Toulouse emerged victorious in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, scoring a 38-26 win against the Harlequins, securing their place in the competition’s final against Leinster, another dominant force in European rugby. The showdown between the two record-breaking teams, having won nine titles combined, is slated for May 25th at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Toulouse had quite a faceoff at the Le Stadium, with the Harlequins attempting to overturn a 19-point deficit. Even though this was the Harlequins’ first semi-final in the Champions Cup, the Gallagher Premiership team gave a phenomenal performance, resulting in tries by Marcus Smith, Cadan Murley, Will Evans and Tyrone Green. Smith also managed three conversions. Nevertheless, despite trailing by just 5 points with an hour of the game gone, the Harlequins were unable to bridge the gap. Toulouse managed to hold their ground till the end with the help of a decisive 69th-minute try by wing Juan Cruz Mallia. Previous tries were contributed by Antoine Dupont (two), Matthis Lebel, Peato Mauvaka and Thibaud Flament, and Blair Kinghorn contributed three conversions. The game commenced with Toulouse taking the lead within the first 4 minutes following an error by the Harlequins during a lineout on their own 22, and it ended with Toulouse delighting home fans with their exhilarating win.
The excitement and quality of the game were unrelenting as Quins equalised with a score by Evans, supported by a robust lineout surge on par with Toulouse’s. However, shortly after, Flament regained the lead for his side.
Attributed to an unlucky bounce of scrumhalf Danny Care’s pass off flanker Chandler Cunningham-South, Flament was gifted Toulouse’s third try, leaving Quins trailing once again.
Try number four was nothing short of masterful from Toulouse, launched from deep by centre Paul Costes’s spectacular break. This was followed by a strategic kick into the clear, collected by a pursuing Dupont. The momentum was now heavily skewed towards Toulouse, with Dupont netting another try only four minutes later. This, in conjunction with two successful conversions by Kinghorn extended Toulouse’s lead by an imposing 19-points by halftime.
Quins were in dire need of an early second half turnaround. This came to fruition 46 minutes in when Smith’s lengthy pass connected with Murley who flawlessly executed an acrobatic finish. This was then topped off with a faultless conversion by Smith from the touchline, infusing some hope into Quins.
Their spirits lifted further as they netted another triumphant score seven minutes thereafter. This was created by Murley and executed by Green who was forwarded the ball by Care’s pass, setting Quins within reaching distance with Smith’s conversion.
A string of penalties saw Walker shown a yellow card, resulting in Quins falling deeper into trouble as Mallia scored for Toulouse, moments after Walker’s departure. This was worsened further by Ramos’s successful conversion, leading to mounting pressure on Quins who were now contesting as the away team. Ultimately, Quins fell to Toulouse, marking the end of English hopes in this year’s edition of the tournament after an unforgettable game which witnessed 10 tries.
In a match of the HARLEQUINS, the initial lineup consisted of T Green, L Lynagh, L Northmore, A Esterhuizen, C Murle, M Smith, D Care, F Baxter, J Walker, W Collier, I Herbst, S Lewies (who was the captain), C Cunningham-South, W Evans, and A Dombrandt. Substitutions were made over the course of the game: at 49 minutes, J Marler stepped in for Baxter. At 62 minutes, S Kerrod replaced Collier and W Porter took over for Care. J Chisholm relieved Evans at 67 minutes, while S Riley subbed in for Lynagh and G Hammond for Herbst at 71 minutes. In the final minutes, O Beard substituted Northmore at 75 minutes and J Evans came in for Walker at 78 minutes. At the 67th minute, Walker was put in the sin bin. The match was overseen by referee Andrew Brace from the IRFU.