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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-Bègles 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 Côte d’Azur.
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.
Tensions boiled over at times, prompting referee Matthew Carley to warn both captains that any further off-the-ball incidents would result in yellow cards, amid a restless home crowd.
After the interval, Toulouse hit their stride with tries from England flanker Jack Willis and Tonga international Pita Ahki to edge ahead 18-12. Toulon were briefly down to 14 men when Baptiste Serin was sin-binned for a high tackle.
Jaminet, who is still owed €450,000 by Toulouse following his 2022 transfer from Perpignan, levelled the score at 18-18 with two more penalties, setting up a nail-biting final quarter.
Ramos squandered a chance to win the match with three minutes remaining, taking his missed points tally to eight. But the 28-year-old was handed a second opportunity when Toulon winger Gabin Villière was penalised close to his try line. With the clock in the red, Ramos calmly slotted the winning penalty, sending Toulouse into the last four.
