Saracens’ director of rugby, Mark McCall, this week described Toulon as a star side rather than one that was full of stars. His point was that while the French club’s owner, Mourad Boudjellal, has assembled, at considerable expense, a squad full of international rugby’s A-listers, the emphasis was on the team, not individuals.
Toulon’s starting line-up against Saracens in Saturday’s Heineken Cup final includes five World Cup winners – Jonny Wilkinson, Bryan Habana, Bakkies Botha, Juan Smith and Danie Rossouw. A sixth, Ali Williams, is on the bench and the side is made up of six different nationalities, with Mathieu Bastareaud, Sébastien Tillous-Borde and Xavier Chiocci waving the Tricolour.
“In this team everyone gives everything,” says Habana, the South Africa wing who has made a timely return to fitness after spending most of his first season with Toulon injured. “I said when I arrived here that my motivation for joining was to be successful and we face two finals in a week for the second successive season.
“It has been a frustrating season for me but I am delighted to be able to play a part at a crucial moment. It has been a great experience: there’s a different approach to the game here from the Super 15. You get big fights among the forwards, you have to be very sharp tactically; and the kicking is more important. As a back line, we were disappointed by the way we played in last week’s Top 14 semi-final against Racing Métro and want to put that right.”
Like Saracens, who face Northampton in next weekend’s Premiership final at Twickenham, Toulon are fighting on two fronts, as they were a year ago when they defeated Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup final only to lose the league crown to Castres, their opponents again this season.
“Last year we played the league semi-final after the Heineken Cup and the emotion was very different,” says the New Zealand prop Carl Hayman. “We were coming off a massive high and we put so much into that victory that we dropped off a bit the following week and could not get it back in the final. Playing in two finals is mentally challenging and we have to put everything into this weekend and then assess where the team is. It is the only way to do it.
“The game against Saracens should be a cracker. Both teams finished the season at the top of their leagues, which shows consistency over nine months. There is no competition like this in the world. It is so competitive and, when you looked at the sides in the quarter-finals, all of them had the potential to go on and win the trophy. Saracens have danger men throughout their side and we know we are going to have to get it right defensively.”
Habana hopes to beat Saracens to the jersey of Wilkinson as well as on the scoreboard. The outside-half will be making his final appearance in Britain and on a ground where he never lost in an England jersey. He believes that his impending departure will not weigh on himself or his team-mates as they attempt to go one better than last season and also become the first French club to retain the Heineken Cup.
“The emotion of these last two games is huge because everything feels so damned important to you,” Wilkinson says. “Rugby has always been a life or death thing and that is not going to change. You have to forget about tomorrow and just think about your performance: if you are not going to do what you want now, then when are you? There is nothing to hold back for and you have to try and show everything that is good about yourself.”
Wilkinson will be facing one of his successors in the England team, Owen Farrell, two similarly driven players who live for the moment. “Owen is a symbol of all that is good about Saracens and England,” Wilkinson says. “His skill levels are outstanding, he has leadership qualities, he is consistent in his performances and he is mentally tough. He gives his teams strength and solidity and he is someone we will need to be very aware of.”
