Heineken Cup / Toulouse 35 Edinburgh 13: Heading their pool and unbeaten in Europe they may be, but recent weeks have not been straightforward by Toulouse's high standards.
Their iconic captain, Fabien Pelous, is banned and their casualty list is long, while their rivals in Le Championnat, namely Stade Francais, Perpignan and Biarritz, all closed the gap.
With the former European champions Wasps visiting in early January, and their final Pool Six game a trip to Stradey Park, only five points would do here last night, and the four-try bonus was duly in the bag within the hour.
The champions are now eight points clear on top ahead of Llanelli.
Toulouse made their intentions clear from the off when Vincent Clerc pounced on the ball close to his own posts, broke the Edinburgh line and sprinted almost the full length of the pitch. The rather more heavyweight Finau Maka completed the move.
Edinburgh fought back, however, with Phil Godman slotting a drop-goal and creating space for his backs as the Scots enjoyed their best spell.
The 23-year-old landed a penalty to bring the visitors within a point. Toulouse stuttered before turning the game around thanks to two high-class substitutes, Yannick Nyanga and Florian Fritz, on respectively for Finau Maka, who departed only minutes after his try with a groin problem, and Clement Poitrenaud, taken off after 25 minutes with an ankle injury.
Nyanga struck first, just after the half-hour, breaking close to the Edinburgh line and showing the strength to put in an overhead pass that found the lock Romain Millo-Chluski in space.
Shortly afterwards Yannick Jauzion took Jean-Frederic Dubois' chip over the Scottish cover and, standing up in the tackle, put Fritz clear. Dubois' conversion put the champions 15 points clear, before Mike Blair and Chris Paterson inspired another Edinburgh fight back.
Blair broke from the base of a scrum just outside the Toulouse 22, with Paterson twisting his way through the tacklers to complete the move before converting.
After the break Toulouse enjoyed the bulk of possession. When their fourth try came it was hardly elegant, with Dubois grabbing his own kick in the Edinburgh 22 as it fell from the lowering clouds into a throng of players, and sprinting clear to secure the bonus point. Nyanga's try, with 13 minutes remaining and inspired by the excellent Jauzion, reflected their control in the second half.
TOULOUSE: Poitrenaud; Clerc, Jauzion, Thomas, Heymans; Dubois, Elissalde; Poux, Bru, Hasan, Millo-Chluski, Brennan, Bouilhou (capt), F Maka, I Maka. Replacements: Nyanga for Maka 8 mins; Fritz for Poitrenaud 25 mins.
EDINBURGH: Southwell; Paterson (capt), Di Rollo, Jorgensen, Webster; Godman, Blair; Hewett, Hall, Smith, Strokosch, Murray, Mustchin, Hogg, Taylor. Replacements: Cross for Mustchin 12 mins.
Guardian Service
