'Heart of Glasgow' - Ben White reveals area Toulon targeted as key Warriors man missed

The Scotland scrum-half is in his third season with the Provence club who now have designs on adding to their already impressive haul of European honours. Saturday’s victory means they will face Leinster in the semi-finals in Dublin in their quest to lift the Champions Cup for a fourth time.

White’s command of French has evolved during his time at Toulon and so have his scrum-half skills. Returning ‘home’ to play against several of his Scotland team-mates, the 27-year-old was one of the visitors’ stand-out players in a team performance he dubbed “magnifique”.

It was White who slipped the ball to Nacho Brex who delivered the game’s defining moment. The Italy centre dummied his way past Adam Hastings and Ben Afshar before outrunning everyone to score from halfway. The try reestablished Toulon’s lead and they didn't let go.

‘He over-chases’

“We spoke during the week about how the Glasgow nine [Afshar] runs behind when you attack the 10 [Hastings] and sometimes he over-chases,” said White. “I said to Nacho that could be an option for him. I gave him the pass and he just ran 50 metres. It was huge. Nach was so good for us. He was magnificent in defence and attack, he took charge of the three-quarters and it was an enormous match from him.”

Toulon have been toiling domestically, failing to win their last five league games, and they sit 11th in the Top 14. But Europe has breathed new life into their season and White hopes the win in Glasgow can be a springboard for the club.

“It was magnificent,” he said. “Our scrum and defence of the maul was enormous and our work-rate in defence at the end was incredible. We stayed calm for 20-odd phases. We had a good rhythm and speed to our attack and we stuck to the plan really well, staying connected in defence and put pressure on Glasgow with our line-speed. That was a key to the match.

Our best game of the season

“For me it was our best game of the season. They are a very strong team at home. It is a fortress here. I know all their players really well and they are a team playing with a lot of confidence and at a high level.”

It was Glasgow's first home defeat of the season and they badly missed George Horne, their own scrum-half titan, a point not lost on White who vies with Horne for the Scotland No 9 jersey.

“George is a real key component of this team, he’s the heart of Glasgow,” said the Toulon halfback. “I have not actually played against him so I was looking forward to that challenge. It would have been great because I know how much of a competitor he is and how much he would have relished that as well. I really hope his injury is not too bad and he gets back to full fitness quickly because he’s a great guy and obviously really important for this team.”