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Toulouse will face London Irish in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup after a rampant second-half showing against Cardiff on Sunday afternoon.

Tries from Maxime Medard and Jason Spice meant the game was evenly balanced with the home side 16-10 up at half-time, but Malell Kunavore, Vincent Clerc and Jean Bouihlou went over after the break as the French side claimed an emphatic 41-17 victory.

Ben Blair did score a consolation try for the Blues with 15 minutes remaining, but it is Toulouse that will head to Twickenham to take on Perpignan's conquerors on April 26.

Even

They got off to a sensational start as Cardiff attempted to run the ball through the backs in the opening minute of the match. Tom Shanklin's attempted kick through was blocked by the legs of Kunavore who chipped through for Medard to touch down for the game's first try.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde kicked the conversion and then added a penalty following Maama Molitika's infringement and the French had a 10-0 lead inside the first five minutes of the match.

After that shock start though it was the Blues that began to grow into the game as they camped in the French 22 with a series of strong attacking positions. The French defence held strong though until Shanklin found Tom James on the left flank and the winger took out two defenders before finding the centre back on the inside. Spice went over through quick ball from the resulting ruck and Ben Blair reduced the deficit to three points with his conversion.

Toulouse were rattled at that stage and could have conceded again when Cedric Heymans was yellow carded for preventing a certain try by interfering with the ball on the ground but Spice then did likewise, with the same consequence, after his kick was charged down.

Blair kicked the penalty for Cardiff, but Elissalde kicked a penalty and a drop goal as Toulouse went into the break with a healthy 16-10 lead and a man advantage.

Clinical

Cardiff survived the opening minutes of the second-half before Spice returned and when the scrum-half did he continued to pressure opposite number Byron Kelleher as the Welsh team re-established their footing in the game.

But Toulouse continued to profit at the Cardiff set piece and the partisan home crowd were beginning to make their presence felt. And it was Elissalde who made the first decisive impact on the second-half, kicking the hosts into a 19-10 advantage as Toulouse's bullying of the Cardiff scrum eventually told.

The Blues were unable to get out of their own half and eventually conceded a second try after some superb play by Clerc, who fed Heymans out on the right, and Kunavore finished off the move. Elissalde added the conversion and Toulouse had a 26-10 lead with 15 minutes remaining.

Cardiff would not go down without a fight though and Jamie Robinson and Blair combined for a superb converted try to reduce the deficit to nine.

Medard provided an immediate response, showing great feet to dance his way up to halfway before Patricio Albacete took over and quick ball found its way to Clerc on the left to finish a third simple converted try and put Toulouse 33-17 up.

There was still time for Bouihlou to go over round the blindside just minutes before full-time and Heymans added a drop goal right on the final whistle as Toulouse ensured the scoreline reflected their ascendancy with a 41-17 victory.