Returns to the fray |
by Mark Hall
After Widnes' midweek defeat of Whitehaven, Toulouse slip back into that seventh position, just outside the play offs. Dewsbury had a morale boosting win against Halifax last time out, which should see them entering this game on a high. Make no doubt about it, with the season in the second half, and some tough games against top sides coming up this is a must win game for Olympique.
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Two wins in a row meant that Toulouse took that sixth position only for Widnes to deny them that spot by beating troubled Whitehaven in front of the TV cameras last Thursday night on a mucky evening at The Rec. Only the Saturday before, Haven had made the trip down to Toulouse, coming away on the back of a 38-14 defeat, which seemed unlikely until Rory Bromley got two tries after the teams had been tied 8-8 at the break.
Team news for this week; Constant Villegas is out for the season having badly injured his knee in the narrow win over Batley. Andrei Olari, Matt Griffi, Carlos Mendes Varela, Cédric Gay and Jérôme Gout all miss the game through injury. And lastly so does Vincent Duport, who made the news last week in the announcement that he is heading back to Perpignan having signed a three year contract with former club, the Catalans Dragons. Further news is that Simon Worrall will not play for Toulouse again, reportedly needing shoulder surgery.
Brendan Worth returns to the team, in what is a straight swap for Mathieu Griffi, while Tim Wynn ably covers in the front row, having had two barnstorming games in the last couple of weeks. The Centre de Formation, which I keep mentioning, seems to be working well with Yoan Tisseyre, Romain Mencarini, Kevin Larroyer, Clément Bienès and Yohann Gigord all included in the squad. Nick Fauré is added and Teli Pelo, who has come on in leaps and bounds this season, also makes the 18.
Dewsbury, although only having won two games this campaign after sweeping all before them last year in Championship 1, will be no pushovers. As stated, they put paid to high flyers Halifax last week, in what many would have seen as a surprise result, myself included.
With some hard games coming up for Toulouse, this game is a must win to keep alive hopes of a play off spot at the end of the campaign, much needed after their latter season fade last year.
It's a 6pm kick off at Dewsbury on Saturday night, and, even without their injured players, I see determination and pride carrying the men from the Minimes through in this one, so at eight o'clock or thereabouts, my prediction is Olympique taking this game by eight points. But then again, what do I know?
TOULOUSE: Rory Bromley, Sébastian Payan, Sébastian Planas, Nathan Wynn, Brendan Worth, Martin Mitchell, Tim Wynn. Eric Anselme, Antoni Maria, Sylvain Houlès, Yoan Tisseyre, Romain Mencarini, Bruno Orméno, Nicolas Fauré, Clément Bienès, Kevin Larroyer, Teli Pelo, Yohann Gigord.
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