Toulouse confident experience will see them through
Toulouse coach Guy Noves is confident his side will have enough experience to overcome Leicester in their Heineken Cup semi-final clash on Sunday.
The French outfit saw off Perpignan to win the event in 2003 before reaching the final again last year, only to be beaten by Wasps.
This weekend’s semi-final clash will be the 70th European match in the club’s history.
“If we compare ourselves to Leicester, Toulouse is the team that has played the most European matches,” said Noves.
“We have reached the semi-finals for the third consecutive time, and played two finals in 2003 and 2004, so yes, I think we have good experience.”
Noves is expecting a challenging encounter against their English opponents, however. “The English have a lot of qualities including that of forcing their rivals to fly off the handle,” added the Frenchman.
“But we know how to cope with that after playing a total of 69 European matches. We’ve been provoked, badly treated by referees, suffered suspensions and lost games because we responded to provocation.
“But this will not happen on Sunday.”
The Toulouse boss also praised the qualities of Leicester, who he believes will be very tough opponents.
“They are a very complete side, both individually and collectively, in all areas of the game, back and forward,” he said.
“We can definitely talk about a mountain to climb when we think about Leicester.”
Toulouse will begin the match as underdogs, but Noves insists this will not hinder his side. “This match is similar to the final we played last year in front of 80,000 English supporters at Twickenham,” added Noves.
“The English media were expecting us to suffer a thrashing by London Wasps but we only lost 27-20.
“It is logical Leicester are considered favourites but we are competitors and we are ready to take up this huge challenge.
“We prepare all year to play big matches like this. The players are programmed for clashes of such a high calibre.
“We are preparing this match like a great celebration, which we will lose or win, but in which we will complete after rolling up our sleeves and honouring the club’s values.”
