Rodrigue Neti, of Cameroon heritage, was sent off, yet 14-man Toulouse still held off Exeter after Henry Slade missed a last-gasp kick for a draw.
Rodrigue Neti, the Toulouse forward with Cameroonian roots, saw red in the first half of a wild Champions Cup clash with Exeter Chiefs. It looked like the kind of moment that could sink a night for the European giants. It didn't.
With a man down for most of the contest, Toulouse could have folded. Exeter sensed a famous away win and pushed hard, turning the match into a frantic, end-to-end battle. But the French side regrouped, defended with real conviction and found a way to claw the contest back.
The drama was saved for the very end. Exeter's Henry Slade stepped up with a last-gasp kick that would have earned the Chiefs a draw. He missed, and the home crowd exhaled as Toulouse held on to a win that felt almost impossible after Neti's early exit.
For Exeter, it is a painful near-miss, because they were within inches of a statement result on one of rugby's toughest stages. For Toulouse, it is another reminder of why they are so hard to beat, and for Neti and the African diaspora watching his rise in the French game, it ends in relief rather than regret.
