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2018 Championship – Toulouse vs Toronto Wolfpack Preview

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AT A GLANCE

When? Monday 2nd April, 13:30

Where? Stade Ernest Argeles

What channel is it on? Premier Sports

Where can I stream the match? Premier Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Premier Player

Are tickets still available? http://www.to13.com/billetteri...

THE LOWDOWN

TOULOUSE

Head Coach: Sylvain Houles

Squad: Bastien Ader, William Barthau, Andrew Bentley, Clément Boyer, Bastien Canet, Rhys Curran, Johnathon Ford, Tyla Hepi, Mark Kheirallah, Mourad Kriouache, Paul Marcon, Anthony Marion, Tony Maurel, Constantine Mika, Eddy Pettybourne, Sebastien Planas, Maxime Puech, Sam Rapira, Stanislas Robin

  • Toulouse welcome the Wolfpack to the south of France for this top of the table clash, and they will be eager to maintain top spot of the Championship with their opponents sitting just one point behind them coming into this game.
  • Toulouse make two changes to their squad for this match as captain Sebastien Planas comes back in for the injured Gavin Marguerite while Maxime Puech is named in place of Charles Bouzinac to welcome to Toronto.
  • Other than their early season loss to Featherstone, they have won their last six matches and scored at least 32 points in each of those games so their form is excellent for this crunch match.

TORONTO WOLFPACK

Head Coach: Paul Rowley

Squad: Andy Ackers, Ryan Brierley, Jack Buchanan, Jack Bussey, Jake Emmitt, Sam Hopkins, Liam Kay, Olsi Krasniqi, Reni Maitua, Josh McCrone, Jonny Pownall, Nick Rawsthorne, Adam Sidlow, Ashton Sims, Chase Stanley, Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e, Blake Wallace, Rich Whiting, Greg Worthington

  • Toronto beat Featherstone on Good Friday and that followed a narrow win over Rochdale as they have not quite been firing in recent matches but they remain hot on the heels of leaders and opponents Toulouse.
  • They are monitoring the health of star full-back Gareth O’Brien who was forced off against Featherstone with a head knock and he is highly unlikely to feature here given the quick turnaround in matches so Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e replaces him.
  • Coach Paul Rowley will expect some of his big names like Brierley, Kay, Krasniqi and Sims to lead from the front here and show all their experience in what promises to be their toughest match of the season so far.

THE PREDICTION

This has all the hallmarks of being a classic with both Toulouse and Toronto expected to be fighting it out for promotion to the Super League at the end of the season. Toulouse have been the standout team in the Championship so far this season while the Wolfpack are still something of a work in progress. The Canadian side have injuries to contend with and with recent performances not being quite at their best, then the French outfit have to be favoured here.

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