For the ninth time, Leinster have booked their place in the final of the Investec Champions Cup, with Bordeaux-Begles or Bath awaiting them in the decider.
Leo Cullen's side survived a nervy final few minutes in their 29-25 win against Toulon, who launched a late rally to give the 38,555 supporters at Aviva Stadium a scare.
Over the 80 minutes, Leinster were certainly the better side though, and here's how we rated them:
Hugo Keenan – 7
Nothing flashy, but a solid and mature performance in the Leinster backfield. Some great handling in the build-up to Jamison Gibson-Park's disallowed try.
Tommy O'Brien - 8
Leinster’s biggest threat going forward, and Leo Cullen will be hoping his injury is nothing major with the final to come in three weeks. A crunching tackle on Tomas Albornoz set the tone, while his kicking was clever and varied, including a brilliant chip and chase in the first half. Took a great high catch early in the second half which provided the platform for the third Leinster try and Toulon’s yellow card.
Garry Ringrose – 6.5
Took his try well, and carried the ball excellently. Missed tackle stats generally need context to go with them, but he will be relieved his misread on Melvyn Jaminet late on didn’t result in a Toulon try.
Robbie Henshaw – N/A
Stretchered off early on with a worrying head injury, and as such it would be unfair to give him a rating.
Rieko Ioane – 6.5
At times in the first half he looked sharp in that left wing position, and Leinster were doing their best to get him on the ball, but he didn’t have the pace to really punish Toulon. Slipped off a lot of tackles, although did have one crucial tackle on Gaelle Drean late on.
Harry Byrne – 4
The out-half showed some promising early touches in attack during the first half, but his game never kicked on. Missed two penalty kicks at goal from central positions, which should have been six points, while he also missed touch with another penalty, and had a restart and a clearance kick go out on the full. His yellow card for offside - which temporarily brought Leinster down to 13 players - was also entirely avoidable.
Jamison Gibson-Park – 7
Kicked regularly and well, including one brilliant exit from the 22 just before the hour mark after Leinster had a lucky escape on defence. Always knew when to up the tempo as Leinster got into the 22, which contributed nicely to Conan and Doris’s tries. Will be frustrated at the knock-on for his own disallowed score, but it’s debatable if he ever fully lost possession.
Andrew Porter – 8.5
Missed the last three games with injury, but was immense on his return. Leinster’s dominance at the scrum was the real highlight as Porter (below) went to town on Kyle Sinckler, but the loosehead also got on the ball a lot more than usual, and carried brilliantly, making 19 metres off nine carries. Loses half a point for his yellow card, but an excellent display.
Dan Sheehan – 7
Didn’t see much ball in terms of attack, but was very active defensively with 13 tackles, among them a good piece of pressure to force Seta Tuicuvu into touch before Leinster’s second try. Lineouts excellent.
Thomas Clarkson – 8
A Tadhg Furlong injury is no longer the major issue it once was, and Clarkson was excellent this afternoon, both in the tight and the loose. Played his part in a destructive scrum, and was active on both sides of the ball with six carries and seven tackles, packing a real punch into some of those tackles in particular.
Joe McCarthy – 7.5
Has ironed some of the tough edges out of his game, and is on an excellent run of form. Always looking for the ball, with only Caelan Doris carrying more than him, while he was high up on the tackle count too, with 10. Has become a real smart operator at the maul, forcing a maul turnover on the hour mark.
James Ryan – 7
Nothing glamorous, but Ryan went after the dirty work this afternoon. A team-high 15 tackles saw him repeatedly put his body on the line.
Jack Conan – 7
Real power to force his way for the opening try (above), and Leinster will be sweating on his second half leg injury.
Josh van der Flier – 7.5
Departed in the second half for a head injury assessment, and while his tackle and carry numbers weren’t high, he was looking explosive in the contact zone when he was in around the ball.
Caelan Doris – 7.5
A tough one to rate. His workrate was off the chart, combining for 35 tackles and carries, while also winning a couple of turnovers on the ground. Needs to be more disciplined around the breakdown though, giving away a couple of penalties, one of which was kicked for three points.
Replacements – 7
A mixed bag from the replacements...
Jerry Cahir was called in while Porter was in the sin-bin and contributed to a penalty won at the scrum, while Scott Penny and Alex Soroka were both industrious when they came in for Van der Flier and Conan.
Jamie Osborne was probably the pick of the replacements, coming in for Robbie Henshaw early on and making 14 tackles in a physical display.
Sam Prendergast played out of position on the right wing, but will still be very frustrated at how easily he slipped off Gaelle Drean for the third Toulon try.
