France lock Sébastien Vahaamahina has compared Sunday’s European Champions Cup quarter-final between ASM Clermont Auvergne and RC Toulon to the physicality of the RBS 6 Nations.
Guy Novès called in Vahaamahina for the last game of the Championship against Wales, which France won thanks to a 100th-minute try and conversion from two Clermont players.
Try-scorer Damien Chouly and fly-half Camille Lopez, who was the top points-scorer in the Championship with a total of 67, feature in the group of six Clermontois who represented France this year. And Vahaamahina believes the quarter-final against Toulon at the Stade Marcel Michelin will be similar to an international game.
“What awaits us on Sunday will come close to the intensity and the battle that we experienced during the 6 Nations tournament,” he said.
“We’re very aware of the quality of the Toulon team, they’ve got nothing but great players.”
Other members of the Clermont squad who helped France to a third-place finish in the 2017 RBS 6 Nations include Scott Spedding, Noa Nakaitaci and Rémi Lamerat.
These players will battle with fellow French internationals Mathieu Bastareaud, Xavier Chiocci, Guilhem Guirado, Charles Ollivon and François Trinh-Duc on Sunday.
France captain Guirado led his side to their best finish in the Championship since 2011 and Vahaamahina says forwards like him make Toulon a dangerous opponent.
He added: “Toulon have excellent ball carriers, so we’ll have to be able to cope with that physical battle to impose our own game.”
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