THE HEINEKEN Cup quarter-finals produced one of the biggest surprises of the competition so far, with Leinster overrunning holders and three-time winners Toulouse 41-35.
The Irish outshone the French side in every department, powering in four tries to which the boot of Argentine fly-half, Felipe Contepomi, added a further 21 points. Leinster now play Munster, who beat Perpignan 19-10, in an all-Irish semi-final. In the other half of the draw, Leicester Tigers narrowly failed to come out on top, in a thrilling finish against visiting Bath. Around 30,000 home supporters watched in disbelief as chance after chance went begging, Andy Goode squandering the most obvious opportunity inside the last 10 minutes against only 13 men. An otherwise poor game was decided by what effectively was a penalty contest. Bath’s Chris Malone landed five out of seven attempts at goal to Andy Goode’s four from six, to produce a 15-12 final score. Bath will face Biarritz, who were the 11-6 winners over Sale, in the other semi-final.
