was just the cherry on the top of a masterful performance. It was an all-court shift from the half-back, who has been in sterling form of late. If he does earn a recall for the Six Nations it will be thoroughly deserved as he has been a driving force in Toulon becoming a challenger in the Investec Champions Cup once again.
David Ribbans
Another key cog in Toulon’s resurgence, David Ribbans has really settled in well at the Top 14 giants so much so that he is leading the side not only with the captaincy armband but with his performances.
Today was no different as he set the tone for Toulon’s success at lineout time and on the gain-line. The French outfit have one of the best set-pieces in club rugby right now and Ribbans has been pivotal in generating his success.
He was dominant today against Harlequins and one has to think that even with England’s second-row depth, Steve Borthwick is watching Ribbans’ performances enviously. Toulon are in pole position to top the pool after today’s result and the England international has been crucial to their run as his decision to join the side continues to pay off for him and the club.
Lewis Ludlam
Ditto for Lewis Ludlam who put in another unreal performance and would have surely been in the running for the man of the match award along with Serin and Esteban Abadie.
Toulon were dealt a hammer blow with Charles Ollivon’s injury but Ludlam and Abadie rose to the task and dominated the Famous Quarters.
The England flanker racked up nine tackles and got his hands on the ball plenty making 43 metres from his 10 carries and completed seven passes and an offload.
Jack Kenningham
Jack Kenningham is enjoying superb form for Harlequins this season despite his side’s inconsistent results. He is leading the charge for the club in the Premiership for tackles made and turnovers won and today followed a similar theme.
With Toulon dominating possession, the 25-year-old racked up an impressive 17 tackles without missing and was one of the few Quins’ forwards who won the gain-line battle with ball in hand.
He has an impressive well-rounded game as a handy lineout jumper and one has to ponder whether 2025 will be the year that he finally earns his Test debut. He has been included in training squads previously but has been denied a cap, mostly by injuries.
However, this season he and Harlequins are benefitting from him being fit and firing, and England could too. Borthwick is bound to include a fresh loose forward face for the Six Nations with Sam Underhill set to miss the tournament through injury and today Kenningham laid down a marker for his inclusion.
Italy
Sticking with the Six Nations theme and Italy boss Gonzalo Quesada will be pleased with what he saw from fly-half Paolo Garbisi today as he ramps up preparations for the first batch of internationals too.
The Italian playmaker did have somewhat of an armchair ride with Toulon’s pack well and truly on top for much of the match but Garbisi certainly made the most of the dominance picking the Quins’ defence apart.
Importantly, he was solid on defence too but his attacking brilliance was crucial. This time last year, Garbisi wasn’t playing nearly as regularly as he is now but Italy still managed to piece together an improved tournament performance and with the playmaker in this kind of nick, they will fancy their chances of building on 2024. His learnings from Dan Biggar will also do them a world of good.
Losers
Alex Dombrandt
With Tom Willis in stunning form and putting in a workmanlike performance for Saracens against Munster on Saturday, the Quins number eight needed a big display, but it did not materialise. England boss Borthwick appears a fan of the back-rower but he has yet to convince at Test level and there were a few too many errors in this clash.
Dombrandt was always willing but, considering he found himself in the wider channels regularly, his execution was poor. That was demonstrated by his decision to pass to wing Cadan Murley with the tryline in sight when he could have simply flopped over the whitewash. It will be a nervous day or so for the number eight ahead of the Six Nations squad announcement.
Will Porter
The scrum-half has plenty of credit in the bank after a good 12 months. His form is such that he could well find himself in the England reckoning at some point, given their lack of proven performers at Test level, but on this evidence, it probably shouldn’t be over the next couple of months.
Porter was not poor as such and his service was quick enough to give Marcus Smith to space and time to choose his options, but it’s those finer details which is lacking at the moment. The kicking wasn’t quite accurate enough on occasions and his decision-making under pressure led to the odd mistake.
James Chisholm
Was penalised for getting his technique terribly wrong in the carry. Chisholm led with the forearm and was duly sent to the sin-bin for the subsequent 10 minutes while his side were behind 14-0 on the scoreboard.
Despite the 14-point buffer, they were still in the game at that point, but his absence proved costly as Toulon effectively sealed the victory with two tries while the flanker was off the field. Esteban Abadie and Jiuta Wainiqolo both touched down to make it 26-0 at the break, making their job incredibly difficult after the break.
To Quins’ credit, they were much better in the second period, which is what made Chisholm’s yellow card all the more frustrating. They crossed the whitewash twice to reduce the arrears, but ultimately the visitors were too far behind to put the Frenchmen under real pressure.
Harlequins
The English outfit could have gone a long way to securing their place in the knockout stages, but this defeat leaves their hopes in the balance. The Londoners remain in third position in Pool 4 but they are level on points with both the Stormers and Sale Sharks, while Racing 92 at the bottom are just one point behind.
It sets up an exciting end to the group stages, with Quins and Sale hosting Glasgow Warriors and Toulon respectively, who are the top two sides in the pool. Harlequins have endured a pretty poor season so far and this loss has put last season’s Champions Cup semi-finalists under even more pressure. Should they fail to get to the next round, it would be considered a failure.
Premiership defence coaches
With ball in hand, Quins played some nice rugby and had an in-form Toulon worried, but without it, they were far too easily breached. It has been a theme for the Premiership sides this weekend, who have all been just a bit too… soft.
English rugby was once renowned for its grunt, set-piece, forward power and defence, but there has been little sign of that in Round Three, and it rather mirrors the national team at the moment. There is plenty of talent in England and the next crop of front-five forwards appear to be top of the range but, more than anything, there needs to be a mindset shift from some clubs when it comes to the basics.
