Perpignan had trailed by five points going into the second half of their quarter-final clash but buoyed by the support of their regional Catalan fans did not disappoint the 55,000 crowd packed into the Olympic stadium.
They next meet either English side Northampton or Ireland's Ulster, who play on Sunday, as the French side target their second final after finishing runners-up to Toulouse in 2003.
Toulon, who reached the quarter-finals in the first participation, led 11-6 at the break as a tense Perpignan where hit by the sin-binning of lock Guillaume Vilaceca after ten minutes.
Porical and Toulon's Wilkinson animated the first half, scoring two penalties each before George Smith touched down the first try just before the break after Nicolas Laharrague was slow kicking the ball into touch.
Perpignan came firing back in the second half, and despite being down to 14 men after the sin-binning of Robins Tchale-Watchou before the break they reduced the deficit to just two points following a Porical penalty with Adrien Plante touching down their first try after 51 minutes.
Porical converted for 16-11 as Perpignan took the lead for the first time of the game.
But their advantage was short lived as Toulon's South African captain Joe Van Niekert levelled proceedings with a try which Wilkinson converted 16-18.
Porical took advantage of Toulon indiscipline to add two more penalties before the key try by prop Perry Freshwater, converted by Porical.
Toulon fought all the way with Fabien Cibray adding a third try for his side in the final seconds which Wilkinson converted, but Toulon's fate had already been sealed.
The weekend's two other quarter-finals are Anglo-Irish clashes, Leinster hosting Leicester at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, and Northampton playing Ulster in Milton Keynes. No clubs from Italy, Scotland or Wales made the knock-out phase.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
Content used in this blog remain the property of their respective owners.
No comments:
Post a Comment