Classy Leinster overcome fiery Leicester to reach semi-final

Leinster charged into another Heineken Champions Cup semi-final after overcoming Premiership table-toppers Leicester Tigers in front of a vocal Welford Road crowd.

It was a contest that felt more or less over by half-time as tries from Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw helped Leo Cullen's side establish a 20-0 lead, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park in mesmerising form.

This was the first time in three years Leicester had been kept scoreless by the time the interval arrived as the foundations were laid for the demise of their unbeaten home record this season.

However, a Tigers uprising followed with Chris Ashton finishing a beautifully taken try - his 41st in Europe - but their lung-busting effort was not matched by an ability to threaten the line as Leinster set up a semi-final against Munster's conquerors Toulouse next weekend.

The Tigers' fire was evident as they tore into the visitors when able to in the opening quarter, but Leinster were smarter and also displayed extra class in attack.

It was brute strength rather than ingenuity that delivered the opening two tries, however, with Josh van der Flier surging over from the back of a line-out before Robbie Henshaw added a second following a succession of drives.

Johnny Sexton landed both conversions to compliment his earlier penalty and when James Lowe motored down the left wing to renew the attack, it started to look bleak for Leicester.

Trailing 17-0, they were unable to get their hands on the ball and when George Ford was able to launch the backline, his snatched pass to Harry Potter was spilt forward by the wing.

The influence of scrum-half Gibson-Park was stamped all over Leinster's play but the momentum of his pack was making life easy, even in the face of some feverish