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I’ll say it straight away, because I care: I called it. A while back, when there wasn’t the faintest hint of Menoncello at Toulouse, I wrote that in his shoes I’d ask my agent to sound out the Rouge et Noir. On Sunday in La Rochelle, on debut, Tommaso Menoncello explained why in 80 minutes.
What is Menoncello today?
Today he is one of the most powerful players in the world: an outrageous lower body, the ability to break tackles and, as I saw clearly in La Rochelle, the right way of moving after contact. Ugo Mola uses him exactly like that, as a battering ram who splits the defence and opens space for others.
The debut try is the manifesto: short ball, first defender beaten, two changes of line to sit opponents down, and over. That’s not luck, it’s his repertoire.
The ball-carrying numbers
The stats, read on RugbyPass after the game, tell the same story. Menoncello made the most carries of anyone (10, against 9 for Niniashvili and Le Garrec) and the most line breaks (2, where Niniashvili and Nowell stopped at 1). He completed 4 tackles, one of them dominant.
There’s a flip side: 3 turnovers conceded. That, for me, is the first thing to work on. Otherwise, in a mediocre Toulouse, Tommy was their best player. Had I picked the player of the match, though, I’d have given it to Nolann Le Garrec: a try, the kicking, and at the end he even threw the lineouts.
What he has to learn
What Menoncello can become is the player who today still makes a few mistakes. A couple of times he played the ball into opponents’ legs after contact; a few times he went straight up the middle when there was a support runner to use. He needs to learn to think the Toulouse way: not just to break the line, but to read what happens after the break.
Today we saw again what Menoncello is and what he can become.
It’s not a given he’ll get there immediately, and it’s not a given Toulouse were ready either. The game was chaotic, and in chaos you have to know how to swim. But everything, in my view, points to the start of a journey.
The risk for Italy
One thing worries me more than Toulouse, who in any case have a lot of work to do to become the side we all imagine. In France every mind is on the 2027 World Cup, but the Top 14 asks a huge amount and our players will be squeezed. For Menoncello, as for Capuozzo, the challenge of the season will be reaching October 2027 in one piece and in peak form. It’s only 6 September: let’s give everyone time.
Read also
La Rochelle 30-27 Toulouse: the match report · Where was Ange Capuozzo? · All videos
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Danpat — DanPat Rugby