Toulouse out for another scalp

Toulouse are looking to continue their impressive start to life in League 1 with a Challenge Cup victory over the University of Gloucestershire All Golds.

Toulouse made the Challenge Cup semi-finals in 2005 and continued their good League 1 form with a thumping 74-0 home win over Hemel Stags.

Coach Sylvain Houles said: “I thought the game against Hemel was pretty serious, we aimed to have a complete game.

“The week before, I thought after half-time we had a bit of a collapse so we asked our players to make sure we were concentrating for 80 minutes.

“We scored seven tries in the first half and seven in the second and another positive is that we didn’t concede any points so it was a good effort from my boys, our defence was in good shape.

“Now it’s a Cup tie, it’s a knock-out game which is a good opportunity for us to play a little bit under pressure and see how we react. The All Golds have had some good results, they’re a great team, so it will be a different game.

“They’re probably going to push us, they’ve got a big pack of forwards so we need to control them. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

The University of Gloucestershire All Golds face a tough trip to the south of France after beating South Wales Scorpions 44-22 on Wednesday.

Coach Lee Greenwood said: “It was very scrappy. We never really looked like we were in danger although it was close-ish throughout. We need to raise our standards a bit.

“We are playing two games in three days, plus the travelling but we’ve just got to get on with it. Once we’re there we’ll give it our best shot.”