RUGBY HEINEKEN CUP:FRANCE captain Thierry Dusautoir appears certain to start for Toulouse against Leinster in Saturday's Heineken Cup semi-final at the Aviva Stadium after leading the European champions to a 33-0 win over Bourgoin last Saturday.
However, in several pointers to his selection thinking yesterday, Guy Noves yesterday revealed the club skipper will not be encumbered by captaining the four-time champions in Dublin.
Instead, fellow flanker Jean Bouilhou will lead Toulouse at the Aviva, Noves explaining: “Jean has been among the captains for years at Toulouse. Several players can do the job. He has been one of the two captains with Thierry but the latter has just returned (from injury) and I think he has greater need to concentrate on his own game rather than the requirements of this role among the group.”
A hugely influential performer for Toulouse, but sidelined for the quarter-finals, Dusautoir’s earlier than anticipated return against Bourgoin is a decided bonus for Stade and he confirmed his wellbeing by powering over for one of Toulouse’s five tries.
Dusautoir expressed the belief that the Bourgoin game was “the best way to prepare for the H Cup semi-final” and while admitting the pressure would intensify as the week progressed, he added: “It’s nice playing in two semi-finals.
“The entire group has an exceptional team spirit this year, and that spirit was very obvious in the victory at Perpignan and in our (quarter-final) victory in the Anoeta (against Biarritz) in the last minutes. It’s super to succeed in expressing yourselves in difficult moments, and that has been the case since the quarter-final.”
Noves also confirmed four other players presented at yesterday’s press conference would start, namely Bouilhou, centre Florian Fritz (rested last weekend), hooker William Servat (who was also nursing an injury) and Clement Poitrenaud.
Noves did not clarify whether Poitrenaud would start at fullback or in midfield but the likelihood is that despite a try-scoring performance last Saturday, the veteran Yannick Jauzion may miss out on another start against old foes Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll, with Noves again preferring a Poitrenaud-Fritz combination, as he did in the quarter-final win over Biarritz in San Sebastien.
This would mean retaining a back three of Cedric Heymans at fullback and Vincent Clerc and Maxime Medard on the wings. Their problems are at halfback, where the departing duo of Frederic Michalak (being linked with the Waratahs, Stade Français, Biarritz, Bayonne and Lyon amongst others) and Bayonne-bound Byron Kelleher have been joined by Nicolas Vergallo on the sidelines.
This leaves Noves little option other than to start 20-year-old Jean-Marc Doussain alongside the departing David Skrela, and hope 22-year-old scrumhalf-cum-outhalf Nicolas Bezy will recover from the ankle strain he sustained against Biarritz three weeks ago as cover.
With Benoit Lecouls’ season over, Daan Human’s return to the bench against Bourgoin was a boost. Although he will have a groin problem for the rest of the season, either he or Jean-Baptiste Poux will start alongside Servat and Census Johnston in the frontrow, with Yoann Maestri again likely to partner Patrico Albacete, and Bouilhou and Dusautoir packing down either side of Louis Picamoles rather than Shaun Sowerby.
Noves started around two-thirds of the team which is likely to face Leinster last Saturday, when the bonus point win over the already relegated and financial hard-pressed Bourgoin secured a semi-final place with a game to spare.
Under the French scoring system, they effectively had their bonus wrapped up by the 22nd minute when Medard popped up at the base of a ruck to skip over for his 14th Top 14 try of the campaign after Clerc’s footwork and pace and already seen him finish off two try-scoring moves. A la Leinster in Aironi, they could afford to ease off after that.
“It’s nice that that ticket (to the French semi-finals) is secure,” said Clerc. “That means we can prepare calmly for the semi-final against Leinster and we will be at ease in approaching Clermont on the final day of the Top 14. It’s very positive and much more comfortable for the end of the season.”
By contrast, Toulouse had to go through an additional play-off match in the Top 14, and with two semi-finals secured talk of a double is more plausible. “It’s still a bit soon,” maintains Clerc, “but it is certain directly qualifying for the Top 14 semi-finals lets us fully speculate on our chances in the H Cup.”
It was confirmed yesterday former Leinster outhalf Felipe Contepomi will be released a year early from his contract at Toulon to again link up with Michael Cheika at Stade Français next season.
