Heymans' soft end to hardest day

Toulouse 32 Northampton 16

Toulouse, recipients of the first Heineken Cup in 1996, could get their hands on it again after earning a semi-final against the winners of the Leicester-Munster tie. The good news for the French is that they beat Northampton by two goals and six penalties to a goal and three penalties. The even better news is that they will return to this ground for the semi-final.

The Stade Municipal de Toulouse is not regarded as the club's home, although try telling that to Northampton. Before a crowd of 36,000, all but a thousand of them French, the Saints were subjected to a physical and mental grilling and, under the circumstances, did remarkably well to restrict Toulouse to two tries. As either Leicester or Munster will discover, this is an intimidating place.

It was an emotional day for Toulouse, who were playing at this stadium for the first time since the city was devastated by an explosion at a chemical factory in September 2001. Eighty-five were killed and thousands injured in the blast, which damaged the structure of the ground.

It was always going to be uncomfortable for Northampton, and so it proved with referee Alan Lewis struggling to maintain law and order in the middle of a cauldron that often threatened to boil over.

There were several flash points, and when Ben Cohen's boot caught Vincent Clerc in the head just before half-time the excitable crowd hit fever pitch. The captains, Fabien Pelous and Budge Pountney, were frequently told to calm down their players and Lewis could hardly wait for the arrival of the interval and the opportunity for tempers to cool.

Northampton trooped off to a crescendo of booing, jeering and whistling which they barely deserved. Trailing 19-6 at the interval and then 25-9, they could have capitulated.

Instead they took the game to Toulouse, scored a smart try through Jon Sleightholme – the wing then made a foolish gesture to the crowd along the lines of "up yours'' – and at 25-16 were threatening to pull off something extra-special.

Northampton were enjoying their best phase, and at the heart of everything was Matt Dawson. The man of the match award went to the Toulouse No 8 Christian Labit, but if it means anything at all Dawson should have won it hands down. The England scrum-half, who had something of a nightmare against Gloucester in the final of the Powergen Cup at Twickenham last week, was back to his best; combative, gutsy and a relentless pain in the derriere to the players and citizens of Toulouse.

Having fought back to within nine points, Northampton, European champions in 2000, then blew it when James Brooks fumbled a pass for Cedric Heymans to hack through and score near the posts for a soft seven pointer. It was the martyring of the Saints, who have had a bad seven days.

It was in direct contrast to the French, what with Perpignan beating Llanelli in the first quarter-final and Toulouse being named as one of the venues for the World Cup in 2007 after France beat England to the prize.

Northampton led a relatively charmed life in the first quarter, exchanging penalties rather than blows. Paul Grayson gave them the lead from the half-way line in the fifth minute, the decibels for booing already off the scale.

But the Saints could barely get their hands on the ball, and when they lost another line-out and fell offside, Yann Delaigue kicked the penalty to level. Delaigue had kicked three to Grayson's two when a penalty to Northampton was reversed for a stamp by Mark Connors. The Australian simultaneously went off for treatment to a head wound. This time scrum-half Frederic Michalak added the three points, and after the Cohen-Clerc flare up, the Toulouse pack went into overdrive, spearheaded by David Gerard and taken on by Yannick Bru, Labit and the Irishman Trevor Brennan, before Labit was sent crashing over the line for the try.

Pountney and centre Cedric Desbrosse received yellow cards in the second half, and it was while the latter was absent that Northampton got their try, Sleightholme going over in the corner after the approach work had been done by Dawson, Andrew Blowers and Tom Smith. Grayson converted from the touchline and briefly a small choir of supporters attempted to raise their team, but were promptly drowned out by their hosts.

Bruce Reihana and Cohen did their best to silence the French onslaught with several dangerous incursions, but when the England wing was smashed into touch a yard or two short of the Toulouse line, Northampton had to concede defeat. Home advantage? You can't beat it.

Toulouse 32 Northampton 16
Tries: Labit, Heymans; Try: Sleightholme
Cons: Delaigue 2; Con: Grayson
Pens: Delaigue 4; Pens: Grayson 3, Michalak 2

Half-time: 19-6 Attendance: 36,500

Toulouse: C Poitrenaud; E Ntamack (C Heymans 63), C Desbrosse (Y Jauzion 75), X Garbajosa, V Clerc; Y Delaigue, F Michalak; P Collazo, Y Bru, J-B Poux, D Gerard (G Lamboley 78), F Pelous (capt), T Brennan (F Maka 55), C Labit (W Servat 69), J Bouilhou.

Northampton: N Beal (J Sleightholme 51); J Brooks, B Reihana, C Hyndman (M Tucker 39), B Cohen; P Grayson, M Dawson; T Smith, S Thompson, M Stewart (C Budgen 46, Stewart 75), M Lord (M Soden 77), J Phillips (R Hunter 61), M Connors, A Blowers, B Pountney (capt).

Referee: A Lewis (Ireland).