Leinster on brink of fifth European title as Toulouse ill-discipline punished
Leinster 41-22 Toulouse: Jack Conan scored two tries as Leinster booked a Heineken Champions Cup final spot
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ruthless Leinster reached another Heineken Champions Cup final after they scored 28 points during two sin-bin periods to beat Toulouse 41-22 at the Aviva Stadium.
Three tries in 10 frenetic first-half minutes - two of them from Jack Conan - had Leinster well on course for the May 20 decider, which will take place at the same venue.
It was 27-14 at half-time with five-time champions Toulouse, who were hoping to exorcise the demons of 2019 and 2022 semi-final defeats in the Irish capital, touching down through Pita Ahki and Emmanuel Meafou.
But despite a Thomas Ramos penalty and a late Jack Willis effort, Toulouse were undone by Rodrigue Neti’s sin-binning, during which Josh Van der Flier and replacement Jason Jenkins both crossed to move the Irish province within reach of a fifth European title.
Charlie Ngatai’s daring break from deep led to Ross Byrne’s fourth-minute penalty, but Toulouse hit back with the game’s first try.
A brilliant 50-22 kick from Ramos gave them field position before centre Ahki exploited a three-on-two overlap to score in the left corner.
After a second Byrne penalty, Toulouse suffered a double blow when centre Pierre-Louis Barassi hobbled off and Ramos saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on.
Conan duly barged over from a Jamison Gibson-Park pass, and the No 8 then dummied past Juan Cruz Mallia to complete his brace. Byrne added both conversions for a 20-7 lead.
Jimmy O’Brien was a whisker away from a third try, just losing control of the ball in a tackle from Mallia.
Nonetheless, a blunder at the back of a Toulouse maul - replacement Paul Graou’s pass hit Jack Willis flush in the face - allowed Sheehan to explode over from 25 metres out. Byrne swept over the extras.
Despite losing Antoine Dupont’s influence at half-back in a reshuffled back-line, the visitors rallied. Scrum half Graou sent lock Meafou powering over for Ramos to convert.
At the start of a cagier second half, influential centre Ngatai’s ball-dislodging tackle on Peato Mauvaka helped to repel Toulouse’s early surge.
Although Ramos made it a 10-point game, Toulouse’s momentum was sucked away by replacement prop Neti’s head-led contact with Van der Flier at a ruck. It resulted in a yellow card.
A power-packed lineout drive saw van der Flier score on the hour mark. Byrne curled over the conversion for a 34-17 advantage.
Leinster’s strong bench helped last season’s runners-up to lift the pace, Luke McGrath giving South African Jenkins a straightforward finish in the 63rd minute.
Impressive fly-half Byrne’s conversion brought his tally to 16 points, before English flanker Willis gained some consolation from an 82nd-minute maul.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments