Toulouse Olympique: Narrowly Wins and Retains First Place

Toulouse secured a crucial 12-6 victory over Doncaster on Saturday, July 5th, and retained their first place in the standings.

Relocated to the Michel-Bendichou stadium in Colomiers due to air traffic strikes, which delayed Doncaster’s English team, the match started at 9 p.m.

The French air traffic controllers’ (ATC) strike entered its second day on Friday, with flight delays and cancellations for thousands of passengers.

Airlines have denounced the action, which comes during one of the busiest months of the year for air travel.

Two minority air traffic controller unions are on strike, and all European air traffic is taking on water.

Fewer than 300 air traffic controllers on strike are causing chaos in France and Europe. Because France is also the most overflown country on the Old Continent.
According to Ryanair, air traffic control is the reason France tops its ranking for flight delays. The company claims that 26,008 of its flights were delayed in France in 2025, affecting 4.7 million passengers. The company also recorded 16,667 delays in Spain (affecting three million passengers) and 7,526 in Germany.

But when the situation is uncomfortable and the team is foreign, solutions must be found to avoid canceling the match, as in the case of the plane carrying the England players to the match against Torino.

A match on the grass of Michel Bendichou where the air traffic controllers’ demands (unintentionally) became part of the debate. Initially scheduled for 6 p.m., then for 8 p.m., kick-off was finally at 9 p.m. A schedule that wasn’t exactly typical of Toulouse (whose matchdays were significantly altered), they took the first shots.

Beaten last week away to Widnes, Sylvain Houles’s players were keen to redeem themselves and, above all, maintain their lead in the standings. From the opening minutes of the match, the home side set the tone and opened the scoring in the 5th minute, when Paul Ulberg intercepted a pass and darted under the posts after a 60-meter run.

The « Dons, » who were very comfortable away from home (4 wins), got back on track with a Smeaton goal that wiped out their deficit (6-6).

Toulouse saw the Dons level the score thanks to a determined second row, Sam Smeaton. Just before halftime, Toulouse regained the lead thanks to an Anthony Marion penalty (8-6).

The second half played at the same pace as the first, with both Dons and Toulouse trying and daring, but both were met by very tight defenses.

The second half wasn’t exactly exciting. Deprived of many key players, including key players Jake Shorrocks, Olly Ashall-Bott, and Thomas Lacans, captain Anthony Marion’s teammates were content to manage their slim lead on the scoreboard, before scoring one last goal at the very end of the match.

Reuben Rennie missed the goal that could have made the difference. But ultimately, it was a matter of retreating to make a better leap. In a classic attack, Toulouse second-row Maxime Stefani tore through the opposing defensive line and, more importantly, freed Toulouse Olympique (12-6) with five minutes left.

With this twelfth victory of the season, Toulouse Olympique reclaims sole possession of the top spot before traveling to Halifax next Saturday. Toulouse will retain its first place even if York City wins in Sheffield this Sunday afternoon.

©2025 – IMPACT EUROPEAN

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Gabriel MIHAI

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