Investec Champions Cup: Toulouse 38-26 Harlequins – Toulouse beat Quins to advance to final

Investec Champions Cup Semi-Finals

Attempt: Level, Mauvaca, Flament, Dupont 2, Maria Cons: Kinghorn 3, Ramos

Attempt: Smith, Evans, Murray, Green Cons: smith 3

Toulouse had to endure a fierce second-half fightback to beat Harlequins and book their place in the Investec Champions Cup final for the first time in three years.

The five-time champions built a commanding lead in the south of France with five tries from Matisse Lebel, Piet Mauvaca and Thibaut Flamand and two from talismanic Antoine Dupont in the opening 40 minutes.

Quins got through Marcus Smith and Will Evans but found themselves 19 points down at half-time, with tries from Kaydan Marley and Tyrone Green testing Toulouse's mettle.

The visitors cut the gap to five points and the smell of an upset wafted through a nervous Toulouse Stadium before Jack Walker was sent to the sin box for direct head contact with Dupont.

With a man advantage, Toulouse quickly punished the hooker when Juan Cruz María scored from a corner kick, scoring the first goal of the first half and breaking Quins' resistance.

Quins produced an upset that saw them reach their first ever Champions Cup semi-final with a thrilling one-goal win over Bordeaux and Begles, but they were unable to repeat that impressive start back in France.

Romain Ntamak scored the early try with a wide pass to Lebel, before Marcus Smith gave Quins a brief lead with a deft finish under the posts.

Both teams exchanged further tries from the same positions, first Maubaka and then Evans benefiting from a strong driving maul before Toulouse took control.

Chandler Cunningham-South juggled a loose ball and Frament stole the ball for his team's third goal, while Dupont was the quickest to react after some fluid movement from the redshirt players to score from close range. Added two more points.

Quins should have gained confidence from the late recovery of fellow Premiership side Northampton, who lost to Leinster in the semi-final on Saturday, and began to impose on themselves after returning from the dressing room.

Their superiority at the breakdown began to become clear, with Green making two key individual contributions before scoring a fine third try after Marley finished off Smith's winding pass with an acrobatic finish in the corner. .

The Quins full-back made the initial break and connected the play again a few phases later with a strong run and a deft offload, eventually cutting an unstoppable line into traffic and scoring under the posts. Ta.

The contrast was stark from the partisan atmosphere at the end of the first half to the uneasy silence at the Toulouse stadium after the hour, but Walker's poor decision meant the din was returning once again.

Desperately trying to prevent Dupont from nipping the ball at the breakdown, Hooker lost control and made contact with the scrum-half's head. It might have been red on any other day, but the damage was done late in the game.

A nice handball from Ntamak in midfield freed up space for Maria to break through two covering Quins defenders and cross the line for the win.

Former Northampton fly-half and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra pundit Paul Grayson:

Credit to Harlequins for withstanding the onslaught in the first half. Yes, they made some mistakes and suffered injuries, but they fought their way back into the game and an unlucky sin-bin handed the advantage back to Toulouse.

Harlequins played Harlequins' best rugby in the second half and for a while European rugby powerhouse Toulouse were unable to stop them.

The experience of playing in a venue like this will be invaluable to the Harlequins players.

After two great semi-finals, the tournament's desired final is just around the corner, with what could be an absolute grandstand event as the two best teams go head-to-head in Tottenham.

Toulouse: Kinghorn; Cruz Maria, Costes, Aki, Rebel. Ntamac, Dupont (captain); Bayeux, Mauvaca, Aldegueri, Flament, Meahou, Cross, Willis, Roma.

Replacement: Marchand, Nettie, Merkler, Arnold, Castroferreira, Graou, Chocobarres, Ramos.

Harlequin: Green; Raina, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Marley. Mr. Smith, please be careful. Baxter, Walker, Collier, Herbst, Lewis (Capt.), Cunningham-South, Evans, Dom Brandt.

Replacement: Riley, Marler, Kerrod, Hammond, Chisholm, Porter, Evans, Beard.