Top 14: Wilkinson puts the boot in as Toulon
sink AC Brumbies to continue winning start
07 August
2009
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Finding his feet:
Jonny Wilkinson
Photo: Michael Paler |
Jonny Wilkinson kicked
four penalties to lead Toulon to 20-6 home win
against the AC Brumbies.
The recalled England fly-half
took full advantage of the Aussie side's indiscipline,
claiming 12 points in his second outing as Philippe
Saint-Andre's team maintained their impressive pre-season
form.
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Pre-season friendlies
Wilkinson played an hour before coming off at the Stade
Felix Mayol on Thursday evening, lasting 15 minutes longer
than his initial outing against Brive
on July 24th as he continues to get his 'match
legs'.
Toulon's
high-profile summer signing put the boot in last night as
the Brumbies struggled to contain Toulon's powerful pack. In
total the Aussie side lost an incredible seven scrums
against the head, and also conceded five free-kicks on their
own set piece.
Wilkinson may have been off target with his opening effort
of the game - a first-minute drop-goal - but he soon found
his rhythm as he landed penalties in the fourth, ninth, 52nd
and 58th minutes. His initial success came after Brumbies
scrum-half Nic White was sin-binned for infringing at the
ruck.
Wilko's
two first-half penalties steered Toulon to a 6-3 interval
lead, with the Brumbies' only response was being 37th-minute
drop goal from Christian Lealiifano. The tourists could have
gone in level, but Matt Toomua missed a 35 metre kick right
on the stroke of half-time.
Toulon
continued to dominate set pieces after the break and
Wilkinson's third success made it 9-3 before Lealiifano
landed his own penalty in the 54th minute to reduce the
arrears to three points. But that was as good as it got for
the Australian side, with further kicks going over for
Toulon in the 58th and 66th minutes before a late pushover
try concluded the scoring.
The
result means Toulon have now won all three of their
pre-season friendlies to date, having previously overcome
Brive 9-6 and Racing-Metro 33-19. Saint-Andre will now
concentrate on fine tuning and finalising his starting XV
ahead of their opening Top 14 game at home to Stade Francais
on August 14th.
The Brumbies, meanwhile, return to Australia
with a tour record of three losses and just one win,
although that was an impressive 17-0 victory at the home of
current champions Perpignan.
Head
coach Andy Friend claimed the tour had been a huge success
for his squad despite the results. "It's put us three months
ahead of what we would've been if we didn't come on the
tour," he said after Thursday's reverse.
"It was
also a great chance to experience a different style of rugby
and a different culture and it's given us a fantastic read
on what we need to do to improve individuals as well as the
team," he added.
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