Superstar starts but a shadow hangs over Toulouse as they face Glasgow Warriors

The 33-26 home defeat in 2009 caused Toulouse plenty of anguish but they bounced back the following season to lift the Champions Cup.

They come to Scotstoun on Saturday night as the pre-eminent side in European club rugby having been crowned continental champions on a record six occasions.

It should be an occasion to savour and one in which the world's best player makes his return. Antoine Dupont has not started a match since rupturing his cruciate ligament during the Six Nations match against Ireland on March 8 but is selected at scrum-half in a full-strength Toulouse team for the Investec Champions Cup Pool 1 match.

Recent seasons have seen some clubs not picking their strongest team in this competition, prompting accusations of their failing to give it the respect it deserves. That is certainly not the case here as Glasgow and Toulouse both go fully loaded for this eagerly-awaited tie.

For the visitors, there is plenty of stardust, particularly in the backline where Dupont is reunited with stand-off Romain Ntamack - who missed last week’s big win over the Sharks due to illness - and the back three consists of Thomas Ramos, Ange Capuozzo and Blair Kinghorn.

“Who would not be excited to be involved in this game?” said Glasgow coach Franco Smith when asked if Warriors scrum-half Jamie Dobie was looking forward to facing Dupont. “Let's put Dupont out of it. I think both teams have gone with arguably their best team. I think they're all excited. It's a big game at home against a very good opposition.”

One change for Glasgow

Glasgow’s record in Europe’s top-tier competition pales next to Toulouse’s - the Warriors have never been beyond the quarter-finals - but the visitors’ team selection shows how seriously they are taking the match at Scotstoun, a notoriously difficult venue for even the best teams in the world.

“These guys that are coming here, they've been on the front pages of a lot of magazines, I suppose, and they've been noted across the world as the superstars of the game,” said Smith. “If you look at it from that perspective, yes, I think we haven't had so many superstars here in the opposition team. But that's not a distraction for us. We have our own objectives and our own way to go about it.”

Dobie’s inclusion is the only change made by Smith to the side which beat Sale away 26-21 with a bonus point last week in their opening game of the Champions Cup campaign. He replaces George Horne, who drops to the bench, but is still likely to have an important role to play.

“It's just a rotation,” said Smith, before adding enigmatically: “I think we'll see a little bit of a strategy call around it as well. I think George plays well and he brings a certain aspect to the game, and we would like to maybe see that a little bit later in the game.”

‘We need to win big games’

Glasgow were found wanting on the really big occasions last season, suffering heavy defeats against Leinster in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup and again in the semi-finals of the URC. The latter result was particularly tough to take because it ended Glasgow’s reign as champions but Smith was still proud of their achievements and committed his future to the club earlier this year by signing a contract extension until 2028.

Progress in Europe feels like the next step but he played down the suggestion that beating Toulouse would be a statement result.

“I think people outside of the building definitely would see this as a statement,” he said. “We don't see it that way. My dream here is to progress the players and the team. We won the URC [in 2024], and I explained that we arguably had the best season last year. Maybe losing in the quarter-final of the European Cup and in the semi-final against the same team, which shines a wrong light on it all. If you look at the stats and where we finished and how early we qualified and everything that's happened last season, we played really, really well.

“But this season we want to progress and we want to get better. We need to win some of the big games, so that's a mission. We want to install that ability to win big games and not be fazed by the opposition.”

Despite the URC success of 2024, Smith still believes Glasgow fly “under the radar”. “I hope people will continue to think that we are not good enough to win this competition,” he said. “That's basically motivation that serves us well.”

He does not believe his players will be fazed by the reputations of the opposition and added that their preparations this week were not overly focused on Dupont.

“He's a good player,” said Smith. “It's not his first time coming back from a big injury and he's a professional. With his physical development, he would have done his rehab in a certain way. He's had sevens experience so we know he's already a fit and strong player. I'm sure that he'll be hitting his straps soon. We've prepared as if he's playing the best rugby of his life.”

“We definitely didn't focus on him specifically,” added Smith. “They've got too many threats around the park. I think that's what they want - too much focus on him and you’ll allow too many other players to look like stars.

“No, we face them as a collective outfit. Yes, he's a part of that, but there’s no special treatment or plans to nullify him. I know as a player and as a coach that the nullifying of players is a mythical thing. It's not really as practical as people might think it is.”

Shadow hanging over Toulouse

Toulouse’s preparations have been hampered somewhat by off-field matters which could yet result in a domestic points deduction.

They attended a disciplinary hearing on Monday regarding the 2022 transfer of full-back Melvyn Jaminet from Perpignan and a possible breach of the Top 14 salary cap.

Jaminet has since left the club for Toulon - he played against Edinburgh last weekend - but the matter continues to fester in the background for Toulouse as they await a decision from the LNR, the French national league body which runs the Top 14.

The club has already paid 1.3 million euros to the LNR as a settlement in March but further punishment is possible, including a points deduction or even title-stripping.

Against this backdrop, Dupont’s return has been slightly overshadowed but once the game starts the off-field matters are unlikely to be a problem.

“Crying before being hurt would be useless,” Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola said after his team hammered the Sharks in their opening Champions Cup game. “Obviously there might be consequences. We will take responsibility for them as we always have done.”

Despite Smith’s claim that Glasgow still fly under the radar, Mola is clearly not taking them lightly given his team selection.

“I think they are the big threat in the group,” he said. “They're a good side who have been in constant progression for a few seasons now.”

Glasgow v Toulouse teams

Glasgow Warriors v Stade Toulousain (Investec Champions Cup Pool 1, Scotstoun Stadium, Saturday, 8pm)

Glasgow Warriors: 15. Josh McKay; 14. Kyle Steyn (c), 13. Stafford McDowall, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Ollie Smith; 10. Adam Hastings, 9. Jamie Dobie; 1. Nathan McBeth, 2. Gregor Hiddleston, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Max Williamson, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Matt Fagerson, 7. Rory Darge, 8. Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16. Seb Stephen, 17. Rory Sutherland, 18. Sam Talakai, 19. Alex Craig, 20. Gregor Brown, 21. Ally Miller, 22. George Horne, 23. Dan Lancaster.

Stade Toulousain: 15. Thomas Ramos; 14. Ange Capuozzo, 13. Paul Costes, 12. Kalvin Gourgues, 11. Blair Kinghorn; 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont; 1. David Ainu'u, 2. Julien Marchand (c), 3. Dorian Aldegheri, 4. Joshua Brennan, 5. Thibaud Flament, 6. Jack Willis, 7. Leo Banos, 8. Anthony Jelonch. Replacements: 16. Thomas Lacombre, 17. Rodrigue Neti, 18. Joel Merkler, 19. Emmanuel Meafou, 20. Mathis Castro-Ferreira, 21. Alexandre Roumat, 22. Paul Graou, 23. Teddy Thomas.

Referee: Matthew Carley (Eng).