Heineken Cup - Marseille, 27 April 2014, 16:30 local, 14:30 GMT
Toulon (18) 24 - 16 (9) Munster (FT)

Match coverage:  Report | Reaction | Verdict

Summary

Time Score  
 

Jonny Wilkinson and Damien Varley have tossed the coin and kick off is just moments away in the last ever Heineken Cup semi-final

1

Awful start for Toulon as Juan Smith drops the ball just five metres out. The Toulon front-row holds up in the scrum though, giving Wilkinson a chance to clear.

5 3 - 0

Penalty to Toulon Toulon charge into Munster territory and are rewarded with a penalty for their efforts. Wilkinson, returning to the team from injury, slots it.

6

7 3 - 3

Penalty to Munster Keatley responds for Munster with a solid penalty, bringing the scores levels

12

Referee Waynes Barnes has words with both front-rows after problems with the scrum. Munster clear and Keatley puts Toulon back into their own 22.

14

16

No one has a grip on the game as Toulon attempt to make strides in Munster territory. Tillous-Borde makes a neat break but it comes to nothing.

18 6 - 3

Penalty to Toulon Finally Toulon pressure begins to tell and Wilkinson sends over his second of the day. No sign of injury problems for the Toulon talisman.

21

Wayne Barnes really isn't happy with the scrummaging and warns Munster they'll lose a man to the bin if it doesn't improve.

24

Ill-discipline at the breakdown sees Munster concede another penalty. Staggeringly, Wilkinson misses to the left of the posts, but Munster will need to tighten up if they want to stay in touch.

26 9 - 3

Penalty to Toulon Wilko has a chance to make amends for miss just minutes ago. He sends it over from a tricky position and Toulon open the slenderest of gaps.

27

28

Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe is sent to the sin-bin after accidentally booting Conor Murray in the head. Toulon down to 14 and Munster have a chance to get back into this.

29 9 - 6

Penalty to Munster Keatley is on target and Munster must feel this is their chance to take control

30 12 - 6

This semi-final is fast turning into a kicking duel as Wilkinson lands a drop goal from just inside the Munster half.

32

33 12 - 9

Penalty to Munster Keatley lands another penalty from almost the same spot as his last. Neither side is managing to gain momentum despite the one-man difference between them.

35 15 - 9

Penalty to Toulon Wilkinson with a penalty underneath the posts. He kicks those in his sleep.

36

39 18 - 9

Penalty to Toulon Munster concede yet another penalty just moments before the stroke of half-time. It's inside the Toulon half but Wilkinson gives Delon Armitage the nod who gives it an almighty thump to send his side in the happier at the break.

40

Half-time That was a scrappy first 40 with Wilkinson and Keatley trading penalties and neither side taking the initiative. Both sets of backs showed flashes of invention but neither was in danger of bagging a try. It's still all to play for.

 

41

The teams are back out and Munster clear their lines. Habana sets off like lightening but an excellent tap tackle from James Downey stops him in his tracks.

42

The game is wide open and Steffon Armitage goes barrelling over, but another crucial tackle - this time from Simon Zebo - denies Toulon the try.

44

Passes are flying everywhere and Munster are lucky not to be intercepted in their own 22.

46

Something has to give. Toulon are coming at Munster from every angle and Bryan Habana in particular is looking dangerous. Munster have to clear their lines better.

47

49

He was looking threatening but Toulon aren't taking any chances with Habana and they haul him off. Munster clear but then make a series of crazy decisions and are lucky not to be intercepted, again.

52 18 - 14

Try to Munster Funny how things change. Munster go from being under pressure to crashing over in the corner via Zebo. He was under a mass of bodies but Barnes doesn't need the TMO's help and Munster are back in this.

53 18 - 16

Keatley nails the conversion and Munster are on the up.

57

Keatley has a chance to put Munster in the lead with a mammoth penalty from the halfway line. The ball initially rolls off the tee and Keatley then misses wide left.

60

If the first half was about scrappy penalties, the second has been about open play. Both sides are charging forward and defending manfully in equal proportions.

63

Toulon bear down on the Munster line and Keith Earls is forced to bring down David Smith as they both chase the loose ball. Barnes is not impressed and send Earls to the bin.

64 21 - 16

Penalty to Toulon Earls' off-the-ball tackle earns him a yellow and Wilkinson another three points.

65

69

Munster enjoy a good spell to put pressure on the Toulon defence. They hold firm but a mix-up between Delon Armitage and Drew Mitchell results in a Munster line-out inside the Toulon 22.

70

72

Munster are looking so dangerous despite being down to 14 men but a loose kick from Keatley lets Toulon off the hook.

