TOULOUSE...19 BIARRITZ...11: It is eight years since Toulouse suffered an epic, 60-point European defeat to Wasps at Loftus Road, but the scars that afternoon left are still raw. There was no other reading of the expression on the face of the Toulouse coach Guy Noves here in Bordeaux when his captain Fabien Pelous mentioned the W word.
"We remember," said Noves.
"Wasps are a big team and that defeat left its mark on us," said Pelous, the France and Toulouse captain, who had not actually arrived at the club at the time.
"I've only seen them on television but they made a big impression on me," he added. "Their style is really dynamic. They're incredibly physical and can put a lot of speed into a match."
On Saturday when the enveloping Biarritz cover faltered for a millisecond, Toulouse showed speed of their own, and as for physicality, the sight of the substitute back-row Isitolo Maka ploughing through Serge Betsen left nothing more to be said.
Even that might not have been enough to give Toulouse a chance of defending their title if the Biarritz scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili had had his kicking boots on. Delightful with the ball in hand, Yachvili missed three penalties and a conversion.
His erratic form was typical of a tense afternoon when intense pressure from both defences led to much fumbling and bumbling.
It may only have been pretty in brief phases - when Toulouse were given a millimetre of space - but it was enthralling, with the outcome in doubt until Jann Delaigue's drop-goal six minutes into injury time.
For all their heroics in Dublin, Wasps should beware of the cool-headedness and physical reserves that enabled Toulouse to survive after a first half their coach Guy Noves described as "catastrophique". The outhalf Delaigue slotted four kicks from four and there was never a hint of panic, even when Biarritz went ahead after Philippe Bidabe's 52nd-minute try.
Toulouse have perhaps the strongest bench in Europe. The gargantuan senior of the Maka brothers came on to score the winning try. Just as worryingly for Wasps, the first-choice scrum-half, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, returns from injury for the final.
Toulouse are massively streetwise, too, as was shown when with 10 minutes remaining Pelous pulled Sotele Puleoto out of a maul, earning Biarritz a penalty. But the vast prop lost his cool, Pelous completed an impressive afternoon with a little acting and the penalty was reversed.
"It was the turning point and Pelous showed his experience," said the Biarritz coach Patrice Lagisquet. "It's critical to know how to behave intelligently at key moments. Toulouse were wiser than us and had better control of the closing phase of the game."
Wasps have been warned.
TOULOUSE: Poitrenaud; Clerc, Desbrosse, Jauzion, Heymans; Delaigue, Michalak (Dupuy, 46); Collazo, Servat (Bru, 45), Poux, Pelous (capt), Brennan (Millochluski, 80), Bouilhou, F Maka (Gerard, 57), Labit (I Maka, 54). Try: I Maka. Con: Delaigue. Pens: Delaigue 3. Drop-goal: Delaigue.
BIARRITZ: Brusque; Bidabe, Gaitan, Lacroix (Bernat-Salles, 68), Marlu; Peyrelongue, Yachvili; Balan (Puleoto, 68), Gonzalez, Avril, Manent, Couzinet (Nauroy, 62), Betsen, Tonita, T Lievremont (capt). Try: Bidabe. Pens: Yachvili 2.
Referee: T Spreadbury (England).
