Munster 18-16 Saracens

Munster held off a monumental effort from outsiders Saracens to reach their fourth Heineken Cup final with a nail-biting 18-16 victory at Coventry's Ricoh Arena.

Read Conor O'Shea on Munster's Win

Munster, for whom Ronan O'Gara scored 13 points, will now return to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, scene of their European Cup-winning triumph two years ago over Biarritz, to play three-time champions Toulouse in the final on 24 May.

Saracens, in their first European Cup semi-final, did not look like a side that had conceded 40 points last weekend in the Premiership and opened the scoring with a spectacular length of the field try in the fifth minute.

Full-back Richard Haughton ran the ball out of defence from near his own line before finding left wing Kameli Ratuvou, who chipped on.

The ball was regathered by Saracens centre Adam Powell who sprinted away as Munster scrambled to get back before cutting inside and being tackled just short of the line by All Black wing Doug Howlett.

However, when the ball was recycled, Fiji flyer Ratuvou went over from close range to complete a breathtaking 100-metre score.

Saracens' New Zealander No 10 Glen Jackson made no mistake with the simple conversion and the underdogs were 7-0 up.

Munster got on the board when O'Gara kicked a penalty after Saracens were caught offside.

But they then struggled to get out of their own 22 as Saracens, with veteran England back-row Richard Hill involved, attacked at a ferocious pace.

Munster, whose traditionally large travelling support who turned the ground into a sea of red shirts, though worked their way back into the match through their pack.

And, after, they won possession at a lineout the ball was moved crossfield and O'Gara, cutting the angle with a hint of a dummy, crashed over for a 25th minute try.

But he missed the seemingly simple conversion. Nevertheless, Munster were now 8-7 in front.

And seconds before half-time, they extended that slender lead when, after a diagonal break by Howlett, blindside flanker Alan Quinlan burst off the back of a ruck and had a free run-in for a try  under the posts.

This time O'Gara did convert and the Munster were 15-7 ahead, leaving Saracens' former Munster coach Alan Gaffney with work to do at the break.

Saracens started the second-half strongly and were rewarded with a penalty which Jackson kicked to reduce Munster's lead.

Ratuvou repeatedly posed problems as Saracens pressed hard for another try and, when Munster centre Rua Tipoki was sin-binned for killing the ball, Jackson's second penalty meant the Londoners were just two points behind.

But any hopes Saracens had of a full ten with a man advantage were dashed when prop Nick Lloyd was sin-binned.

One consolation for Sarries was that O'Gara's difficult penalty kick from the left faded just short of the posts.

But he soon had another, far easier, attempt when Saracens were reduced to 13 men after replacement prop Census Johnston was yellow-carded, again for killing the ball, and this time the stand-off was on target to leave Munster 18-13 ahead.

Jackson though again pegged them back, following offside at a lineout, to set up a grandstand finish with Munster a mere 18-16 ahead and only nine minutes left to play.

But, try, as they might, Saracens could not fashion a winning score and when they were penalised for holding on in the tackle in Munster's 22 in the final minute, their chance of a first European Cup final appearance disappeared.