Afternoon all and welcome to TheScore.ie‘s minute-by-minute coverage of today’s Heineken Cup semi-final between 2009 champions Leinster and 2010 champions Toulouse. Don’t tell either Northampton or Perpignan but whoever wins this game will be installed as hot favourites to lift the cup in Cardiff three weeks from now.

We’ll have all of the action as it happens. Keep in touch throughout the afternoon – it gets awfully lonely around the office on a Saturday afternoon.

Before we turn our attention to the action in the Aviva however, we have to take account of the fact that Leinster aren’t the only Irish province in European action today.

Munster’s Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final against Harlequins in Thomond Park has just ended, the visitors winning by 20 points to 12 to seal their own Cardiff date with Stade Francais on May 20.

Conor O’Shea’s men came to Limerick to play rugby this afternoon and certainly put it up to Munster at the breakdown and around the fringes. The hosts were desperately unlucky in places though and could have had a handful of tries had their final passes not drifted slightly forwards on more than one occasion.

Munster fans will be gutted, no doubt, but I’m not sure anyone can deny that Quins were good value for their win.

But what’s done is done and it’s time to turn our attention to matters at hand.

As approximately 45,000 blue-clad fans descend on the Aviva, the best place to start is probably with the teams. Here’s how the hosts will line out:

Leinster: Nacewa; Horgan, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Fitzgerald; Sexton, Reddan; Healy, Strauss, Ross; Cullen (c), Hines; McLaughlin, O’Brien, Heaslip.

And here’s the Toulouse XV:

Toulouse: Heymans; Clerc, Fritz, Poitrenaud, Medard; Skrela, Doussin; Poux, Servat, Johnston; Maestri, Albacete; Boulihou (c), Nyanga, Picamoles.

Of course, Leinster fans will need no reminding of what happened when these two sides met at the Stade Ernest Wallon last year.

If you’ve somehow managed to banish the memory, congratulations. This clip might be of some use to you.

Fifteen minutes to go until kick-off. Anybody have any money riding on the game?

Apart from the fact that they have an array of superstrars on the pitch, Toulouse also have one of the game’s great coaches – Guy Noves.

Noves had some pretty complimentary things to say about Leinster in the run-up to this afternoon’s game. Check out this piece in today’s Irish Examiner while you’re waiting for kick-off.

I’d love to think that my team resemble Leinster. They’re a really dynamic team. For me, the resemblance lies in that dynamism they bring to every game against some big packs. There is also the desire we have to play full rugby. But you can’t do that without a solid base.

Anybody who has any interest in horse racing will probably know that today was 2,000 Guineas day at Newmarket. If you haven’t seen the race yet, make it your number one priority to do so immediately. Trust me on this.

Writing the Five Steps to Heaven column yesterday, I said that I was hoping for a Leinster win but I thought that it would be incredibly close. Closer than the bookies are predicting anyway – they expect Leinster to win by six.

I’m expecting this to come down to a last-minute drop goal one way or the other.

Here come the teams. I apologise in advance for any pro-Leinster bias which may slip into the minute-by-minute over the next two hours.

We’re off … and Horgan claims Sexton’s kick-off. A nice, reassuring start for Leinster.

Ninety seconds in and Leinster have already managed to lose their first two lineouts. The first was flicked away by Nyanga near the front while Strauss completely overthrew the second one. The South African will want to land the next couple to settle the nerves.

TRY! (Fritz, 5′) That is one of the more bizarre tries I have ever seen. Skrela looked to have dragged his penalty just wide of the left upright but the ball kissed the post and dropped into the goal area. As Brian O’Driscoll went to collect, the ball took a very awkward bounce back over his head and into the hands of the incoming Florian Fritz.

He touches down and Skrela adds the extras. Leinster 0-7 Toulouse

A good spirited response from Leinster with D’Arcy breaking the gain line before handing off to O’Driscoll to add a few more yards. Play is brought back for a penalty underneath the posts and Sexton makes no mistake. Leinster 3-7 Toulouse

Very smart play there from Toulouse and David Skrela. With nothing on, the out-half drops back into the pocket and slots a drop goal straight between the posts. Leinster 3-10 Toulouse, 11 minutes gone.

Good work by Healy and Cullen at the breakdown and Toulouse are penalised for holding on on the ground about 35 yards from goal. Sexton makes no mistake – he’ll eat up chances like that all day long. Leinster 6-10 Toulouse

As expected, Toulouse are defending resolutely every time Leinster are in their half. There just seems to be a wall of red every time a blue shirt tries to get over the gain line. D’Arcy and O’Driscoll are having a small bit of luck up the centre but Leinster need to start getting the ball wide at a bit more pace.

This Nyanga lad is alright, isn’t he? The big number seven has been fairly dominant in the lineout so far.

Very clever play by Sean O’Brien who was first man up after O’Driscoll’s little grubber. He manages to force Clerc’s shoulder onto the touchline and it’s a Leinster lineout inside the Toulouse 22.

The Leinster forwards are grinding out the yards here as Toulouse try to slow play down. Five yards out …

We’re gone upstairs to the video ref … and I think that’s a try.

TRY! (Heaslip, 30′) Brilliant play by Jonny Sexton who picked up the ball at the breakdown and took it to within a yard of the Toulouse line. From there, Jamie Heaslip spotted the tiniest of gaps and manage to squeeze his arm across the line to touch down for the try.

