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Toulouse Beat Exeter 43-40 With 14 Men in Champions Cup Classic

Toulouse lost a prop to a red card inside the first 20 minutes, trailed at half time, and still beat Exeter 43-40 after Henry Slade missed a late penalty that would have drawn the game.

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Toulouse Beat Exeter 43-40 With 14 Men in Champions Cup Classic

Key points

  • Toulouse beat Exeter Chiefs 43-40 in Toulouse on Sunday in the best game of the Champions Cup opening weekend.
  • Exeter scored first, after one minute.
  • Toulouse still found tries.

Toulouse beat Exeter Chiefs 43-40 in Toulouse on Sunday in the best game of the Champions Cup opening weekend. The French side played with 14 men for more than an hour, trailed at half time, and still held on when Henry Slade sent a late penalty wide.

Exeter scored first, after one minute. Zack Wimbush crossed and Slade converted. Ange Capuozzo replied for Toulouse, and a penalty try put the hosts ahead. Then the game turned. Toulouse prop Rodrigue Neti was sent off inside the first 20 minutes for a high tackle on Ross Vintcent. Exeter used the space at once. Wimbush scored his second try.

Toulouse still found tries. Joshua Brennan scored, and Teddy Thomas added another before Thomas was sent to the sin bin late in the first half, which left Toulouse with 13 men for a spell. Exeter closed the half stronger. Jack Yeandle and Stephen Varney scored tries, and Exeter led 26-24 at the break.

Lead changes to the end

Will Butt scored soon after the restart and Slade converted, stretching the Exeter lead. Toulouse answered with two quick tries, from Matias Remue and Romain Ntamack, both converted by Ntamack. Wimbush then completed his hat-trick, and Slade's conversion put Exeter back in front at 40-38 with about a quarter of an hour left.

The winning score came from Remue, the young Belgian full back, who crossed for his second try with 12 minutes to play. Exeter had one last chance. Slade lined up a penalty in the closing minutes that would have tied the game at 43-43. He missed. Toulouse closed out the final seconds and kept a home record in this competition that has stood since 2022.

Why it matters

Toulouse were missing senior players across the pack and the back line, including locks Emmanuel Meafou and Thibaud Flament, hooker Julien Marchand and full back Thomas Ramos. Winning with 14 men, and for a stretch with 13, says a lot about the depth of the squad. Exeter, champions in 2020, scored six tries away from home against the record six time winners and still lost. Their return home is a losing bonus point and a performance they can build on, but the wait for an English win in this opening round goes on.

A minute of silence was held before kickoff for Lions lock Hyron Andrews, who died this weekend, as it was at every match in the round.

Timeline

  1. Oct 18, 2026Exeter lead 26-24 at half time in Toulouse despite a hat-trick path opening after Rodrigue Neti's early red card for the hosts.
  2. Oct 18, 2026Matias Remue scores his second try to put Toulouse 43-40 ahead, and Henry Slade misses a late penalty that would have drawn the match.

Sources