Doris does the slaying but Leinster learn that their demons are stubborn things

The late scares at the Aviva encapsulated Leinster’s unpredictable journey to a ninth final in Europe’s premier club competition because this has not been the way Leo Cullen’s side have generally gone about their business.

Sat, 02 May, 2026 - 17:45

Simon Lewis, Aviva Stadium

It was 13 minutes before full-time that the 38,555 inhabitants of Aviva Stadium allowed themselves a communal exhalation of breath and with it banished their Champions Cup demons of the year before.

Leinster’s semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints on the same pitch and on the corresponding weekend 12 months ago had haunted their every action in a difficult season that had been peppered with surprising defeats and concerning performances. Yet while this was no absolute resumption of previously imperious service, Saturday’s 29-25 victory over Toulon, effectively secured by that 67th-minute try from captain Caelan Doris, buried those painful memories as emphatically as the No.8 had crashed over the tryline to give his side a 29-11 lead.

Toulon, to their credit, did not allow a procession to the final whistle, with two converted tries in the last 10 minutes, scored by Baptiste Serin and Gale Draen with Melvyn Jaminet adding the conversions, making for an extremely edgy last few minutes of the contest.

It was a wild end to a gripping contest as three-time champions Toulon battled to avoid losing a first semi-final in the competition, Jaminet sparking an attack down the right wing that needed a perfectly timed tackle from Rieko Ioane on Draen to divert the No.14’s pass inside and force a knock-on from left wing Setariki Tuicuvu, finally relieving the pressure with less than two minutes to play.

And it encapsulated Leinster’s unpredictable journey to a ninth final in Europe’s premier club competition because this has not been the way Leo Cullen’s side have generally gone about their business.

Since adding a fourth title with a victory over Racing 92 in 2018, Leinster may have lost four finals but they have reached each of them in imperious fashion, only to fall at the last hurdle. A year ago, their world collapsed a round earlier as Northampton’s dynamism and blistering counter-punching proved irresistible to a tame effort from the home side but now Leinster have booked a return to the decider and will return to Bilbao in three weeks and revisit the San Mames Stadium where they added the most recent of their European champions’ stars eight years ago.

That they did it the hard way on Saturday to overcome Toulon by responding to setbacks with a poise and assurance that may have seen other teams crumble under the pressure is a credit to Leinster and a significant positive to take into a final against either defending champions Bordeaux-Begles or Bath, who play their semi-final in France on Sunday.

They overcame a nervous start from fly-half Harry Bryne, whose missed kicks from the tee and in open play could have derailed their momentum. They rode out the loss of conceding two yellow cards inside two minutes when Byrne followed Andrew Porter into the sin-bin just before half-time, and they overcame injuries to a trio of hardened campaigners in Robbie Henshaw, and try scorers Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan.

In between there were some glimpses of once familiar Leinster dominance, not least at the scrum where the pack, supposedly in the midst of a propping injury crisis, dominated a formidable Toulon unit.

And while they could not completely shake off a dogged effort from a dangerous Top 14 side Leinster had enough composure to deal with the pressure the visitors piled on them and fight for the victory that sends them back to biggest game in European rugby.