Glasgow 16-28 Toulouse: French aristocrats prove a class above

• Glasgow prop forward Moray Low gets to grips with his opposite number Jean Poux of Toulouse on a night when the famous French side overpowered their hosts Picture: Lynne Cameron/PA Wire

Referee: J Jones (Wales)

Attendance: 2946

THE princes of European rugby extended their record of Heineken Cup wins to nine at Firhill last night after picking off the hosts in the first 40 minutes and nullifying Glasgow in the second just as efficiently and frustratingly as the winter weather had achieved in the weeks beforehand.

The Toulouse away kit had a strange two-tone look, appearing grey down the right side and brilliant white down the left, but it was perfect for their performance last night.

For long periods, Glasgow competed well with them, got in their faces and forced errors, and the game appeared close, but in the brief moments where they turned the other way and escaped the Warriors' clutches they were devastatingly clinical. Three tries to one tells the story.

It was no surprise as the four-times Heineken Cup champions boasted a back line the envy of any international coach in world rugby, never mind club coaches, and the alacrity with which they reacted to the sniff of an opportunity was the difference in this Heineken Cup tie.

The game had started just as Glasgow might have hoped, Bernardo Stortoni, the full-back, almost catching Ruaridh Jackson's kick-off with a fine chase, unnerving Toulouse from the start.

His teammates followed up and forced a poor pass from Byron Kelleher, Toulouse's All Blacks' scrum-half, which his stand-off David Skrela knocked on, and when the first scrum went down Welsh referee James Jones blew for a penalty to Glasgow, which Jackson duly turned into three points with just over a minute played.

The sight only three minutes later of the scrum bursting into a knuckle fight between the front rows further attested to the French pack's early frustrations, but Jackson's penalty attempt, this time from halfway, was short.

However, when they moved, Toulouse fairly shifted, and after a scrum broke up on halfway, they took off down the left side as Glasgow were still trying to fathom what had happened in the set-piece.

Slick interplay ended with Florian Fritz, and before the ten-minute mark Glasgow's early advantage had been clinically wiped out and the Frenchmen led 7-3. It was also a swift indication of the punishment a team such as Toulouse can impose

Jackson tried to pull the deficit back with an almost immediate penalty, but instead pulled it just wide from nearly 50 metres out on the left, and the next scrum brought another scuffle in which home props Moray Low and Jon Welsh came under attack.

This time, however, Jackson made the French combatants pay with his second penalty from the 40-metre line close to the right touchline. In defence, Glasgowed showed they were up for the fight too, turning over a good period of Toulouse attack in their 22 and Al Kellock providing a captain's lead by hoofing the ball deep into the visitors' half, his teammates reacting swiftly to force a hurried clearance kick.

However, Glasgow's accuracy in the lineout and handling let them down in the early stages, and Toulouse were fortunate when referee Jones and his assistant missed a knock-on by Shaun Sowerby, and instead gave the Frenchmen a penalty in the resultant ruck which Skrela beautifully curled between the uprights.

A constant in the game was the incredible speed put on the ball by Toulouse, who burst from phase to phase almost as if there had been no breakdown at times. Glasgow flew up in defence, forcing pressure as hard as they could and for the most part it brought reward.

But 'most' was not enough to contain this Toulouse team and with 22 minutes played they were 17-6 in front, Kelleher exploiting slipshod fringe defence to break, Maxime Medard, Cerdric Heyman and Yannick Jauzion taking it on and a couple of forward drives later and the ball popped back for Jauzion to dive under the crossbar.

Glasgow produced a thrilling riposte from the restart which had the Firhill faithful on their feet, however. From a rare Toulouse drop, Max Evans attacked down the right and his delicate chip ahead - a key tool in Glasgow's victory in Toulouse in 2009 - deceived the cover and bounced up nicely for Federico Arambaru to collect and touch down.

Jackson converted from the touchline, 17-13, and the game became a case of 'anything you can do, I can do too'.

Skrela nudged Toulouse to the 20-point mark, but then destroyed Glasgow's burgeoning hope with a third try.

It all stemmed from Kelleher at his cheekily brilliant best.

But it was cruel and hugely frustrating for Richie Vernon. The All Black chipped the ball from the Glasgow no8's feet at the back of a scrum, won by good attacking work on the Toulouse 22, and superbly birled out of the tackle to lead a counter-attack up the right side. The ball was shipped infield and Fritz chipped wide to the left where Medard collected and fed Heymans in full flight and the winger had an easy run-in.

Glasgow responded with great spirit and won a penalty which Jackson converted to send the sides inside at half-time with Toulouse 25-16 in front.

A sign of Glasgow's scrummaging frustrations of the first half came at the start of the second period when Moray Low stayed inside, having struggled against Jean-Baptiste Poux, replaced by Ed Kalman.

For Glasgow to have a chance in this game their scrum and lineout had to be strong, and the set-piece as a whole remained a problem in the second half, but Toulouse were also taking a firmer grip of the game, aided by the introduction of two fresh props from their incredible strength in depth after 52 minutes. That they produced only another three points from Skrela's boot said much for the Glasgow team, who never shirked a challenge and whose commitment forced the visitors to work interminably hard and cough up possession.

Glasgow enjoyed a good share of possession and Gray continued to provide an aggressive lead, but they lacked the incision and power to break Toulouse and the intelligence through phases to turn promise into a real threat against one of the most experienced and astute defences in the tournament, and suffered the usual amount of debatable refereeing calls from the inconsistent Jones.

It all added up to another night of disappointment for Glasgow that virtually rules out qualification for the latter stages of even the Amlin Challenge Cup, but also highlighted the gulf that exists between the princes of Europe and the paupers.

Scorers: Glasgow: Tries - Arambaru; Pens - Jackson 3; Cons - Jackson. Toulouse: Tries - Fritz, Jauzion, Heymans; Pens - Skrela 3; Cons - Skrela 2.

Glasgow: B Stortoni; F Arambaru, M Evans, G Morrison, DTH van der Merwe; R Jackson, H Pyrgos; J Welsh, D Hall, M Low, R Gray, A Kellock (capt), R Harley, J Barclay, R Vernon. Subs: E Kalman for Low 40mins, A Muldowney for Kellock 51, F Thomson for Hall, H O'Hare for Arambaru, both 57, C Gregor for Pyrgos, K Tkachuk for Welsh, both 60, P Murchie for Stortoni 73, C Fusaro for Vernon 74.

Toulouse: M Medard; V Clerc, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, C Heymans; D Skrela, B Kelleher; J-B Poux, W Servat, C Johnston, Y Maestri, P Albacete, Y Nyanga, T Dusautoir (capt), S Sowerby. Subs: J Bouilhou for Nyanga, V Lacombe for Servat, both 47mins, D Human for Poux, Y Montes for Johnston, both 52, G Lamboley for Maestri, C Poitrenaud for Heymans, both 58, L Picamoles for Sowerby 78.