French Top 14 round-two: Toulon squeaks by Biarritz
Toulon was able to get their 2010-11 campaign back on track with a win on the road against Biarritz.
After a loss last week Toulon were able to do enough early on to narrowly avoid an upset at the hands of Biarritz. In a game that did not see a lot of scoring, Toulon took a narrow four-point lead into the half, and was able to add to it slightly in the second stanza to cement their first victory of the season.
Recap
The game started off slow as both sides chose to feel one another out in the early stages. Toulon got on the board first with a try from lock Kris Chesney. After fly-half Jonny Wilkinson put through the conversion the visitors were up 7-0.
Biarritz put their only points of the game on the board in the 36th minute when Dimitri Yachvili put the ball through the uprights to earn his team three points and close the gap to 7-3.
Both sides were unable to get through the other's defence for the remainder of the first half and Toulon maintained its four-point lead heading into the break.
After half-time Toulon got on the board for the second time in the game with a penalty from Wilkinson in the 58th minute, pushing the lead out to 10-3.
Both sides struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball and another penalty from Wilkinson in the 63rd minute was all either team could muster.
Toulon was able to ride out a quick first half try, winning a defensive battle 13-3.
Toulon continues to struggle putting the ball over the try-line, but improved their defensive game substantially, limiting Biarritz to only three points.
Biarritz played another strong game on the defensive side of the ball, but posed no real threat at the offensive end. This may have been Biarritz’s best chance to defeat a Toulon team, which many picked to win the championship.
Analysis
Toulon continues to struggle and do not look like the team many experts thought would win the title at year’s end. They will need to vastly improve their offence if they hope to trump teams such as Stade Francais and Toulouse, who have had much better starts to the season.
Biarritz was hoping for an upset going into round two and was not able to find their round one form. Expected to lose this match Biarritz still sits comfortably in the middle of the pack with one win.
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