'I've heard great things': Why Glasgow Warriors can't wait to visit Toulon and experience the Pilou-Pilou

It seems almost inconceivable that Glasgow Warriors’ heavy loss to Toulon in the EPCR Challenge Cup final only took place last year given how much has happened since.

The 43-19 defeat in a one-sided affair in Dublin could have destroyed the morale of many teams, but not Warriors, who stored away the pain of that afternoon and put it to restorative effect over the subsequent year-and-a-half.

Winning the United Rugby Championship last season showed they had learned the lessons of that day, lifting the trophy a triumphant denouement to a campaign that also included revenge of sorts when Toulon were beaten at Scotstoun in the Champions Cup.

Toulon are a formidable opponent at the Stade Mayol. | AFP via Getty Images

Now the teams meet for a third time in just 19 months, this time at Toulon’s formidable – in both the English and French sense of the word – Stade Mayol where the crowd greet the players as they walk in before singing the famous ‘Pilou-Pilou’ anthem, their equivalent of the All Blacks’ haka.

It will be a new experience for most of the Warriors squad, including Rory Darge, as they look to build on last weekend’s home victory over Sale Sharks in the pool opener.

“I can't wait,” said the Scotland loose forward. “It’s a place I've never played before which doesn't happen that often these days. I've played against Toulon before but never at Stade Mayol. I've heard great things about the atmosphere and the Pilou-Pilou and all that.

“Both teams have moved on from that [Challenge Cup] final but it definitely stays in your mind as a missed opportunity. Not just because of the result - you lose games, that happens - but because we never really fired a shot. Or that was the feeling afterwards anyway. There was a bit of frustration.

“But we’ve had experience as a group now of those big games, what it means, the sort of pressure that you'll feel and how to perform.

“Both teams have evolved. It's going to be a completely different challenge and I think part of that is because that time it was in Dublin, this time it’s at Stade Mayol.

“There’s so much history at that stadium, so much history with the club as well, so it will be a completely different proposition. We obviously had our first Champions Cup game last week and did well so hopefully we can continue to add some momentum.”

Rory Darge and Glasgow Warriors head to Toulon. | SNS Group

While the rest of the country starts to wind down for the festive period, in the world of rugby it is only starting to heat up. Darge jokes that he’s glad to have done his Christmas shopping early given December means two Champions Cup matches followed by back-to-back 1872 Cup derbies with Edinburgh. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s a busy period but an exciting period as well,” he added. “We go Europe, Europe, derby, derby, then into more European games and then there are internationals out the back of that with the Six Nations.

“The environment at Glasgow is one of ambition so every week you want to go and get a win. I got my Christmas shopping all done so I can just focus on the rugby. I hate leaving it too late! It’s such a busy period that you have to try and smash it out as early as you can.”