Heineken Champions Cup 2022/23 quarter-finals - Friday: Leinster 55-24 Leicester Tigers; Saturday: Toulouse 54-20 Sharks, Exeter Chiefs 42-17 Stormers; Sunday: La Rochelle vs Saracens (3pm); semi-finals to take place April 28/29/30: Leinster vs Toulouse & Exeter vs La Rochelle or Saracens
Saturday 8 April 2023 19:59, UK
A round-up of Saturday's Champions Cup quarter-finals as Toulouse thrashed the Sharks to book a semi-final meeting with Leinster, while Exeter also progressed....
Toulouse booked a Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster with a 54-20 victory over Sharks at Stade Ernest-Wallon.
The South African visitors were 10-3 ahead after 31 minutes and were still in the contest until Toulouse cut loose in the final 11 minutes.
A Curwin Bosch penalty and Grant Williams' try put Sharks ahead, but the boot of Thomas Ramos and Juan Cruz Mallia's burst into the corner gave Toulouse a 14-10 interval lead.
Ramos converted his own try after racing over from Antoine Dupont's pass, but Sharks hit back when full-back Boeta Chamberlain broke through and Bosch added the extras.
Mallia scorched over for his second try and Sharks' hopes were dented when Williams' try was disallowed for a forward pass just as Bosch was about to take the conversion.
Bosch did reduce the arrears with a penalty but Toulouse went on the rampage in the final quarter with tries for Ramos, Peato Mauvaka, Arthur Retiere and Romain Ntamack.
Toulouse will travel to Dublin to play Leinster in the semi-finals later this month.
Exeter emphatically ended South African interest in this season's Champions Cup as they booked a semi-final place by beating the Stormers 42-17 at Sandy Park.
The Chiefs, Champions Cup winners in 2020, will face La Rochelle or Saracens in the last four later this month after a six-try success.
If reigning European champions La Rochelle beat Saracens on Sunday, the semi-final will be in Bordeaux, but a Saracens triumph would send a mouth-watering all-English showdown to Bristol City's Ashton Gate.
Just a week on from a stamina-sapping victory over Montpellier that was decided on try count after extra-time, Exeter delivered an immense performance that saw them dominate every key area.
The Stormers encountered difficulties travelling from Cape Town to Devon, and they were never in contention as Exeter posted tries during the first 30 minutes from full-back Tom Wyatt, captain Jack Nowell and his fellow wing Olly Woodburn, all converted by Joe Simmonds.
And when No 8 Sam Simmonds scored just five minutes into the second half, again converted by the fly-half, it effectively ended the contest, before Jack Yeandle and Tom Cairns crossed for late tries that Joe Simmonds improved.
