Heads must roll after French blitz

HEADS have got to roll at Rodney Parade or contractual obligations have got to be slashed - or both - after this slaughter in Toulouse on Saturday.

Maybe it's about time Newport benefactor Tony Brown stopped being such an honourable man and carried out a review of contracts at the club.

He has called a board meeting for this week anyway where a widespread review ought to be instigated.

Brown has already gone on record this season as saying that players are taking money from him under false pretenses, so it's difficult to know what more can be said or done.

A number of players approached him in Toulouse after an even more pathetic performance than any of those which have gone before this season. Brown politely declined to return to the team hotel after the game.

The time has now come for action rather than words because talking has got nowhere. It was embarrassing to see the way Newport were swept aside by Toulouse. The bitterly cold sub-zero temperatures were not even to the French team's liking, but they still brushed Newport aside contemptuously.

Newport were already out of the Heineken Cup, but to fold in this manner was unacceptable, even if Toulouse are now hot favourites to win the actual trophy.

Amazingly, Newport went ahead with a Jason Strange penalty and they confined Toulouse to a 14-6 lead until the 38th minute.

And then the floodgates opened as Toulouse unbelievably scored five tries in 10 minutes either side of the interval to kill the game off and inflict on Newport their 12th defeat in 16 matches this season.

Newport conceded ten tries in all and, remarkably, it would even have been 100 points had it not been for some uncharacteristic French errors.

Nothing could excuse the poverty of Newport's defence. Their tackling was, at times, non-existent, their handling and passing skills were grossly inefficient and some players appeared to show little appetite.

The entire Toulouse team showed the skills of threequarters, they recycled the ball constantly whereas Newport looked a slow and laboured team.

Current form is only part of the major argument in favour of stand alone teams being part of the future Welsh structure. Other things like facilities, history and geographical situation count for a lot, but the team is undermining the position of people who want Newport to remain as they are.

And the fans who paid a lot of money to travel to the South of France deserve a lot better than this, certainly not the record European thrashing Newport suffered.

Where to go from here? Despite the efforts of some off the field to stop it, the likelihood is that Newport will combine with Ebbw Vale, Brown doing nothing to prevent it happening, especially after this shambles.

There was a minute's silence before Saturday's game that none of the Newport contingent knew for, but the general feeling afterwards was that it was for what Newport were about to receive.

Coach Leigh Jones as now paid two visits to Toulouse, one with Newport and one with Ebbw Vale, and has seen his teams concede no fewer than 178 points.

And if this was Newport's final appearance in Europe as a single entity, then it was a desperately sad finale.

There was no sign of things to come as Newport made a decent fist of it in the opening stages and Strange gave them a 14th minute lead.

Toulouse retaliated straight away with a try by centre Xavier Garbajosa, but even then a second Strange penalty made it close. That was as near as Newport got. Toulouse romping away with 50 unanswered points by the time Newport scored their first try.

That arrived just 10 minutes from the end when Andrew Powell forced his way over.

Toulouse, to no one's surprise, answered when winger Vincent Clerc raced across.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde converting, as he had all nine previous tries, before Newport had the last word as scrum-half Ofisa Tonu'u went over.

No one is going to stop Toulouse on this form, but that is scant consolation for a Newport team which, worst of all, played without any pride. There can be no greater condemnation than that.

Teams. Toulouse: C Poitrenaud (C Desbrosse 72 mins), E Ntamack (N Jeanjean 43), Y Jauzion, X Garbajosa, V Clerc, Y Delaigue (F Michalak 51), J-B Elissalde, C Soulette, Y Bru (W Servat 61), J-B Poux (B Lecouls 49), G Lamboley, F Pelous (capt) (R Millochlusky 64), T Brennan (F Maka 54), C Labit, J Bouilhou. Scorers: Tries - X Garbajosa (2), Y Delaigue (2), Y Jauzion (2), E Ntamack, J Bouilhou, J-B Elissalde, V Clerc; Cons - J-B Elissalde (10). Newport: S Howarth, M Mostyn (R Jones 74), J Pritchard, A Marinos (S Williams 16) , D Burn (L Lane 49), J Strange, O Tonu'u, R Snow (C Jones 10-16), J Richards (P Young 61), C Anthony (C Jones 61), S Raiwalui (capt), I Gough (M Voyle 51), G Gravell (M Veater 51), A Powell, J Forster. Scorers: Tries - A Powell, O Tonu'u; Con - J Strange; Pens - Strange (2).