Rugby World UK – August 2019

was. I thought he’d been playing Top 14
rugby for years. He’s got maturity, all the
skills, and he’s a physical boy, too, who
doesn’t shy away from contact.”
At 25, Kolbe is a senior citizen of the
Toulouse back-line, a grizzled veteran
compared to young guns like Dupont,
Ntamack, Ramos, Arthur Bonneval and
Lucas Tauzin. But on those young
shoulders are cool heads, as they
demonstrated more than once last
season. In the quarter-final of the
Champions Cup against Racing 92, for
instance, Toulouse had Zack Holmes
dismissed for a high tackle on 23
minutes but still had the wit and
willpower to win 22-21 in Paris.
“After the red card we told ourselves
not to panic,” reflects Ntamack. “We
were playing well, so it was a case of
continuing to play the same way. We
knew it was going to be a challenge
but everyone was prepared to put in
twice as much effort.”
When I visited
Toulouse the players
were still buzzing
from an incredible
comeback in
Bordeaux towards the
end of the season.
Blown off the park
in the first half, the
rouge et noir ran in 36
unanswered points in
a spectacular second
half to win 43-36.
“We didn’t turn up in
the first half,” admits Ramos, who scored
two of Toulouse’s six tries. “We talked
honestly at half-time and in the second
half showed the side of our game that
we have for most of the season.”
Ramos had Bonneval outside him
when he crossed the Bordeaux line for
his second try. The pass was on but the
full-back backed himself to score – to
the mock outrage of his wing, who
playfully admonished his team-mate.
The pair have known each other since
high school, one of many deep-rooted
friendships within the squad that have
created a cast-iron camaraderie. It’s a
lesson also to those Top 14 clubs who
believe success can only be bought. At
Toulouse, it’s nurture and not noughts
on a player’s salary that matters.
Not that last season wasn’t without
its setbacks, with the 30-12 defeat by
Leinster in Dublin in the semi-final of
the Champions Cup a bitter blow for a
club which has always taken European
competition more seriously than most of
their domestic rivals. “I was completely
dead at the end of that Leinster game,”

France

says Ramos. “It was the most intense

match I’ve ever played.”

It was a learning experience for

Toulouse, a reminder that there remains

a difference in intensity between the

Champions Cup and the slower, more

physical Top 14. “There are some

matches in the Top 14 that

are intense but in general

European games are

tougher,” says Ramos.

Dupont agrees, adding:

“I don’t find much difference

in intensity and technical skill

between playing against

clubs like Saracens and

Leinster, and playing in

the Six Nations.”

On their rise through the

representative ranks, Dupont,

Ntamack and Ramos have

been coached by some of the most

emblematic names in French rugby:

from Novès to Fabien Pelous to Olivier

Magne to Thomas Lièvremont to Brunel.

For Ramos, one coach stands out: “I find

that the Toulouse attacking philosophy

of today is similar to what Olivier Magne

instilled in the France U20s,” he

explains. “It’s an offensive game plan

based on rapid

movement. Olivier

was the first coach

to tell me that once

you’ve broken the

advantage line you

no longer have a

number on your

back, you’re just a

rugby player. That’s

what we’re trying

to implement at

Toulouse, a style of rugby in which we

aren’t confined to one position but

can all play like threequarters or be

effective at the breakdown.”

Ntamack, comfortable at fly-half or

centre, has the advantage of being able

to draw on the vast experience of his

“We aren’t confined to

one position but can all

be effective at a ruck or

play like threequarters”

In the clear

Antoine Dupont makes

a break for France

Attack-minded

Thomas Ramos

Outside lane

Romain Ntamack

en route to a try