Toulouse 26 (9)
Leinster 16 (9)

European giants Stade Toulousain are through to their sixth Heineken Cup final in 15 years after beating defending champions Leinster 26-16 in south west France.

Two quick-fire tries in five second-half minutes finally broke the stubborn Irish defence, with fly-half David Skrela claiming the second of those to add to his four penalties and two conversions.

That 21-point haul meant Skrela deservedly picked up the Man-of-the-Match award, and followed on superbly from his 27-point show against Stade Francais in the quarter-final.

It is turning out to be a far happier end than beginning to this season for Skrela, with the 31-year-old relishing the opportunity of a consistent run of games following injuries to positional rivals Frédéric Michalak and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde. The latter came on as a late replacement on Saturday, but he is patently still well short of match fitness after a lengthy lay-off, while Michalak's season ended weeks ago.

It is a sweet reversal for Skrela because the former Stade Francais player has often been sidelined himself since joining from the capital club two seasons ago. Indeed, his 2009-10 campaign only began at Christmas after being forced to sit out the opening four months with a knee injury, and he has managed just 12 of Stade's 26 league games this season.

But he appears to have timed his return to fitness to perfection, and is close to the form that previously won him 18 international caps for France. His place-kicking has been instrumental to Stade's progress through the Heineken Cup knockout stages and his game management on Saturday was pitch-perfect.

When the slippery conditions determined up and unders he kicked with a height and accuracy that allowed the always impressive Yannick Jauzion to chase; when positional territory was required he kicked for the corners; and when Toulouse wanted to spin it wide his handling was impeccable.

On top of all that he kicked his goals and then showed a deft shimmy which wrong-footed the Leinster defence to allow him a clear run under the posts to score the game's decisive try on the hour mark.

It was Skrela's trio of penalties in the first half hour that initially gave Stade the early momentum - largely on the back of their powerful forwards - but Leinster didn't become champions by chance and showed their spirit as they fought back to level shortly after the interval.

Shaun Berne - playing in place of the injured Jonathan Sexton - kicked gifted penalties in the 33rd and 40th minutes, with full-back Rob Kearney leveling the scores on 44 when he landed a long range effort from the halfway line. At that point any result seemed feasible, but Stade upped the tempo with their trademark off-loading and their increasing momentum eventually paid dividends.

Half-time substitute Maxime Médard - on for injured winger Cédric Heymans - almost broke the deadlock immediately after the resumption, but the side-burned flyer just failed to touch down his own chip and chase.

The Toulousain faithful didn't have long to wait however, with Jauzion eventually going over in the 56th minute after yet more forward pressure allowed him to power over from close in after being fed by the ever-combative Byron Kelleher.

Four minutes later and it was Skrela's turn to showcase his talents, with the Stade fly-half kicking both conversions as the home side charged 14 points clear in the blink of an eye.

Leinster did manage a swift reply when number eight Jamie Heaslip was released in the corner, but Stade's defence refused to buckle thereafter, with Skrela adding his final penalty nine minutes from time to ensure there will be at least one French side in the May 22 final in Paris. Whether Biarritz can make that two remains to be seen, but you wouldn't bet against it given the way this season has gone for French rugby generally.

A Grand Slam, Toulon eyeing the ACC and now Stade Toulousain targetting a fourth Heineken Cup success, and in Paris of all places... it's turning out to be quite a season for French rugby.

Toulouse coach Guy Noves is certainly hoping Biarritz can progress to set up "a magnificent all-French final". Europe's most successful club coach described himself "very happy" after Stade's 26-16 win, adding that he was "proud because this is an immense achievement - this is the sixth time Toulouse have reached the final". 

Noves has been coach on all six of those occasions, and a fourth victory will further cement his reputation as a Toulouse legend. 

Stade Toulousain: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans (Maxime Médard 41), 10 David Skrela (Jean-Baptiste Elissalde 74), 9 Byron Kelleher, 8 Shaun Sowerby (Louis Picamoles 72), 7 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Romain Millo-Chluski (Yoann Maestri 57), 3 Benoit Lecouls (Jean-Baptiste Poux 44), 2 William Servat (Virgil Lacombe 75), 1 Daan Human (Yohan Montes 71).
Replacements not used: 22 Yann David.

Tries: Jauzion, Skrela
Convs: Skrela (2)
Pens: Skrela (4)

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Shaun Berne, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings (Stephen Keogh 52), 6 Kevin McLaughlin (Malcolm O'Kelly 66), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Stan Wright, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Cian Healy (CJ Van Der Linde 31, Mike Ross 75).
Replacements not used: 16 Bernard Jackman, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Eoin O'Malley, 23 Girvan Dempsey.

Tries: Heaslip
Convs: Berne
Pens: Berne (2), Kearney