STARS LIKE ANTOINE Dupont and Romain Ntamack attract most of the attention whenever Toulouse come to town but this season fullback Thomas Ramos has added even more zip to the French side’s electric backline. 

The form of the pacey France fullback is something Leinster will be acutely aware of when the two sides meet in Dublin on Saturday for their Heineken Champions Cup semi-final.

Across all competitions with Toulouse and France this season, Ramos has already recorded a season-best for tries scored (eight) and his total of 344 points is his best return since registering 347 during a loan spell at Colomiers in 2016/17 – and that’s with the French international serving a five-week ban which meant he played no rugby in January.

Much of Ramos’ best attacking work is a product of his blistering pace and game intelligence. The 27-year-old is in the prime of his career and with all the experience that comes with winning two Top 14 titles, one Champions Cup and a Grand Slam, his reading and understanding of the game is better than ever, allowing him to capitalise on moments of broken play before using his speed to devastating effect. 

Here’s an example from the Top 14 earlier in the season where Ramos, playing at 10, exploits a lack of cover in the Clermont backfield by using that pace to provide a pass option and score the first of his two tries on the day.

Leinster won’t need to be reminded that Ramos is one of a handful of Toulouse players who can strike from anywhere.

That workrate which underlines his desire to get involved in the attacking play is evident across other areas of his game, too.

In Toulouse’s Champions Cup pool stage defeat of Munster at Thomond Park back in December, Ramos’ workrate resulted in the visitors winning a key penalty when the game was in the balance, Munster looking to overturn a five-point deficit with 10 to play.

After Toulouse steal the ball right on their own 22, Ramos uses his right boot to put the home side on the back foot. Crucially, Ramos’ chase of his own kick puts pressure on Jack O’Donoghue to deal with the situation.

O’Donoghue takes possession and looks to carry, but is soon met with a Dupont tackle. Ramos is then on hand as the second Toulouse player in to win the penalty and kick the three points himself.

In one passage of play, Toulouse go from defending on the edge of their 22 to making it a two-score game, with Ramos’ determination to apply pressure and then hit the breakdown at the heart of it.

It is evident that having failed to land any silverware last year, there is a renewed hunger in the Toulouse squad this season and Ugo Mola’s squad, who currently lead La Rochelle by one point in the Top 14 table, are desperate to win a sixth Champions Cup title. 

And Ramos was at his influential best in the Champions Cup quarter-final defeat of the Sharks earlier this month, where the fullback was heavily involved with two tries, five conversions and three penalties to finish with a 29-point haul.

That high-scoring return made the headlines but it was his decision making in open play which really caught the eye.

Perhaps his most impressive moment came just when Toulouse needed it most, a brilliant bit of individual skill which laid the platform for a late onslaught as the home side finally pulled clear of the South Africans.

With the game heading toward the final 10 minutes, Toulouse had found themselves under an extended period of Sharks pressure with their lead at just six points, having at one point been up by 11.

In looking to break the Sharks line, the French side lose possession and the loose ball is hoofed back towards Ramos by Sharks outhalf Curwin Bosch. 

Immediately spotting the space behind, Ramos executes a perfectly-weighted 50:22 in a flash. The kick hands Toulouse an excellent opportunity while also injecting some energy into a vocal home crowd.

With the kick pinning the Sharks back into their own 22, Toulouse take full advantage as a smart maul move sees Peato Mauvaka cross for their fourth try. It proves a crucial score as from here, Toulouse take full control, crossing another three times as they add another 21 points without reply.

A couple of minutes later Ramos scored his second try of the day, and it was almost a carbon copy of his first – running an excellent support line to finish a typically free-flowing Toulouse counter attack.

Toulouse initially win possession when Makazole Mapimpi spills the ball rather carelessly in contact. Immediately, Toulouse look to strike. As they move the ball wide, many of the Toulouse players drift wide following the play, but Ramos, circled below, is thinking a couple of steps ahead.

Sensing what might come next, he quickly makes an effort to sprint into a position where he can offer himself as a support runner a couple of passes down the line.

Sure enough, with just two passes Toulouse take the ball from the halfway line deep into the Sharks half through Ntamack and Dupont.

It’s typical Toulouse. While the French side boast an excellent kicking game and have no shortage of power up front, it’s their quick passing and searing runs which so often cut the opposition open – Toulouse actually made fewer carries than any other team in the quarter-finals (92), yet still topped the charts with 19 clean breaks, seven more than any other side.

As Dupont looks up to see Sharks winger Werner Kok closing in to make the hit, Ramos is on hand to receive the ball and finish the move – his decision to step into the space outside Kok and the chasing Phendulani Buthelezi another small, yet extremely clever reading of the situation.

Finally, while it might not be the most notable bit of play from Ramos on the day, his remarkably nonchalant soccer-style kick on the edge of his own tryline in the opening minutes was perhaps the most memorable. It’s not a piece of skill his coaches will want to see on display too often, but what it does showcase is just how confident Ramos is in his own abilities at the moment. 

It also took us back to another example of utter calmness from Ramos when Ireland hosted France in the Six Nations.

Having already endured a couple of shaky moments – struggling to gather a Lowe kick and putting Dupont under pressure with a rushed pass – Ramos didn’t second-guess himself as he raced onto a loose Ntamack pass with Garry Ringrose closing in and no cover behind. Instead of trying to smother the ball, Ramos coolly batted it wide to Damian Penaud.

Not only did Ramos’ ‘pass’ ensure France kept possession, it launched a counter attack from deep which resulted in one of the tries of the tournament – which is always worth another watch:

It takes a cool head to pull off such risky moves in those areas of the pitch, but it’s moments like these which make Ramos such a joy to watch.  

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