Toulon overpower Harlequins to claim comfortable Champions Cup victory
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Another Champions Cup weekend, another stark reminder that the Premiership lags behind its Top 14 rivals with Harlequins falling victim to a turbo-charged Toulon. Quins have claimed some famous scalps on French soil in recent years but, just as Northampton found out 24 hours earlier, cross the Channel without the sort of physicality that is ubiquitous in the Top 14 – “a lot of powerful animals” as the head coach, Danny Wilson, put it – and you will get badly exposed.
![[Toulon's French scrum-half Baptiste Serin dives across the line to score a try.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b243124d3fe4f83e7774fd4fe2e3ac57be5fe9bd/0_162_4227_2536/master/4227.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
As David Ribbans, the former England second row, who swapped Northampton for Toulon after the 2023 World Cup, explained after his side’s comfortable victory on Sunday, the biggest difference between the two leagues is physical prowess. Wilson did not disagree and though his side can still reach the knockout stages by beating Glasgow Warriors next week, he conceded they will also come to France in hope rather than expectation.
By April, after the last eight, it is not inconceivable that the English challenge is limited to the diaspora of players such as Ribbans. At Toulon he is joined by Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam, and if the squad does not possess as many star names as in their heyday, they pack a considerable punch. Indeed, it is 10 years since Toulon were last crowned champions of Europe but on this evidence, with the sun beating down on the Stade Mayol, the Mediterranean glistening in the distance, their fervent supporters would be forgiven for dreaming again.
“There’s definitely a difference in level of physicality,” said Ribbans. “In the Premiership they still play some really good rugby and some really good shape which maybe isn’t always the case in the Top 14, but in terms of physicality there’s definitely a step up. When you look at teams you are coming up against every week, they are filled with international players. Even ourselves, we are full of England, French internationals. When you train with that and play against that every weekend, it is a different level of physicality.”.
