Battle-hardened Leinster hold off Toulon fightback to reach Champions Cup final

By Press Association Sport Staff

Leinster produced a battling performance and survived a late scare to reach the Investec Champions Cup final by beating Toulon 29-25 in Dublin.

The Irish heavyweights, four-time tournament winners, will face holders Bordeaux-Begles or Premiership champions Bath in the final on May 23rd.

It was far from plain sailing – Leinster started the second half with two players sin-binned and Toulon produced a thrilling points-laden finale – but the hosts’ desire and resilience shone through.

Flankers Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier scored tries in the first period, while centre Garry Ringrose and captain Caelan Doris also touched down, and fly-half Harry Byrne kicked a penalty and three conversions.

Toulon did not disappear quietly, trailing by just three points at the interval, and two late tries hauled them back into the contest, but they had to be content with scores from Seta Tuicuvu, Baptiste Serin and Gael Drean, plus two Melvyn Jaminet penalties and two conversions.

Byrne and Jaminet both missed early penalty opportunities, the Toulon full-back from just inside his own half, before Leinster struck following several attacking phases.

Van der Flier and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park both went close, with Toulon finally running out of defensive numbers as Conan powered his way over and Byrne added the conversion.

Leinster, though, were dealt a major injury blow inside the opening quarter when centre Robbie Henshaw appeared to be knocked out following an attempted tackle. The game was delayed for six minutes while he received treatment before being placed on a stretcher and taken off.

Jaminet then found his penalty radar to cut the deficit, yet Leinster continued to create opportunities and were only denied a second try when Gibson-Park’s effort was ruled out after he knocked on during build-up play.

A second successful Jaminet penalty made it 7-6, but Leinster stayed patient and were rewarded with a second try eight minutes before half-time after Van der Flier took Doris’ pass for a well-worked score.

Byrne again added the extras, yet Toulon still looked a threat and their cause was helped by Leinster prop Andrew Porter being yellow-carded following head-to-head contact with Toulon number eight Mikheil Shioshvili.

Toulon’s response was an opening try for Tuicuvu and Leinster had more problems as referee Luke Pearce brandished another yellow card – this time for Byrne – taking them into the interval with a 14-11 advantage, but temporarily two players down.

That numerical disadvantage lasted for five minutes of the second period. It was Toulon’s turn to see yellow when hooker Teddy Baubigny exited after head contact with Van de Flier.

And Leinster punished their opponents immediately, pitching camp within sight of Toulon’s line and creating space in the attacking channels for Ringrose to prosper and collect his team’s third touchdown.

A Byrne penalty extended Leinster’s lead and they asserted a vice-like grip on the contest 13 minutes from time when Doris rounded off a spell of sustained pressure to touch down, with Byrne converting.

Replacement scrum-half Serin gave Toulon a glimmer of hope by claiming a 70th-minute try that Jaminet converted, then Drean nudged the door open further, but Leinster had done just enough to reach their ninth final in the competition’s history.