Toulouse Edge Out Depleted Bradford 16-12 in Super League Round 25
Toulouse Olympique avenged their March defeat to Bradford Bulls with a 16-12 win in the south of France on 29 August 2026, Round 25 of the Betfred Super League (Sky Sports).
Bradford arrived under a cloud. Seventeen first-team players were unavailable, a casualty list that grew during an eight-days-earlier defeat at Leigh Leopards when Ethan Ryan, Dan Russell, Joe Keyes and Zac Fulton all picked up injuries. Loghan Lewis was suspended, further thinning the ranks (BBC Sport).
Coach Haggerty had vowed his patched-up side would be competitive. For long stretches, they were. Vice-captain Ryan Sutton and winger Connor Wynne returned from injury to bolster the line-up, and youngster Harvey Ward came off the bench to make his club debut.
Toulouse had reasons of their own to be motivated. Bradford had beaten them in their only previous Super League meeting, back in Round 3, when the two former Championship heavyweights were reunited at the top level. The French side had also watched Bradford lose each of their last four games on French soil by double-digit margins, and were expected to pull clear (Super League). That is not how it played out.
Toulouse started fast. Ulberg crossed in the tenth minute and Polselli followed six minutes later, with Rouge converting to make it 12-0. Bradford's Atkin pulled a try back in the 32nd minute, but Toleafoa struck four minutes later and Rouge's second conversion pushed the lead to 16-6 at the break.
Ackers gave Bradford hope with a 58th-minute try, but the Bulls could not find a third. Toulouse's Jussaume, who grabbed his 16th try of the season during the match, helped the home side see out a nervy finish.
Both sides had been struggling coming into Round 25. Bradford were thumped 34-6 by Wigan Warriors in Round 23, while Toulouse fell 26-10 to Huddersfield Giants (Super League). The win lifts Toulouse's spirits at the right end of the season; for Bradford, the defeat stings, but travelling to France with a threadbare squad and losing by only four points is no humiliation.
