Biarritz 20 (0)
Stade Toulousain 27 (17)
After extra-time, San Sebastian

Stade Toulousain broke Basque hearts - and Heineken Cup tradition - as they edged past Biarritz with a late, late Yannick Nyanga try which saw them win 27-20 in San Sebastian on Sunday.

The four-time champions are now just one match away from defending their cherished European title, but they came mighty close to exiting at the quarter-final stage after a dramatic fight-back from Biarritz.

The match had seemed all but over as Toulouse jogged in for their half-time refreshments with a seemingly insurmountable 17-0 lead, which featured tries from Cédric Heymans (run in from the halfway line) and the free-scoring Maxime Médard (after a delightful cross-kick from youngster Nicolas Bézy). But Biarritz battled back thanks to the power of their pack and the accuracy of Dimitri Yachvili's boot, and were trailing by just five points when winger Ilikena Bolakoro touched down in the corner in the game's final minute.

All Yachvili needed to do was slot the conversion to exact revenge for last season's final defeat, but the diminutive scrum-half proved wayward for once, allowing Toulouse to have a second bite of the cherry in extra-time.

Yachvili appeared to have made amends when he put Biarritz ahead for the first time in the match with his fifth penalty success just three minutes into the extra half hour, but Toulouse's David Skrela replied in kind at the start of the second period to leave it all square at 20-20.

Less than two minutes later and it was all over for the Basques as Nyanga sealed a Man-of-the-Match performance with a charge-down try which ensured a re-run of last season's semi-final clash with Leinster. Toulouse triumphed 26-16 on that occasion, but this time around the match will be played in Ireland - at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin - rather than in 'La Ville Rose'.

But having once already on the road in the knockout stages - a rare feat indeed - Toulouse will now travel to Ireland with belief intact and backed by their bombastic and colourful support as they continue their quest for a fifth Heineken title.

Heineken Cup 2010/11 Results and Tables

Toulouse's long-serving head coach Guy Noves was full of praise for his players' efforts afterwards, preferring to focus on the end result rather than his team's poor second-half showing.

"Against a rival of this quality the players showed enormous self-discipline and extraordinary will to succeed," he told AFP.

Biarritz chairman (and icon) Serge Blanco lamented his team's first-half effort - "we were forced to waste a lot of energy" - but said their fight-back had showed the side's "pride and courage".