DAVID BARNES

FRENCH COLUMN

Final flourish: Cheslin Kolbe scored for Toulouse

“Abendanon believes a final between his team and Toulouse would be the showpiece French rugby fans would love to see”
Toulouse, by far the finest Top 14 team of the season, had to scrap for their lives to reach the final last night.
They finally managed to escape the clutches of a stubborn La Rochelle to win 20-6. And that means, with Clermont meeting Lyon today in the other semi-final, that the best two teams from the regular season can confront each other for the trophy for the first time in a ...