EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS TOULON will tackle the South African Super Rugby team the Sharks in a friendly in February, the French club tweeted on Sunday.
The idea of a friendly between the two sides was mooted earlier in the week when Sharks manager John Smit, South Africa’s 2007 World Cup winning captain, threw down the gauntlet and tweeted a direct challenge to Toulon.
He said Tuesday: “Its easier to win Heineken (European) Cup than to contest a @SuperRugby title, @RCTofficiel how do u feel about a game against the SA Conf champs 2014?”
That prompted Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal to quip in a press conference later that day: “I’ve seen Jaws I, II and III and sharks don’t scare me!”
But on Sunday, Toulon’s official twitter account posted the message: “Toulon accept John Smit’s challenge and will face the Sharks on February 5, 2015 at Mayol.”
The match will take place in Toulon on the same weekend as the first round of Six Nations matches, meaning the French champions will be badly depleted from international call-ups.
But Super Rugby semi-finallists the Sharks will still be in their pre-season as the 2015 Super Rugby competition — pitting teams from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia against each other — starts a week later.
According to organisers SL Events, talks had been ongoing before Smit’s tweet about a possible match.
It will pit current Toulon fly-half Frederic Michalak against the team where he twice spent a year, in 2008 and 2011.
Boudjellal claimed on Tuesday that when he told manager Bernard Laporte about the challenge, the former France coach responded: “If they want to play the champions, it’s where they want, when they want!”
I was hoping it would be against NSW Waratahs. A match between the two champs would be great. That said, it should be interesting to see what the contrast is like. Some Super Rugby fans you’d talk would reckon that any of their weaker teams would mop the floor with the best the NH has to offer, but that’s probably just typical Southern arrogance I reckon.
Matches like this have already happened . Last year Saracens played the Sharks and Saracens ended up winning farily convincing.
Load of Bollix.. Toulons crash/bang will come unstuck and they will be back in the pack. Leinster/ Munster will be ready for them next time.
Toulon can probably field two first class sides, so losing players to the 6N shouldn’t be too big an issue. Would have been more interested in seeing Toulon from last season play the Super Champion Chiefs of 2013. Will be worth a Sky+ all the same
“Badly Depleted” …. Toulon have about 4 or 5 players that will play in the 6 Nations! They won’t be badly depleted at all. None of their English players will be playing for England, so they will have the two Armitage’s. Halfpenny will be gone, Bastauread, Michalak maybe, Mermoz, Suta and Chiocci might be selected in the France squad, but knowing St Andre, they could very easily be left out. Toulon should be playing very close to a full strength side.
Nothing mouth watering about having the IKEA team represent the NH in my book.
Toulon are going to smash the Sharks. If only people up north knew how the sharks ended up as South Africa top team-by playing fellow south African teams that made up the bottom half of the 2014 super rugby table!. The SA conference was by far the weakest conference in 2014.
They should of organised a game vs the Waratahs or the top NZ teams like the Crusaders and Chiefs. That would be a better indicator. Not from someone who was having a rant on twitter.