RUGBY:The prospect of knocking out the mighty Munster from this year's competitiion is stoking the home fires in Toulon, writes GERRY THORNLEY

AS WITH this entire European campaign, Philippe Saint-André has sought to play down Toulon’s ambitions. The way he describes it, arriving at this stage in proceedings as pool leaders in their debut Heineken Cup campaign has almost been an accident. But a bit like their run to the Amlin Challenge Cup final last season, they seem to have a taste for the European stage.

Perhaps it’s because of their high quotient of big-name foreign players, Toulon have more of a ready-made understanding and desire for the European competitions than other French sides. Admittedly, the 45-18 defeat in Thomond Park put their Euro pedigree into perspective, but the scent of cordite in the air for Sunday’s return meeting at an eagerly sold-out Stade Felix-Mayol could make them more dangerous.

As is reflected in his team’s rugby, Saint-André is a very pragmatic man. European rugby is important for him and their litany of overseas’ players, as well as the interim future for the club given it will increase their profile and generate money.

Affectionately known as le Goret (the pig), there would assuredly be a part of Saint-André that would love to avenge three successive defeats with Sale since they beat Munster in the 2005-06 opener, not to mention two defeats with Bourgoin and the meeting last October.

Recalling the first match, Saint-André yesterday confirmed that the shock of that defeat still reverberates through the club. “In a way this defeat at Munster has made us aware of the level we have still to achieve. This was a match that allowed us to grow as a team.

“Now we would like to show that the gap between the teams is not as big, but we will know on Sunday if we have really learned something.”

Toulon, as pretty much everyone with even a passing interest in rugby now knows, are the invention – or more pertinently the reinvention – of club president Mourad Boudjellal. The local boy of Moroccan extraction done good, who made his millions in comic books, bastardised the club as Roman Abramovich does Chelsea, though in a far more visible and voluble way.

An animated figure, invariably dressed in his trademark black, on the sidelines alongside his coaching staff, Boudjellal is wont to visit the dressingroom before kick-off and is not exactly shy of giving pre- or post-match interviews to the media, particularly television. Amongst his many utterances since the first meeting with Munster, he has joked publicly about Munster being owned by the IMF and promising all manner of revenge when the sides meet on Sunday. For the president, anyway, that is a very real desire.

First enraptured by Toulon and the Stade Felix-Mayol when invited along to a game by the club’s former French flanker and on-field Hardiman Eric Champ, as a putative sponsor, Boudjellal became the club’s benefactor and president after their one-year stay in the Top 14 in 2005-06.

As with Abramovich, Boudjellal has financially backboned a host of expensive, marquee signings, with high-profile veterans his initial target, such as Tana Umaga, George Gregan, reportedly paid €300,000 and €400,000 each out of Boudjellal’s pocket, Victor Matfield and Andrew Martens.

Having missed out in 2007, Toulon were promoted the next year, though with Umaga as coach, initially struggled again to hold onto their status in the top flight. “The first season in the Top 14 was very difficult,” Boudjellal subsequently admitted. “And I learned that Tana Umaga was not yet ready to give up playing – and that he’s not a manager.”

The appointment of Saint-André, the former French winger who had cut his teeth as a coach, most notably with Sale, changed everything. Saint-André changed the drinking culture at the club, imposing discipline, as well as fostering a much-improved squad spirit and closer connection with their passionate supporters.

This was not especially easy, given that all told there are 22 foreign, non-French qualified players on the Toulon roster, 17 of them Test players, with only Sebastien Bruno and Pierre Mignoni, having played for France; and they assuredly belong in the category of former internationals.

Not all of the expensive veterans were success stories, with Jonny Wilkinson easily the most productive. He had scarcely arrived than he was given hour-long press conferences of interviews, with the full-page treatment, and, typically, in fluent French. The darling of the French media and Toulon public alike, Wilkinson’s professionalism and modesty sit well with the reinvent Toulon. Reborn in France and relatively injury free, he is the Top 14’s leading points scorer this season with 205 points (including 14 drop goals) in 13 games and recently signed a two-year deal to effectively see out his career.

In truth, while they can score tries even from deep, they have lost much of last season’s creative spark with the departure of Sonny Bill Williams, and especially when Wilkinson starts given he sits so deep in the pocket.

Joe van Niekerk attracts much of the publicity as the team’s most dynamic player nowadays, but in many ways the driving force appears to be Juan-Martin Fernandez-Lobbe, the Pumas’ backrower. If he is in the starting team announced today, we know Toulon mean business, and clearly Boudjellal and Saint-André have to appreciate the importance of the Pumas star, as yesterday the club confirmed he has signed a new three-year deal with them.

Similarly, if Bruno, their strongest scrummaging hooker, also starts we know Toulon mean business and are targeting the Munster set-piece.

His new one-year extension was also confirmed yesterday, as was loosehead Benjamin Boasters, who has signed for two years with the option of a third. The timing of these announcements may have been significant.

Saint-André also said yesterday: “There is, clearly, a lot of pressure on both teams for this match but we can see it only as a positive from the Toulon perspective. We have the opportunity to eliminate Munster from this competition, which would be an event, because they have participated 12 times consecutively in the quarter-finals.

“We know this is a do-or-die match. But beware, Munster – unlike us – is used to this type of decisive confrontation.

“But we want to be as solid as a rock in the Stade Mayol. This game is a huge event for the club and for the town. The Toulonnais public is a little unaware of what the H Cup is like. This time, they are discovering this new dimension. There is a true effervescence in the town and not one ticket to sell. So for us, we have to be up for it.”