73

Earls returns to the field just as Munster look like they could do with the reinforcements. They've gone from looking likely to score to looking vulnerable beneath their own posts.

75

It's a sign of Toulon's strength in depth when they can take off Carl Hayman and replace him with Martin Castrogiovanni. Munster are on the back foot again.

79 24 - 16

Penalty to Toulon Munster give it everything they've got but they're over-playing it in their own 22. Wilkinson converts another penalty and puts Toulon out of sight.

80

Full-time Toulon are too strong and the reigning champions win it 24-16. Munster brought fight to the game but just couldn't hold back the red tide and Toulon will attempt to defend their crown against Saracens in the last ever Heineken Cup final

Timeline

Time Toulon  Score  Munster
0 start of first half start of first half
5 Wilkinson - penalty goal 3 - 0
7 3 - 3 Keatley - penalty goal
18 Wilkinson - penalty goal 6 - 3
26 Wilkinson - penalty goal 9 - 3
28 Fernandez Lobbe - yellow card
29 9 - 6 Keatley - penalty goal
30 Wilkinson - drop goal 12 - 6
33 12 - 9 Keatley - penalty goal
35 Wilkinson - penalty goal 15 - 9
39 DA Armitage - penalty goal 18 - 9
40 end of first half end of first half
40 start of second half start of second half
48 Habana - sub off
D Smith - sub on
52 18 - 14 Zebo - try
53 18 - 16 Keatley - conversion
54 Chiocci - sub off
Menini - sub on
55 O'Donnell - sub on
Dougall - sub off
58 Orioli - sub on
Burden - sub off
62 Claassens - sub on
Tillous-Borde - sub off
Rossouw - sub off
Mikautadze - sub on
63 Earls - yellow card
64 Wilkinson - penalty goal 21 - 16 Cronin - sub on
Kilcoyne - sub off
Downey - sub off
Hanrahan - sub on
Foley - sub off
O'Callaghan - sub on
72 Jones - sub off
Hurley - sub on
75 Castrogiovanni - sub on
Hayman - sub off
Varley - sub off
Casey - sub on
79 Wilkinson - penalty goal
Bruni - sub on
Suta - sub off
24 - 16
80+2 end of second half
end of half
end of second half
end of half
0
82

Notes

 
Result Toulon won by a margin of 8 points
 
Ground name Stade Velodrome, Marseille

Teams

Toulon Munster
Tries none Tries Zebo (52)
Cons none Cons Keatley (53)
Pens Wilkinson (5, 18, 26, 35, 64, 79), DA Armitage (39) Pens Keatley (7, 29, 33)
Drops Wilkinson (30) Drops none

Match stats

Toulon   Munster
0 Tries 1
0 from 0 Conversion goals 1 from 1
7 from 8 Penalty goals 3 from 4
88.0% Kick at goal success 80.0%
1 (1 missed) Dropped goals 0
Kick/pass/run
13 Kicks from hand 19
114 Passes 142
88 Runs 93
276 Metres run with ball 216
Attacking
44% (65%/31%) Possession (1H/2H) 56% (35%/69%)
41% (57%/32%) Territory (1H/2H) 59% (43%/68%)
7 Clean breaks 3
13 Defenders beaten 6
5 Offloads 8
54 from 59 (91.5%) Rucks won 75 from 77 (97.4%)
4 from 6 (66.7%) Mauls won 6 from 7 (85.7%)
15 Turnovers conceded 16
Defensive
97/6 Tackles made/missed 103/13
94.0% Tackling success rate 89.0%
Set pieces
3 won, 1 lost (75.0%) Scrums on own feed 6 won, 1 lost (85.7%)
13 won, 2 lost (86.7%) Lineouts on own throw 9 won, 1 lost (90.0%)
Discipline
8 (2) Penalties conceded (Freekicks) 12 (0)
1/0 Yellow/red cards 1/0

