Stade Toulousain 9 (9)
Clermont Auvergne 19 (13)

Clermont Auvergne upset the odds to beat defending champions Stade Toulousain 19-9 in Bordeaux, and earn their place in the 2008/09 Top 14 final.

Les Jaunards outplayed their illustrious opponents for large parts of a bone-crushing encounter fought with all the intensity you would expect of these might rivals.

Vern Cotter's team can now look forward to trying to lay their Championship ghost at the 10th time of asking, when they play either Perpignan or Stade Francais in the final.

Top 14 Table / Top 14 Fixtures / Top 14 Transfers - The story so far...

They lead from fourth minute to last, with Australian fly-half Brock James orchestrating a pitch-perfect approach they paid rich dividends.

The prolific No 10 opened his evening account with a fourth-minute penalty before going on to add his own try and conversion just seven minutes later as Clermont stunned Toulouse with their initial ferocity.

Benoit Baby's 17th-minute drop-goal almost extended the lead further but Stade Toulousain then fought back thanks to a series of penalties, three of which Jean-Baptiste Elissalde slotted over to narrow the gap to 9-13 at half-time.

But the Toulouse fly-half was also wayward with three other efforts, the last of which saw him replaced at 10 by David Skrela as Guy Noves made a series of substitutions early in the second half. Fabien Pelous was also taken off, in what turned out to be his last game before retiring.

The struggling champions were already 16-9 down by that point, with Baby adding a 50m penalty to the 60m effort he landed on the half hour.

A rash late tackle by Jamie Cudmore on Yannick Jauzion then brought a yellow card for the Canadian and offered Toulouse a possible way out , but not even a numerical disadvantage was going to stop Clermont now. France's perennial bridesmaids held out forcibly while a man down before edging further ahead through another James penalty.

At 19-9 down Toulouse knew they had to score at least one try in the closing 15 minutes, but unforced errors continually undermined their efforts as Clermont defended with relative ease. James could even afford to miss with three late kicks - two drop-goals and a penalty - as the Michelin backed side completed a memorable victory.