By NICK POWELL
Toulouse………………………………………….38
Tries: Lebel 4, Mauvaka 19, Flament 27, Dupont 33, 37; Mallía 68
Conversions: Kinghorn 21, 35, 38; Ramos 70
Harlequins………………………………………..26
Tries: Smith 14, Donbrandt 24, Murley 46, Green 53
Conversions: Smith 15, 47, 54
Toulouse produced a terrific attacking performance to end Harlequins’ brave European run and join Leinster in a record-equalling eighth Champions Cup final.
The Londoners went toe-to-toe with the five-time winners in the first 25 minutes, twice levelling the scores through Marcus Smith and Will Evans after Toulouse had taken the lead with tries from Mathis Lebel and Peato Mauvaka respectively.
Les Rouge et Noirs took charge before the break with three scores in a 10-minute blitz similar to that which they had produced against Exeter Chiefs in the previous round as Thibault Flament went over and Antoine Dupont added a double, but tries early in the second-half from Cadan Murley and Tyrone Green brought Quins back to within a score.
Juan Cruz Mallía’s try secured victory though, setting up a first-ever final between the tournament’s two most successful clubs.
“It was a pretty tense one,” said Toulouse back row Jack Willis. “Fair play to Quins, they threw everything at us. We made quite a few mistakes but the takeaway feeling is that I cannot wait for that final. We prepped for Quins and we know what a quality side they are.
“They threw it at us and it was tough to get the win. You have to stay together and know you have time to get the points back.
“We have some great leaders, we focused on getting back up the field and on our discipline.
“It is a bit surreal, I grew up watching the Champions Cup finals with my Dad and brother, to be involved in in one is incredible. But we have to go and win it, chuck everything at it and see what happens. To be back in the motherland will be pretty special.”
If Quins had felt they might have been able to settle in and feel out their opposition in the early stages, that was wiped out within a minute as Toulouse produced a monstrous counter ruck to snatch possession from the Londoners on halfway.
A crossfield kick from Dupont didn’t quite sit up for Mallía, but the hosts stole the resulting lineout and Lebel was soon over on the opposite wing.
The visitors, however, had never expected to win a low scoring contest, and after desperate resistance prevented them slipping to a two-try deficit they struck back in clinical fashion.
One opportunity in the Toulouse 22 was all they needed, with Green’s charge getting them close to the line before Smith produced a trademark dummy from a few metres out to crash over and level the piece.
His conversion took Quins ahead, but it wasn’t long before Peato Mauvaka’s turnover put Toulouse back in range and he was the man who ultimately crashed over from a powerful maul; the 16-time semi-finalists displaying the abilities of both their forwards and backs in their first two tries.
But having responded to the first try through their backs, Quins then matched Toulouse’s forward power as a quick rolling maul ended in Evans levelling the contest again following Louis Lynagh’s perfectly executed 50:22.
This time Smith’s conversion was pulled wide and the scores remained level, and the Londoners’ parity was all-too brief as Les Rouges et Noirs produced another brutal counter at the breakdown, leaving Quins exposed.
Danny Care found Chandler Cunningham-South, but the England youngster fumbled allowing Flament to snatch possession and put Toulouse back in front.
Quins needed another quick response, and they looked to have the chance to do so with a lineout on the 22. The ball was overthrown though and went wide to Paul Costes, who stepped inside and broke up to halfway, and after Murley couldn’t gather Costes’ grubber cleanly Dupont sniped over.
With Toulouse producing relentless continuity in possession and Quins flagging as the half drew to a close, the three-time World Rugby player of the year replicated the feat a phase after Mauvaka had broken 20 metres up to the line.
The visiting side needed a confidence-boosting start after the break to stand any chance of pulling off a record semi-final fightback in the tournament, and though they were struggling to make yards initially they enjoyed a long spell of possession on halfway to help them gain much more of a foothold than they had at the beginning of the contest.
Eventually they had the field position to close the gap after Toulouse knocked on from a high kick, and a combination of hard carries and quick ball took them close once again, with Murley producing an excellent leaping finish for Quins’ third.
With Toulouse now looking tired themselves their repeated attempts to clear from the 22 were being thwarted by dangerous kick returns from the back three of the first-time semi-finalists, with Green making the biggest impact.
It was his break that eventually brought Murley back into the hosts’ red zone, and the South African was then on hand to make the decisive breakthrough – eventually dotting down under the posts.
Quins were looking the most assured they had all day, and though Toulouse’s resistance was fierce the visitors were no longer suffering from the issues at the ruck that had plagued their first-half challenge, and were continuing to stretch an ever-more fatigued defence.
But Toulouse’s decisive score was perhaps the best explanation for why they will accompany Leinster with eight final appearances later this month.
Handed their first attacking entry into Quins’ 22 in the entirety of the second-half to that point – as Jack Walker was sent to the sin-bin for making contact with Dupont’s head in a clearout – an effective maul sucked in enough defenders to give Mallía acres of space outwide, more than he needed to stretch the advantage to two scores.
The Londoners continued to show adventure in attack as their hopes of a trip to the final faded, but after Toulouse produced one last counter-rucking effort they hacked the ball into touch to set up a mouthwatering final in Tottenham.
TOULOUSE: Kinghorn 8, Mallía 7, Costes 8 (Chocobares 70, 6), Ahki 8, Lebel 7 (Ramos 55, 7), Ntamack 7, Dupont (c) 9; Baille 7 (Neti 61, 6), Mauvaka 9 (Marchand 50, 6), Aldegheri 8 (Merkler 61, 6), Flament 7, Meafou 7 (Arnold 56, 6), Cros 8, Willis 7 (Castro-Ferreira 72), Roumat 6. Not used: Graou.
HARLEQUINS: Green 9, Lynagh 8 (Riley 72), Northmore 7 (Beard 76), Esterhuizen 8, Murley 7, Smith 8, Care 7 (Porter 63, 7); Baxter 7 (Marler 51, 6), Walker 5 (Evans 79), Collier 7 (Kerrod 63, 7), Herbst 7 (Hammond 72), Lewies (c) 7, Cunningham-South 8, Evans 8 (Chisholm 68, 7), Dombrandt 6.
Attendance: 32,494
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Star Man: Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse)
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