Toulouse crush Bristol in Champions Cup last 16
Bristol Bears' Champions Cup campaign was ended in ruthless fashion by Toulouse, who scored nine tries in a dominant last-16 win in France. Bristol captain Fitz Harding burrowed over from close range to give the Prem side a dream start, but any hopes of reaching the quarter-finals were quickly and emphatically extinguished. Toulouse were 40-7 up by half-time, with hooker Peato Mauvaka and centre Kalvin Gourgues contributing two tries apiece to go with scores by Englishman Jack Willis and winger Matthis Lebel.
Lebel added his second within a minute of the restart and fellow winger Teddy Thomas scored two of his own in the second half. France full-back Thomas Ramos landed seven of his nine conversions. Kalaveti Ravouvou marked his 50th appearance for Bristol with a try, while James Williams and Noah Heward ran in from long range to score for the visitors late on, but the tie was already long gone by then.
Toulouse, who lead France's Top 14 by 12 points, could face last season's Champions Cup winners Bordeaux Begles in next weekend's quarter-finals. Bordeaux host Leicester Tigers in their last-16 tie on Sunday. Bristol, who had won three of their four pool matches to reach the knockout phase, must now focus their attention for the remainder of the season on reaching the Prem semi-finals.
They are seven points behind fourth-placed Exeter with six games remaining. And they must also wait to discover the extent of the injury sustained by centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg, who left the field early in the second half with a huge lump and bruising close to his left eye as a result of a high tackle by Romain Ntamack - which earned the Toulouse fly-half a yellow card. The margin of defeat, albeit against a star-studded opponent in a difficult away fixture, is sure to hurt Bristol.
Toulouse showed how dangerous they can be in all facets of attack, demonstrated in one first-half spell when Mauvaka went over from a lineout catch-and-drive and then Gourgues combined with Ramos to go almost the length of the field for a try shortly afterwards. To their credit, Bristol limited the damage after the first-half onslaught and ensured there was a degree of respectability to the scoreline by drawing the second half 19-19. Toulouse: Ramos; Thomas, Gourgues, Barassi, Lebel; Ntamack, Dupont (capt); Ainu'u, Mauvaka, Aldegheri, Flament, Meafou, Cros, Willis, Jelonch.