Champions Cup: Five-time winners Toulouse show class to set up mouth-watering semi-final with Leinster

Toulouse were given a stern examination by a talented Sharks outfit in the first 65 minutes but ultimately proved too strong for their South African opponents as they emerged 54-20 triumphant in their Champions Cup quarter-final.

Curwin Bosch and Thomas Ramos traded early penalties before the visitors showed their ability when Grant Williams finished off a brilliant try.

The French outfit would battle back to lead 14-10 at the interval, however, via Juan Cruz Mallia’s try and two more Ramos three-pointers.

Ramos’ score then extended Toulouse’s buffer, but Boeta Chamberlain went over to keep the away side in contention.

Following Mallia’s second try and Bosch’s response for the Sharks off the tee, the game hung in the balance with 14 minutes remaining, but the hosts pulled away late on.

They played some absolutely spellbinding rugby and ripped their opponents apart, with Peato Mauvaka, Ramos, Arthur Retiere and Romain Ntamack completing the win.

Ugo Mola’s men will now head to Dublin to face Leinster in the last-four of the Champions Cup in what could be one of the matches of the season.

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The Frenchmen went into this encounter as favourites, given their history in the competition and the form of the respective teams, but they knew the South Africans had the ability to produce something special.

Although the Sharks have struggled over recent months, there was talent aplenty in their squad. It was littered with Springboks, including captain Siya Kolisi, and they began with intent.

Bosch’s three-pointer gave them an early lead, and although Ramos responded for Toulouse, Neil Powell’s side displayed their counter-attacking skills for the first try.

Instigated by their talented fly-half, who dummied to kick before weaving his way past the stunned Toulouse defence, he eventually found Williams in support. The scrum-half still had plenty to do, but he finished brilliantly to take them 10-3 ahead.

They then had other chances to extend their lead while Toulouse were helping their opponents out by making several errors, but the hosts eventually tidied up their game.

Ramos reduced the arrears from the tee and then provided the scoring pass for Mallia, who had earlier been yellow-carded for a head-on-head collision with Makazole Mapimpi.

The full-back could not convert, but he did make up for that miss by adding another three-pointer for a 14-10 advantage at the interval.

Toulouse now had the momentum and began the second period impressively as another well-worked score ended in Ramos going over.

Another classy Toulouse score. 👏#HeinekenChampionsCup #STvSHA pic.twitter.com/BGcns9mCXV

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 8, 2023

To their credit, the Sharks remained in contention as Chamberlain crossed the whitewash, but more holes were starting to appear in the South Africans’ defence.

Mallia completed his brace for a 26-17 lead, and although Bosch gave the visitors hope going into the latter stages, they looked out on their feet.

Toulouse duly benefited from that tiredness and would rip them apart in the final 11 minutes. Mauvaka sent them on their way, latching onto Antoine Dupont’s brilliant off-load before Ramos scored a second try soon after.

With the match effectively over at that point, the Frenchmen enjoyed themselves and would go over two more times through Retiere and Ntamack.

READ MORE: WATCH: Thomas Ramos toys with Toulouse fans’ heart rate with ‘absurd’ skill against the Sharks