Referee Dave Pearson wasn’t sure he had made it but the video ref confirms the points. Sexton adds the extras and Leinster lead 13-10.

Sexton fails to find touch with a penalty which allows Toulouse to press into the Leinster 22. A big five minutes for Leinster coming up here.

YELLOW CARD O’Driscoll sin-binned for illegally entering the tackle less than five metres from the try-line. “It wasn’t a ruck, it has to be a ruck,” he tells Dave Pearson as he trudges off to the sideline. The home crowd don’t agree with the decision, unsuprisingly.

Skrela slots the penalty and we’re all tied up. Leinster 13-13 Toulouse.

Albacete penalised for offside as the first-half comes to a close. A chance for Sexton to send Leinster into the break three points in front …

… and he makes no mistake from about 30 yards out. HALF TIME: Leinster 16-13 Toulouse

That was a cracking half of rugby but I’d imagine there are a lot of well-chewed fingernails in the Aviva stands at the moment.

Still, Leinster lead by three at the break. I’ll be back in a few minutes – send me your thoughts via the usual means.

Back in a sec.

We’re back underway at the Aviva. About four minutes remaining on BOD’s sin-bin clock.

Woah. Leinster waste no time in starting to live dangerously once again. Toulouse take advantage of the extra man in midfield, spreading the ball wide to Cedric Heymans who plays the most stunning little grubber off the inside of his boot without breaking stride.

Clerc should capitalise to touch down in the corner but he just can’t bring the ball under control and Leinster fans breathe for the moment.

Five-yard scrum to Toulouse.

TRY! (Picamoles, 44′) A huge scrummage from Toulouse allows scrum-half Doussin to pick and run. He barrels through Reddin before offloading to the big number eight Picamoles. He crosses easily and Skrela adds the extras. Leinster 16-20 Toulouse

Toulouse make a change, bringing on Thierry Dusautoir in place of Nyanga – a nice change to be able to make if you ask me.

O’Driscoll’s sin-binning is up, he’s back on.

A chance for Sexton to cut the deficit to a single point and he duly obliges. Four out of four for the out-half this afternoon. Leinster 19-20 Toulouse

A stunning run from Cian Healy who breaks Cedric Heymans’ tackle and looks set to beat Medard in a foot-race until Picamoles intervenes to stop him inside the Toulouse 22.

The ball is knocked on in the ensuing scuffle which gives Toulouse the put in to the scrum. Van der Merwe – who has just come in Healy’s place – does a number on Census Johnston and Leinster have a penalty to retake the lead.

Sexton is the coolest man on the pitch as he nails another one. Leinster 22-20 Toulouse, 55 mins gone.

TRY! (O’Driscoll, 59′) That is a huge score for Leinster – and it’s that man again!

The blues were camped on the Toulouse line, working their way through the phases. Eventually, a little bit of good fortune allowed Jonny Sexton to carry towards the line where he was held up just short. When the ball was worked back to O’Driscoll out on the left, he stepped through the gap left by Clerc and Johnston to cross the line.

Sexton adds two. Leinster lead by 29-20 with 20 minutes remaining.

This game is nowhere near over yet by the way. Toulouse are not four-time European Champions for no reason – they won’t be giving up without a fight.

Isaac Boss picks a loose ball out of the Toulouse scrum in midfield and races away to touch down under the posts. The referee is having none of it, however, and brings play back for offside, telling the Leinster man that the ball wasn’t out.

The replays show that it wasn’t exactly that cut and dry.

12 minutes to play at the Aviva. The next score will be pivotal.

“Not good for the heart,” says Anne-Marie Flynn in the comments and you can’t really disagree.

Will Toulouse strike late as they have done so many times in the past? Or can Leinster hang on to book a place in the final on May 21?

It really is a season-defining season for both sides.

Minor technical difficulties here – and I’m not just referring to the fact I used the phrase “season-defining season” minutes ago.

Anyway, on the field, Toulouse looked certain to score a try but were denied by some Trojan work by Nacewa and Heaslip.

Bezy kicks a penalty from near enough to the half-way line and all of a sudden, we’re looking at a one-score game. Leinster 29-23 Toulouse

Hmmm …

Two minutes to play. Toulouse scrum on their own ten-metre line. Fearing the worst, I don’t really want to watch.

Breathe. Jonny Sexton stands over a penalty as the clock ticks into injury time … naturally, considering the quality of his performance today, he doesn’t miss.

Dave Pearson blows his whistle and that, as they say, is that.

Full Time: Leinster 32-23 Toulouse

Wow. What a game that was. If there was ever any doubt that these are the best two sides in European club rugby at the moment, this match has settled the argument quite definitively.

It wasn’t always easy for Leinster – against Toulouse, it was never going to be – but there was a real drive and determination throughout with every blue jersey giving 100% committment at the breakdown for the full 80 minutes.

Jamie Heaslip will walk away with the Man of the Match gong but, with eight kicks out of eight and an assist for the first try, Jonny Sexton deserves a very sizable pat on the back.

And with that, Leinster fans begin to plan their trip to Cardiff on May 21st when their side will face either Northampton or Perpignan in the Heineken Cup final. Who knows, maybe we might even join them for the weekend?

Thanks for all of your e-mails, tweets and comments. See you soon.