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PREVIEW: Toulouse tackles La Rochelle in Top-14 play-offs

The first of this weekend’s Top 14 play-offs should be an absolute cracker with a repeat of the 2020/21 Grand Final. Will La Rcohelle get revenge for their defeat on the big stage last season or will Toulouse get the better of Les Mariners once again?

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The first of this weekend’s Top 14 play-offs should be an absolute cracker with a repeat of the 2020/21 Grand Final. Will La Rcohelle get revenge for their defeat on the big stage last season or will Toulouse get the better of Les Mariners once again?

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

                                 Toulouse 5/10 | Draw 20/1 | La Rochelle 7/4

While it has been far from a vintage season from Toulouse, the reigning Top 14 champions have come good at the right time and assured themselves of a home play-off fixture by hammering Biarritz 80-7 this past weekend. While Biarritz are pretty much cannon-fodder, Toulouse were still very impressive with ball-in-hand which bodes well for them as La Rochelle are a tough nut to crack defensively. 

Unlike their play-off opponents, La Rochelle had a much tougher time of it during the final set of round-robin fixtures as they managed to scrape a 26-29 win over Lyon. They really should have lost that match as Lyon had a great opportunity to score in the dying moments only for Toby Arnold to cough up the ball with the try-line at his mercy. 

These two sides met twice in the round-robin phase with Toulouse claiming two narrow wins. The first victory was at the Stadium Municipal where Toulouse won 23-16 and the second was a 16-20 win at the Marcel Delfrandre. 

Verdict: Toulouse

They are seemingly starting to hit their straps and have had La Rochelle’s number this season. My money is on Toulouse ending La Rochelle’s hopes of a double trophy hall.  

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