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Toulouse on the up
IT seems to have gone almost under the
radar with Hull KR marching on undefeated, but Toulouse have risen to second
place in the Championship on the back of four impressive straight wins.
Not
only that, but three of those wins have come away from home - the club’s
great Achilles heel the last time it competed at this level.
Sylvain
Houles’ team now have six wins - more than the
four they managed in the entire last season they played in the Championship,
and only three short of their best effort during that three-year stint.
Their
start to the current campaign had hinted at the problems of old.
Crushing
home wins over Batley and Dewsbury were mixed in with disappointing away
defeats at Sheffield and Bradford.
But
Toulouse haven’t lost since, and have won at
Halifax, Featherstone and Rochdale, with a home triumph over Swinton in
between.
Replicating
their formidable home form was always going to be their biggest hurdle in 2017,
and being full-time this year appears to have been helping Houles
significantly.
He
explained to League Express at the start of the season: “Last
year we were not full-time.
“Last
year we managed to free up a lot of players between 10am-2pm so that we could
train in the middle of the day, which is why people thought we were full-time.
“But
before and after that a lot of the players were going to work or study.
“Now,
there are a few with part-time jobs but the majority are just doing rugby.
“What
we have also got is a lot of students that are able to train during the day.
“That
is working well for us, and recovery is also a huge part for us with having to
travel every two weeks.”
Houles’
side play a fast, attractive style of rugby that should be even better suited
to the harder grounds in coming weeks.
With
Johnathon Ford again influential so far, and now lining up alongside talented
former Catalans stand-off Stan Robin, Houles has a halfback pairing to trouble
any defence in the competition.
This
week they host Oldham before an Easter weekend that will tell us a lot more
about their prospects this year.
The
French side travel to London Broncos on Good Friday before entertaining Hull KR
four days later.
Two
more wins there and people might start to consider Toulouse as genuine
promotion contenders.
And
with rivals Catalans Dragons struggling in Super League of late, what price a
French derby in the Qualifiers this season?
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