Toulouse were crowned champions of France for the 21st time on Friday night, some 13 months after the players had first gathered for a pandemiclengthened pre-season.
They performed against type to beat La Rochelle for a fourth time this season – the second time in a final – to add the 2020/21 Top 14 title to last month’s Champions Cup triumph.
They had played at times with joyful abandon throughout the season, occasionally taking organised chaos to new levels. But they were pure, unadulterated pragmatism for their assault on a 21st French championship crown, and the first European-Top 14 ...