THE SCHEDULING OF Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final meeting with Toulon will be dictated by the result of today’s quarter-final meeting of Bordeaux-Begles and Toulouse (KO 3pm).
A Bordeaux win would see the reigning champions through to play Bath at home on Sunday, 3 May, with Leinster-Toulon to be played on the Saturday.
Should Toulouse win in Bordeaux today, then Antoine Dupont and Co will travel to play Bath on Saturday, 2 May in Milton Keynes, and Leinster-Toulon set as the Sunday game.
Speaking after yesterday’s defeat of Sale Sharks at Aviva Stadium, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen noted that Toulon’s win in Glasgow earlier on Saturday highlighted the threat the French side can pose, even away from home.
“They’ve an all-star squad, haven’t they? They’ve plenty of firepower there. It’s another great challenge for us as a group.
“It’s great to be, again, in the semi-final of the tournament. But we know how bloody tough it is. Glasgow are probably the form team in Europe going into this weekend. They managed to get the job done up there.
“I haven’t really watched any of that game. It’s hard for me to comment. I saw a couple of minutes before we left UCD. But it’s an impressive win up there. Glasgow will probably be in the form team in Europe. And to go up there and do the job. They were right. They rode their luck in the previous round with Stormers at the end.
“But yeah, they’re a team that causes plenty of pain. Towards the tail-end of my playing career and into my early coaching career. It causes a lot of pain. Some very, very tough days against them that I can remember.
Toulon’s Tomas Albornoz, Juan Ignacio Brex and Gianmarco Lucchesi celebrate beating Glasgow. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“And they’re a team with some serious firepower. But in between now and then, we’ve got some URC action to look forward to, haven’t we? So, Ulster in six days’ time. Speaking of teams that are in very, very good form at the moment.”
Leinster’s focus turns back to the URC this week, with the province on the road to play Ulster on Friday night. After that, they face Benetton away before facing into that Toulon test.
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The French side are having a mixed season, currently 11th in the Top14 table. In Europe, they’ve had some tight wins – benefitting from a controversial late penalty call to beat Munster at the Stade Mayol in January, and squeezing past a wasteful Stormers by one point at the same ground in the round of 16.
Yet yesterday’s win at the Warriors shows what Toulon are capable of, using their power game to good effect while adding in moments of real quality, such as Ignacio Brex’s wonderful second-half try which nudged the three-time champions into the lead.
— Investec Champions Cup France (@ChampionsCup_FR) April 11, 2026
Like Leinster, the French side will be aiming to play their best rugby of the season over the coming weeks.
Leinster will be confident on making home advantage count, but last year’s semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints in Dublin is still very much at the forefront on their minds.
“Listen we were here for a semi-final last year and we didn’t manage to get the job done, so it doesn’t matter, I don’t know,” Cullen said.
“From a logistical point of view it saves a bit of work anyway, but we need to make it pay if you’re playing at home in a semi-final.
“But again, that’s the reward of all the work that goes in during the pool stages and doing everything you can, battling it out for wins, they’re not knockout games but that’s the reward when you win four games in your pool. We weren’t in the top two seedings, we were third seeds, but it’s off the reward of winning at the end against La Rochelle here, dogging out a win away in Leicester and Bayonne, we were losing both of those games at half-time.
“So those sort of battles are good for us as a group because they harden you up for this time of year.
“But as I said, URC action is on my mind now and we’ll make some plans for Toulon. We definitely haven’t seen as much of them, Glasgow are a team we played a ton at the tail-end of last season and obviously a few weeks ago.
“But it’s very impressive what they’ve done, we’ve just gone to Glasgow ourselves and were well beaten, so we know how hard it is to go over there. They have a mix of pace, power and some big marquee players.”
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'They've an all-star squad' - Leinster braced for Toulon test in Champions Cup semi-finals
THE SCHEDULING OF Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final meeting with Toulon will be dictated by the result of today’s quarter-final meeting of Bordeaux-Begles and Toulouse (KO 3pm).
A Bordeaux win would see the reigning champions through to play Bath at home on Sunday, 3 May, with Leinster-Toulon to be played on the Saturday.
Should Toulouse win in Bordeaux today, then Antoine Dupont and Co will travel to play Bath on Saturday, 2 May in Milton Keynes, and Leinster-Toulon set as the Sunday game.
Speaking after yesterday’s defeat of Sale Sharks at Aviva Stadium, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen noted that Toulon’s win in Glasgow earlier on Saturday highlighted the threat the French side can pose, even away from home.
“They’ve an all-star squad, haven’t they? They’ve plenty of firepower there. It’s another great challenge for us as a group.
“It’s great to be, again, in the semi-final of the tournament. But we know how bloody tough it is. Glasgow are probably the form team in Europe going into this weekend. They managed to get the job done up there.
“I haven’t really watched any of that game. It’s hard for me to comment. I saw a couple of minutes before we left UCD. But it’s an impressive win up there. Glasgow will probably be in the form team in Europe. And to go up there and do the job. They were right. They rode their luck in the previous round with Stormers at the end.
“But yeah, they’re a team that causes plenty of pain. Towards the tail-end of my playing career and into my early coaching career. It causes a lot of pain. Some very, very tough days against them that I can remember.
“And they’re a team with some serious firepower. But in between now and then, we’ve got some URC action to look forward to, haven’t we? So, Ulster in six days’ time. Speaking of teams that are in very, very good form at the moment.”
Leinster’s focus turns back to the URC this week, with the province on the road to play Ulster on Friday night. After that, they face Benetton away before facing into that Toulon test.
The French side are having a mixed season, currently 11th in the Top14 table. In Europe, they’ve had some tight wins – benefitting from a controversial late penalty call to beat Munster at the Stade Mayol in January, and squeezing past a wasteful Stormers by one point at the same ground in the round of 16.
Yet yesterday’s win at the Warriors shows what Toulon are capable of, using their power game to good effect while adding in moments of real quality, such as Ignacio Brex’s wonderful second-half try which nudged the three-time champions into the lead.
Like Leinster, the French side will be aiming to play their best rugby of the season over the coming weeks.
Leinster will be confident on making home advantage count, but last year’s semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints in Dublin is still very much at the forefront on their minds.
“Listen we were here for a semi-final last year and we didn’t manage to get the job done, so it doesn’t matter, I don’t know,” Cullen said.
“From a logistical point of view it saves a bit of work anyway, but we need to make it pay if you’re playing at home in a semi-final.
“But again, that’s the reward of all the work that goes in during the pool stages and doing everything you can, battling it out for wins, they’re not knockout games but that’s the reward when you win four games in your pool. We weren’t in the top two seedings, we were third seeds, but it’s off the reward of winning at the end against La Rochelle here, dogging out a win away in Leicester and Bayonne, we were losing both of those games at half-time.
“So those sort of battles are good for us as a group because they harden you up for this time of year.
“But as I said, URC action is on my mind now and we’ll make some plans for Toulon. We definitely haven’t seen as much of them, Glasgow are a team we played a ton at the tail-end of last season and obviously a few weeks ago.
“But it’s very impressive what they’ve done, we’ve just gone to Glasgow ourselves and were well beaten, so we know how hard it is to go over there. They have a mix of pace, power and some big marquee players.”
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