REPORT | Toulouse Olympique 12 Dons 6

The Dons fell to a narrow defeat on the road as they lost out to league leaders Toulouse Olympique at Stade Michel-Bendichou.

Sam Smeaton scored Richard Horne's side's first try in France in six years to see the visitors mark the scoresheet in the first half, but the hosts led by two points at the interval.

The Dons went close on several occasions after the break, but a late Toulouse try was the only scoring incident of the second 40 to see the French side to victory.

Horne made two changes to the side that completed the South Yorkshire derby day double against Sheffield Eagles 13 days earlier, with Logan-Taylor Moy and Jordan Baldwinson replacing Craig Hall and Brad Knowles, respectively. Hull FC loanee Matthew Laidlaw also returned to the side as an interchange.

The league leaders posed the early threat and were almost in after three minutes with a kick into the left-hand corner, but Watson Boas managed to claim possession after an awkward bounce and charge to safety.

But the early Toulouse pressure told four minutes later when a loose Dons pass out to the right wing was intercepted by Paul Ulberg, who raced clear and crossed by the posts uncontested. Anthony Marion added the extras.

The Dons grew into the game towards the quarter-of-an-hour mark and came within yards of the line after being awarded a penalty on the left-hand side, but the hosts dealt with the pressure to keep their six-point lead intact.

But that advantage only lasted for another three minutes. A great spell of Dons pressure saw play shift from left to right, where Smeaton found a gap and dived for the line. Connor Robinson successfully converted to level the scores.

The remaining time left of the first half saw the sides evenly matched, but another attacking spell from the French side saw the hosts retake the lead on 35 minutes after opting to kick for two from a penalty, which Marion pinned between the sticks.

The second half saw even fewer opportunities to cross at either end of the pitch, as the Dons went just short of the line after 50 minutes and saw Toulouse awarded the scrum.

It was a very similar affair in the South of France to that of the reverse fixture at the Eco-Power Stadium in March, with the second 40 again tightly contested and the result hanging in the balance throughout.

Toulouse went close on the left-hand side through Benjamin Laguerre after 74 minutes, but the Dons survived on their own line as they looked to launch an assault of their own.

Robinson looked to have found a gap to break through at the other end, but the referee penalised Jacob Jones in the build-up and awarded Toulouse a penalty.

And that penalty would prove pivotal as play was moved over to the left, where Maxime Stefani was presented with the opportunity to run through and increase the hosts' lead to six points.

The Dons weren't out of it, though, and looked to be in a great position to reduce the deficit to two points with two minutes to play, but the ball escaped from the grasp of Pauli Pauli to see Toulouse hold on.