Rochdale Hornets and Toulouse Olympique renew rivalry

League One Promotion Final
Toulouse Olympique v Rochdale Hornets 2016

Rochdale Hornets and Toulouse Olympique will go head-to-head on Sunday in the first meeting of the two clubs since their promotion to the Kingstone Press Championship.

Both sides have been performing well since the step up to League One, with the French outfit sitting second on points difference, while Hornets are in sixth just three points behind.

The first time these two sides met was a fiery encounter at the Crown Oil Arena in April where they played out a 28-28 draw after Hornets had clawed their way into the lead from a 16-0 deficit.

Tom Lineham lined up for Hornets that day and grabbed a brace of tries, while Jono Smith and Danny Yates also crossed the whitewash, but it was Paul Crook’s penalty goal which sealed a point.

Some underhand tactics by Toulouse caused the game to boil over, with a number of gouging and biting incidents throughout the game.

A bite on Lewis Galbraith by Bastien Ader resulted in the French centre being banned as Hornets became the first side to take a point off Toulouse.

Their next meeting was in the Super Eights, when Hornets had to make the trip to France for the first time as Toulouse picked up a comfortable 46-6 victory.

They went go head-to-head again at the Stade Ernest Argeles where Hornets did the unthinkable and ended Toulouse’s unbeaten record to gain automatic promotion to the second tier as League One Champions.

Like they did in the first meeting of the two sides, Hornets battled back from a 16-0 deficit as tries from Jack Holmes, Galbraith, Dave Cookson and Chris Riley gave them a 24-16 advantage.

Ader’s late effort put the favourites within two points, however some desperate defending in the last set of the contest saw Hornets defy the odds and become champions.

Hornets go into the game off the back of a disappointing loss away to London Broncos, as some questionable calls saw them on the wrong end of a 13-5 penalty count leading to a 28-8 defeat.

They were well in the contest until they were forced to defend their line for a prolonged period in the second half, as the home side took advantage with three late scores.

Their French counterparts won away at Featherstone Rovers, running out 34-26 winners to make it three straight wins and climb to second in the table.

Hornets will assess the injury of Jack Holmes after coach Alan Kilshaw revealed the extent of his foot injury picked up against York City Knights wasn’t as serious as first feared.

Kilshaw will be hoping that his players can pick up a first home victory since the opening day demolition of Dewsbury Rams, as since then they have lost to Hull KR and Halifax before snatching a late draw against rivals Oldham.