The inherent genius of French rugby has been on display for the world to see these past two months, and that chutzpah isn't limited to just the international team. Both France’s Thomas Ramos and Antoine Dupont produced sublime pieces of skill last night as Toulouse defeated Lyon 27-19 in the Top 14.
The Toulouse fullback threw an outrageously risky pass in his own in-goal area while in the process of being tackled. Thankfully for Ramos, centre Lucas Tauzin was able to catch the pass on the edge of the dead ball line and clear their lines.
When you don’t want to give away a 5m scrum the @StadeToulousain way. Incredible skill by Ramos #STLOU #Top14 pic.twitter.com/LtWlB1dcqn
— Brett Igoe (@brettruganalyst) March 27, 2022
Risky plays behind one's in-goal area have become more common recently following the new goal line dropout laws. If a defending team touches the ball down in their in-goal area without taking it over themselves, the result is a goal-line dropout whereas before it was a 22 metre dropout.
One of the most shared plays of last year was Romain Ntamack’s move behind his try line against the All Blacks in November, while Italy’s Ange Capuozzo also showed off similar daring skills against in Italy’s Six Nations win over Wales.
The 2022 Six Nations Player of the Tournament and current World Player of the Year Antoine Dupont came off the bench for Toulouse and produced another spectacular highlight-reel play of his own, as he managed to evade a host of would be tacklers before sending a skip-pass to his wing.
Antoine Dupont: a genius
At a loss as to how Dupont emerged from this one
Reminiscent of the iguana escaping the snakes on that famous Planet Earth clip
pic.twitter.com/iidmE1iIGY— Paul Eddison (@pauleddison) March 27, 2022
Toulouse’s opponents Lyon had been in Irish rugby news during the week when it was announced that their centre Charles Ngatai would be signing for Leinster. However, the former All Black was not in the squad for the game.
There was further Irish interest on the bench for Toulouse, with Joshua Brennan named and getting 15 minutes of game time for himself.
The second-row is the son of former Ireland international and Toulouse legend Trevor Brennan. Brennan’s older son Daniel is also plying his trade in France with Montpellier.
See Also: Watch: Connacht's Tom Daly Red Carded For Awful High Hit On Leinster Man
