Vannes is the poster boy of Brittany, the medieval port town is normally the strolling arena for late season tourists this time of year .

The crumbling ramparts and fortified bridges look out over waterfront gardens; cobbled lanes snake through a maze of half-timbered buildings in the old town; and café-lined squares line the modern marina.

But last night there was a new kid in town. The Top 14 had arrived in this French outpost for the first time and if that wasn’t exciting enough then having arguably the best rugby team in the world as visitors made the heady experience almost unbearable.

RC Vannes with a twenty-one million euro budget, one of the poorest financially in the Top 14 (what we wouldn’t give for that kind of poverty this side of the channel) faced Toulouse, the team with the biggest budget who have a staggering forty-nine million Euros at their disposal. 

The 12,000 tickets for this match were sold ages ago, Vannes could not have wished for a more illustrious opponent to start their new adventure than the current Top 14 and European Champions.

There are 699 Kilometers between Toulouse and Vannes and light years between the two in rugby terms, but these are the fixtures that gladden the heart, feed the soul and show the game of rugby in its finest light.

Stade de la Rabine in Place Théodore Decker has never known a night like last night. The eleven-minute walk from Crêperie Les Joséphine on Rue des Orfèvres to the stadium took on the air of a pilgrimage, admittedly one that did not involve carbohydrate abstinence. 

The teams being led on to the field by bagpipes was a delightful new experience for the Top 14 and their distinctive sound added a backing track to the game, their drone echoing into the night sky during breaks in play.

It took Toulouse just three minutes to score their first try after a delightful disguised pass from Kinghorn sent Tomas Ramos over the whitewash. 

Alexandre Roumat scored Toulouse second try on 29 minutes, Ramos’ conversion gave the visitors a 23-6 half-time lead.

The moment the whole of Vannes had been waiting for arrived in the 53rd minute, when new signing Mako Vunilpola crashed over for their first ever try in the Top 14.

Toulouse scored a further three tries through Théo Ntamack, Pita Akhi, and David Ainu’u interspersed with one from Vannes lock Christian Van der Merwe.

The 43-18 final score earned Toulouse a bonus point win. For Vannes the realisation has probably sunk in how difficult a season this will be in the top flight.

But for now the memory of such a memorable and historical occasion in this rugby outpost should be savoured. Thoughts will quickly turn to next week’s visit to face Stade Francais in Paris, before entertaining Racing 92 back at the Stade de la Rabine the following weekend.