Zebre 6 Toulouse 16 match report: Former champions secure top-spot but must wait to find out quarter-final plans
A bonus point could have secured the French giants a home tie but they struggle to victory in Italy
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Toulouse wrapped up their Heineken Cup pool campaign with an unconvincing 16-6 victory over whipping-boys Zebre to leave their hopes of a home quarter-final in the balance.
Already assured of a place in the last eight going into the match at the Stadio XXV Aprile, Toulouse needed a win and the bonus point to guarantee an April date in front of their own fans.
The visitors, however, could only manage one try against Zebre who had conceded 194 points in losing all five of their previous pool matches.
Toulouse could even have found themselves trailing at half-time but for three missed penalties from their hosts, but instead were 10-3 to the good courtesy of Sebastien Bezy's coverted score just before the break.
That, however, failed to open the floodgates for the French side, who only managed two further penalties from Bezy and Jean-Marc Doussain after Luciano Orquera had reduced the deficit to 10-6 with his second three-pointer of the match.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments