Stade Toulousain edged RC Toulon 21-18 at a sold-out Stade Mayol on Sunday, securing a semi-final against Union Bordeaux-Bègles.
RC Toulon had clearly learned their lessons from last week’s slow start against Saracens, keeping things well-rehearsed at the back for a largely watertight first 15 minutes despite early Stade Toulousain pressure.
An early Gaël Drean break down the wing into the Stade Toulousain red zone had most of Mayol on their feet, but a forward pass soon chalked off their efforts.
But this seemed to rile Stade Toulousain up more, with the reigning champions gradually growing into the Toulon half.
They might have had one of their own when scrum-half Paul Graou barged his way through before the 20-minute mark, but the TMO came in handy for the Toulon faithful to rule out any five-pointer.
Toulon made sure to turn things around as they grew into the half, as they forced penalty after penalty from the Stade Toulousain defence.
Four unanswered kicks from a steady Melvyn Jaminet boot gave the hosts a firm grip on the first-half proceedings before Thomas Ramos grabbed one back for the visitors.
Ugo Mola’s half-time words must’ve worked their magic as the visitors came out in the second-half blocks firing.
A forensic TMO review ruled out a Julian Marchand cross two minutes before Jack Willis bullied his way over on 43 minutes.
Proving his British & Irish Lions credibility as well as the reigning champions’ ever-present threats, it wasn’t long before six-star Toulouse had a grip on proceedings.
Pita Ahki was next to go over for Stade Toulousain as he found himself in space down the right as the side from the ‘Ville Rose’ was well and truly entering their rosy patch.
Already adjusted to their adverse conditions, Toulon soon weathered the Toulouse storm. Two more Jaminet penalties pulled them to 18-18 to set up a tense final fifteen.
A defiant and solid Toulon backline remained untouched right up until the final moments. The home crowd's off-putting boos weren't enough to put off a steady Ramos penalty, with his last-gasp kick through the posts proving decisive to give the Toulousains a spot in yet another semi-final.
UBB await the reigning champions in the final four as the road to Cardiff hots up.
Scorers:
RC Toulon: Penalties: Melvyn Jaminet (6).
Stade Toulousain: Tries: Jack Willis, Pita Ahki. Conversion: Thomas Ramos. Penalties: Thomas Ramos (3).
Teams:
RC Toulon: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Gaël Drean, 13 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12 Jérémy Sinzelle, 11 Gabin Villiere, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Esteban Abadie, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 Brian Alainu’uese, 4 David Ribbans (c), 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Dany Priso. Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Swan Rebbadj, 20 Matteo le Corvec, 21 Ben White, 22 Marius Domon, 23 Selevasio Tolofua.
Stade Toulousain: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Juan Cruz Mallia, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Paul Graou, 8 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Jack Willis, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand (c), 1 Cyril Baille. Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Joel Merkler, 19 Clement Verge, 20 Anthony Jelonch, 21 Naoto Saito, 22 Paul Costes, 23 Matthis Lebel.