Ford believes Toulouse handling absences well

Toulouse Olympique pivot Jonathan Ford belives that his team have coped well with losing key players to injury in recent weeks.

The French outfit beat University of Gloucestershire All Golds 48-16 at the Stade Ernest Argeles on Saturday afternoon, despite missing players like Sebastian Planas and Bastien Ader.

“It’s true that at this time the blows keep coming with the successive absences of senior players,” said the Cook Islands international.

“It’s felt on the pitch. The team is forced to reorganize around other players and new leaders.

“Personally, since the injury of Sebastien Plana, the staff have given me the role of captain.

“For me, it’s part of of my job, so it’s just normal and natural to play this role. It doesn’t change my game.

“Collectively, the absence of these players does handicap us, of course, but young players are doing a great job to maintain team performance.

“Today, we have no other options, we set up like this and I think we’re doing pretty well,

“I think the whole team is satisfied with what we get to do together. Young players are doing well, I’ll take the example of Gavin Daisy who did a great job in place of Bastien Ader.”