Dominant Leinster book final place with Toulouse win

Leinster are through to their sixth Heineken Champions Cup final after a dominant victory over holders Toulouse at the Aviva Stadium.

Last winners in 2018, Leo Cullen's side booked a date with either Racing 92 or La Rochelle, who meet in Lens tomorrow.

And they did so in style.

They ran in four tries through James Lowe (2), Josh van der Flier and Hugo Keenan and restricted Toulouse, who had already beaten Ulster and Munster, to 17 points and two tries, the second of which came when the result had more or less been decided.

A crowd of 42,076 witnessed a controlled and clinical performance by the four-time winners, who will surely go into the decider in Marseille in two weeks’ time as favourites.

Just a week on from a classic European clash at the Aviva, Toulouse were back to play their part in another brilliant half of rugby.

It was mostly a bit-part.

Having required extra time and a shootout to see off Munster last weekend, it was perhaps understandable that the French visitors looked heavy in the legs.

And they picked the wrong team to tango with.

One of only two sides with an average ruck speed of less than three seconds, Leinster boasted the most linebreaks in the entire competition with an average of 10.2 per match.

They set about their business, which was establishing a tempo that would test the French limbs.

A first score duly arrived with Sexton tapping over from under the posts after the Toulouse defence committed any number of infringements.

The hosts came straight back down again and Tadhg Furlong, who retired injured in the 17th minute, floated a beautiful pass for Hugo Keenan, whose deceptive running style took him past the red line.

Jamison Gibson-Park then fluffed a kick through and Antoine Dupont picked up the loose