Ramos Strikes Late To Send Toulouse Into Champions Cup Semi-final

Toulouse fullback Thomas Ramos redeemed himself with a dramatic last-minute penalty to guide the reigning Champions Cup holders into the semi-finals after a tense 21-18 victory over French rivals Toulon on Sunday.

Ramos, who had earlier missed three attempts at goal, kept his cool deep into stoppage time to land the decisive kick in the 81st minute. This secured a semi-final clash against Bordeaux-Begles on the weekend of May 2-4. The victory keeps alive Toulouse's hopes of a record-extending seventh European crown.

Toulon, whose last appearance in a Champions Cup semi-final came during their three-peat run in 2015, saw fullback Melvyn Jaminet score all their points with the boot. However, the hosts fell short of a famous win on the Cote dAzur.

In the other semi-final, Irish giants Leinster will welcome Northampton to Dublin after thrashing Glasgow 52-0 on Friday. Northampton also cruised through their quarter-final with a commanding 51-16 win over Castres, setting up a rematch of last year's semi-final, which was won by the Dublin-based side.

In wet and scrappy conditions on the Mediterranean coast, both sides had first-half tries disallowed-Toulon's Gael Drean and Toulouse's Paul Graou were both denied due to handling errors. At the break, Toulon led 12-6 thanks to four penalties from Jaminet, while Ramos responded with two successful kicks for the visitors.