Glasgow-Toulon: sharp Scottish centers, Mathieu Smaili too tender... The tops and flops

TOPS

Each in their own register, the two international centers of the Glasgow Warriors made the difference this Friday evening during Glasgow's victory over Toulon (29-05). Tuipulotu first of all, eagerly awaited by the Toulon defenders, made his teammates play perfectly by fixing the Toulon curtain and being right in the tempo and in the execution of his transmissions. Active in defense with 6 successful tackles, he weighed in on this meeting. His friend at club and national level was voted man of the match. And that makes sense. Author of a double, he above all gave the impression of being able to pierce the defense whenever he felt like it. With 70 meters covered, 4 defenders beaten and 2 crossings, it is a very good score given by the second center of the Scottish selection. A good omen before the Tournament.

A true monster of power, the former Wallabies, now Scottish international, had everything of a machine this Friday evening. He advanced on each of his balls, putting the Toulon defense to torture on each of his charges as evidenced by his action in the 22 meters of the RCT before McKay's try (59'). But in addition to his availability and his power in attack, he showed himself to be impeccable in defense with a 100% tackle (12 successful tackles), while transmitting boundless energy to his partners. He was all over the field!

FLOPS

The 24-year-old center had a more than complicated first period. He first started his match with a missed penalty, albeit a long one (11') before failing to find a penalty (14'). Two failures which must have made them doubt considering the rest of his performance. Between bad choices and untimely passes, he never got into his match. To complete his misadventures, he was also tackled twice by the Scottish defense and especially missed a decisive tackle on Jones' try (30'). Out with an injury during the break, we hope it's not too serious for him.

Diminished by the absences of its executives, the RCT suffered greatly ahead. In difficulty on the touchline sector with 3 lost touches, the Toulonnais had all the difficulty in the world to resist in the scrum. It was in particular the right axis and Emerick Setiano who were penalized several times. But where the problem lies is above all in comparing the contribution of the forwards of the two teams in the game. Easy balls in hand by redoubling the passes in front of the Var defense, the Scottish forwards managed to fix their opponents to put them in orbit their 3/4. In the physical challenge only Isa and Coulon seemed able to compete with their evening opponents.