Edinburgh break new ground

Edinburgh became the first Scottish team to reach the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup with a 19-14 win over Toulouse.

Mike Blair's early try and 14 points from the boot of Greig Laidlaw proved just enough for the hosts to prevail at Murrayfield.

Toulouse, four-time winners of European rugby's premier club competition, overturned an early 7-0 deficit to go 14-10 in front by half-time, helped by spells in the sin-bin for Edinburgh duo Allan Jacobsen and Ross Rennie.

Timoci Matanavou scored the French side's solitary try in the 31st minute and Lionel Beauxis kicked three penalties.

But Toulouse were held scoreless after the break and penalties from Laidlaw, in the 45th and 50th minutes, edged Edinburgh back into the lead.

And the home side held firm for the next half-hour before Laidlaw sealed the win in the final minute with his third penalty.

Edinburgh advance to a semi-final showdown at Dublin Aviva Stadium on Saturday April 28 against either Munster or Ulster, who meet at Thomond Park on Sunday.

Perfect start

Edinburgh made a perfect start and snatched the lead inside two minutes.

Laidlaw launched an up and under from the edge of the Toulouse 22, and when the Frenchmen failed to gather, scrum-half Blair pounced and rolled over to touch down. Laidlaw added the conversion.

Beauxis booted a long-range penalty which just crept over the bar in the fourth minute, and reduced the deficit further with a second 15 minutes later.

Edinburgh lost the services of Jacobsen for 10 minutes when the prop was despatched to the sin-bin for blocking Matanavou as the Toulouse winger attempted to take a quick penalty. However, Beauxis fired the resulting penalty wide.

Within a minute the visitors were ahead for the first time and Edinburgh lost another man to the sin-bin. This time Rennie was the offender and Beauxis made no mistake from close range.

And it got worse for the Scots when Matanavou gathered a speculative kick ahead inside his own 22 and turned on the afterburners to blast his way over for a spectacular solo try.

Jacobsen's return to the fray sparked fresh impetus in the home ranks and when Nick De Luca carried the ball into contact, Laidlaw positioned himself perfectly to take the pass and send a sweetly struck drop goal between the sticks to leave Toulouse four points ahead at the interval.

Blair was forced off with a shoulder injury but Edinburgh made a rousing start to the second period.

Servat yellow

Toulouse hooker William Servat committed a blatant offside offence and became the third player to be yellow carded, presenting Laidlaw with a straightforward penalty.

He made no mistake and his next successful kick on 50 minutes fired the hosts into a 16-14 lead.

Toulouse had an opportunity to strike back instantly, but Beauxis suffered his third miss of the afternoon.

Edinburgh now had their tails up with Tim Visser offering a glimpse of his pace and further pressure yielding a penalty just inside the Toulouse half which proved to be beyond Laidlaw's range.

Toulouse coach Guy Noves rang the changes as the game entered the final quarter, but Edinburgh continued to play the game in the opposition's half.

Nevertheless, the tenuous nature of the two-point advantage meant it was an uncomfortable finale for Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley before Laidlaw slotted a last-minute penalty to spark delirious scenes on and off the pitch.