Toulouse 26 - 16 Leinster: Skrela grabs final place for Toulouse

HOLDERS Leinster saw their Heineken Cup crown slip through their fingers after being outfought by Toulouse in the semi-final.

The champions were defiant until the end but paid the price for leaking two tries to Yannick Jauzion and David Skrela in the space of four minutes heading into the final quarter.

Man of the match Skrela had the greatest impact on the scoreboard with a 16-point haul topped by a superb try, but Toulouse's scrum also did major damage.

The tournament favourites and three-time winners had the perfect platform to attack while Leinster, whose line-out functioned well, often had to feed off scraps.

Jamie Heaslip's 65th-minute try gave the 4,000 travelling fans brief hope but that was soon extinguished when Skrela hit a fourth penalty to put Toulouse back in command.

Leinster travelled to France without their Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton but Shaun Berne proved a capable deputy, finishing with 11 points in a flawless display with the boot.

Berne was subjected to a physical introduction when Cedric Heymans clattered him into touch amid a thunderous opening from Toulouse that ended with a Skrela penalty.

Using a pair of high kicks from Isa Nacewa and Berne and clever hands from Brian O'Driscoll, Leinster rallied and began asking questions of the home defence.

Skrela kicked a second penalty but Leinster won the tactical jockeying that followed and almost crossed in the 23rd minute when Eoin Reddan jinked his way to the whitewash.

All that was left was to dot the ball down but a double tackle from Byron Kelleher and Vincent Clerc saw the ball slip agonisingly from his fingertips.

Leinster were more creative in attack but were being pulverised at the scrum, hurtling backwards once again to enable Skrela to extend the lead.

The flow of points was stemmed when Berne settled his nerves with a penalty and, after Leinster had scrapped like dogs over a succession of loose balls, he nailed a second on the stroke of half-time.

Maxime Medard had a try ruled out by the television match official three minutes after the interval – his legs were out when he touched down – and it was the visitors who struck next with Berne on target once again.

Toulouse hit back. Stationed on the Leinster line, their forwards probed until the ball was released to Jauzion who rode tackles from Leo Cullen and Berne to crash over.

Skrela converted and then contributed his own try after crossing in the 60th minute, having spotted a gap between O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy and fired up the afterburners to gallop in under the posts.

Far from caving in, Leinster responded with a magnificent try five minutes later through Heaslip. Reddan's slashing run was halted inches short of the line but Toulouse were stretched with Nacewa's miss pass to Heaslip enabling the No.8 to slide in at the corner with Berne converting.

The fight-back was brief, however, as Skrela slotted a fourth penalty to send Toulouse into the final at the Stade de France on 22 May.

Toulouse: Poitrenaud; Clerc, Fritz, Jauzion, Heymans; Skrela, Kelleher; Human, Servat, Lecouls, Millo-Chluski, Albacete, Bouilhou, Dustautoir, Sowerby. Replacements: Medard for Heymans (41), Elissalde for Skrela (74), Montes for Human (71), Lacombe for Servat (75), Poux for Lecouls (44), Maestri for Millo-Chluski (57), Picamoles for Sowerby (72). Not Used: David.

Leinster: R Kearney; Horgan, O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Nacewa; Berne, Reddan; C. Healy, Fogarty, Wright, Cullen, Hines, McLaughlin, Jennings, Heaslip. Replacements: van der Linde for C Healy (31), O'Kelly for McLaughlin (66), S. Keogh for Jennings (52), Ross for van der Linde (75). Not Used: Jackman, O'Donohoe, O'Malley, Dempsey.

Scorers: Toulouse – Tries: Jauzion, Skrela. Cons: Skrela 2. Pens: Skrela 4. Leinster – Try: Heaslip. Con: Berne. Pens: Berne 2, R. Kearney.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Attendance: 34,951