Match Preview | Toulouse v Ulster
Ulster travel to the south of France this weekend to take on European powerhouses Toulouse in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the game…
Match Details
- Competition: Heineken Champions Cup Quarter-Final
- Venue: Stade Ernest Wallon
- Date: Sunday 20 September
- Kick-off: 1:30pm local time, 12:30pm UK/Irish Time
- Match Officials: Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng), Assistant Referees: Alexandre Ruiz (Fra) & Thomas Charabas (Fra), TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)
- TV: BT Sport / Channel 4 / Virgin Media
Key Stats
- Toulouse have won three of their nine matches against Ulster in the Heineken Champions Cup (D1, L5), and the 33% win rate is their joint worst against any club they’ve faced more than once in the competition (also 33% v Munster and Saracens).
- Toulouse have reached the knockout stage for the 18th time in their history, the joint most of any club along with Munster.
- Ulster have won two of their six previous quarter-finals, although one of their two victories at this stage was against Toulouse during their European Cup winning campaign in 1998/99 (also v Munster in 2012).
- Toulouse are unbeaten in their last nine home games in the Heineken Champions Cup, winning their last eight in a row (D1).
- Ulster have conceded just two first-half tries this season, fewer than any other side, while Toulouse have conceded the fewest in the second half of matches (1).
- Ulster retained 31 of their 167 kicks from hand in the pool stage, more than any other side and almost double Toulouse’s tally (16). Only La Rochelle (21%) retained a higher proportion of their kicks than the Ulstermen (19%).
- Ulster are the only club yet to be shown a card of any colour in the Heineken Champions Cup this season.
- Toulouse have won 12 opposition lineouts, three more than any other side and 10 more than Ulster. Individually, no one has stolen more than François Cros (5, level with Scott Cummings, Peter O’Mahony and Gerbrandt Grobler).
- Only Racing 92’s Camille Chat (27) has made more dominant carries this season than Ulster duo Marcell Coetzee and Stuart McCloskey (20 each).
- Just eight players have played every minute in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup pool stage, and half are from Ulster (Iain Henderson, Jacob Stockdale, Luke Marshall and Stuart McCloskey) while Toulouse’s Sofiane Guitoune is one of the other four (also Scott Cummings, James Lowe and Boris Palu).
Team News
Dan McFarland has made four changes to the starting XV that took on Leinster in last weekend’s Guinness PRO14 Final, as John Cooney, Jack McGrath, Sean Reidy and Jordi Murphy are all drafted in.
And here is the Toulouse team that will host us as the Stade Ernest Wallon…
J-2 avant le 1/4 de finale 19-20 de @ChampionsCup !
Découvrez le XV de départ des Stadistes pour affronter l’@UlsterRugby dimanche à 13h30 au stade Ernest-Wallon ! #STULS
Tous derrières les
! #GoST pic.twitter.com/p6A8gxmG2S
— Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) September 18, 2020
Team Talk
#SUFTUMAtHome Downloadable Fan Pack
Create your own match-day – download our fan pack to get the whole family in match-day mood, featuring Ulster Rugby bunting and posters.
Transform your living room into match-day mode for the quarter-final against Toulouse this Sunday afternoon no matter where you are. We know nothing can compare to being there – so let’s make the most of our Heineken Champions Cup Quarter-Final at home!
DOWNLOADS:
- #SUFTUMAtHome Dan the Man
- #SUFTUMAtHome Posters
- #SUFTUMAtHome Lyrics
- #SUFTUMAtHome Bunting
- #SUFTUMAtHome Colour Iain
- #SUFTUMAtHome Colour Marcell
Last Time Out
Back in December 2015, Ulster completed a back-to-back double over Toulouse. A 38-0 shutout in Kingspan Stadium was followed up with a 23-25 win in France the following weekend as tries from Ruan Pienaar, Andrew Trimble and Luke Marshall sealed a memorable victory.
The post Match Preview | Toulouse v Ulster appeared first on Ulster Rugby.