Toul stats

Pos   T/A Pts K/P/R MR CB DB OL TO Tack LO Pen Y/R
FB DA Armitage 0/0 3 2/4/4 29 0 1 0 1 3/0 0/0 0 0/0
W Mitchell 0/0 0 1/4/8 20 0 4 2 3 3/1 0/0 0 0/0
C Bastareaud 0/0 0 0/2/9 33 1 2 0 1 7/0 0/0 0 0/0
C Giteau 0/0 0 1/6/4 10 0 0 1 0 10/1 0/0 0 0/0
W Habana 0/0 0 0/2/6 77 4 2 0 0 3/0 0/0 0 0/0
FH Wilkinson 0/0 21 6/19/3 3 0 1 1 0 6/0 0/0 0 0/0
SH Tillous-Borde 0/0 0 1/40/1 7 1 1 0 1 2/0 0/0 0 0/0
P Chiocci 0/0 0 0/1/2 4 0 0 0 0 2/0 1/0 1 0/0
H Burden 0/0 0 0/1/1 2 0 0 0 0 2/0 0/0 0 0/0
P Hayman 0/0 0 0/1/3 0 0 0 0 0 8/0 0/0 3 0/0
L Rossouw 0/0 0 0/5/8 6 0 0 1 3 1/0 3/0 1 0/0
L Suta 0/0 0 0/2/1 0 0 0 0 0 3/0 4/0 1 0/0
F JH Smith 0/0 0 0/4/7 5 0 0 0 2 6/2 1/0 0 0/0
F Fernandez Lobbe 0/0 0 0/6/6 6 0 0 0 1 6/1 2/0 1 1/0
N8 SE Armitage 0/0 0 0/2/16 52 1 1 0 1 10/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Orioli 0/0 0 1/0/3 11 0 0 0 0 5/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Menini 0/0 0 0/1/2 5 0 0 0 0 4/0 0/0 1 0/0
(R) Castrogiovanni 0/0 0 0/0/1 0 0 0 0 0 2/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Bruni 0/0 0 0/0/0 0 0 0 0 0 1/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) D Smith 0/0 0 1/1/0 0 0 0 0 0 4/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Claassens 0/0 0 0/13/1 2 0 0 0 0 5/1 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Mikautadze 0/0 0 0/0/2 4 0 1 0 2 4/0 1/0 0 0/0
Key T/A Tries / Try Assists Pts Points scored
K/P/R Kick / Pass / Run MR Metres Run with ball
CB Clean Breaks DB Defenders Beaten OL OffLoads TO TurnOvers
Tack Tackles made / missed LO LineOuts won on throw / stolen on opp throw
Pen Penalties conceded Y/R Yellow / Red cards

Munst stats

Pos   T/A Pts K/P/R MR CB DB OL TO Tack LO Pen Y/R
FB Jones 0/0 0 1/3/6 34 1 0 1 0 1/2 0/0 0 0/0
W Earls 0/0 0 1/2/5 32 1 2 0 3 2/0 0/0 2 1/0
C Laulala 0/0 0 0/15/12 17 0 0 4 2 2/2 0/0 0 0/0
C Downey 0/0 0 0/2/1 3 0 0 0 0 8/0 0/0 1 0/0
W Zebo 1/0 5 0/4/11 31 1 1 0 0 11/0 0/0 1 0/0
FH Keatley 0/0 11 9/25/2 0 0 0 1 2 5/3 0/0 0 0/0
SH Murray 0/1 0 4/60/5 4 0 0 2 1 2/1 0/0 1 0/0
P Kilcoyne 0/0 0 0/0/3 4 0 0 0 0 4/0 0/0 3 0/0
H Varley 0/0 0 0/3/2 0 0 0 0 0 5/1 0/0 1 0/0
P Botha 0/0 0 0/1/3 3 0 0 0 0 11/1 0/0 0 0/0
L Foley 0/0 0 0/2/0 0 0 0 0 3 5/0 2/0 0 0/0
L O'Connell 0/0 0 0/3/6 8 0 0 0 2 4/2 5/1 0 0/0
F Stander 0/0 0 0/0/5 10 0 0 0 1 13/1 0/0 1 0/0
F Dougall 0/0 0 0/2/3 4 0 0 0 1 11/0 0/0 0 0/0
N8 Coughlan 0/0 0 0/4/11 49 0 0 0 1 7/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Casey 0/0 0 0/1/2 3 0 1 0 0 1/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Cronin 0/0 0 0/0/3 0 0 0 0 0 4/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) O'Callaghan 0/0 0 0/0/2 3 0 0 0 0 2/0 2/0 1 0/0
(R) O'Donnell 0/0 0 0/5/8 11 0 0 0 0 3/0 0/0 0 0/0
(R) Hanrahan 0/0 0 3/9/1 0 0 0 0 0 2/0 0/0 1 0/0
(R) Hurley 0/0 0 1/1/2 0 0 2 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 0/0
Key T/A Tries / Try Assists Pts Points scored
K/P/R Kick / Pass / Run MR Metres Run with ball
CB Clean Breaks DB Defenders Beaten OL OffLoads TO TurnOvers
Tack Tackles made / missed LO LineOuts won on throw / stolen on opp throw
Pen Penalties conceded Y/R Yellow / Red cards

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