Leinster advanced to the Champions Cup final courtesy of an emphatic 41-22 win in a high-scoring demolition of Toulouse which saw eight tries scored in total. 

With some dubbing this, a not inaccurate, version of club rugby Ireland vs France, the game started at an exhilarating tempo, Leinster’s Ross Byrne notching the first points with an easy penalty after Jack Willis had been pinged for not rolling away by Wayne Barnes. 

Willis though made amends moments later, his barnstorming run powering Toulouse’s attack.  Conducted by Antoine Dupont, it was patiently worked through Thibauld Flament for centre Pita Ahki to nimbly evade tacklers and finish well.  Thomas Ramos’ conversion putting them 3-7 up.

A Byrne penalty reduced the gap to one point before Ramos saw yellow for an adjudged deliberate knock on, Leinster proving as reliably ruthless as ever, flanker Jack Conan drifting through tacklers to dot down with Byrne easily converting.

Within four minutes of his first score, Conan had another after Josh van der Flier set his fellow flanker free down the left touchline, Conan shimmying the last man and scoring with rather more aplomb!  Byrne’s impeccable conversion stretched the lead to thirteen.

Jimmy O’Brien then had a sore disallowed by the TMO after he had a foot in touch, miniscule margins denying the winger.   Nonetheless, fourteen points and two game-changing tries in the ten minutes with a man advantage for the men in blue.

Toulouse then gifted their hosts a third try shortly after, replacement scrum half Paul Graou being seized upon deep in defensive territory and the ball ripped for Dan Sheehan to gleefully rampage over the whitewash, Byrne making it five successful kicks from five.

In a thrillingly high-scoring first half, Toulouse struck through lock Emmanuel Mefaou muscling his way through, the unstoppable forward extending a massive arm to ground the ball stupendously, Ramos adding two for 27-14.

A stunning first forty minutes with the total points eclipsing the minutes played (forty-one to forty)!

Despite Toulouse emerging all-guns blazing, a vital defensive intervention by Charlie Ngatai reprieved the Dublin province. 

Ramos slotted a penalty to make it a ten-point game as Toulouse built momentum.

However, their good work was hindered by another sin binning for replacement prop Rodrigue Neti after a head-to-head collision with Josh van der Flier.

Immediately, Leo Cullen’s side made maximum gains once more, the icing on the cake being a try for van der Flier in his fiftieth Champions Cup appearance.  Byrne’s conversion doubled the lead.

Fresh legs proved key to Leinster’s clincher score with Jason Jenkins profiting on leggy Toulouse defending to virtually seal his side’s spot in the final.

With the clock red, Willis surged over from a maul for the final score of an enthralling encounter.

Dupont struggled to get a foothold in the match and although threatening for large parts, Toulouse, ultimately like last year were blown away by a not dissimilar scoreline!

Leinster keep motoring on as an unbeatable machine this season and will wait to see who they face in the final, either Exeter Chiefs or La Rochelle, as they bid to lift the Champions Cup for the first time since 2018.