Toulouse seal quarter spot

Toulouse secured their place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a comfortable 34-10 win over Andy Robinson's Edinburgh side.

The French side produced a first-half masterclass to see off their battling opposition and book their quarter-final spot.

Tries from Vincent Clerc (2), Florian Fritz, Yves Donguy and Salvatore Perugini blew the Scottish side away as Toulouse showed why they are one of the favourites to secure the European crown.

Pool Six leaders Toulouse flew out of the traps and an early penalty from Jean-Baptiste Elissalde set the tone as the hosts bombarded the opposition half.

Clerc scored his and his side's first try of the afternoon inside 15 minutes as he was presented with the easy task of diving over to finish off a swift attacking move.

Elissalde endured a mixed day with the boot, and was guilty of missing a glorious opportunity on 24 minutes when he sliced a relatively straightforward penalty attempt right of the posts.

Edinburgh notched their first points of the afternoon after Perugini was guilty of giving away a penalty for the hosts.

Stand-in kicker Phil Godman neatly struck the resulting penalty from just inside the Toulouse half.

However, that was to be the only plus point for the visitors in a dominant first-half showing from the French side.

Clerc went over on 32 minutes for his second try of the game after great vision from Elissalde.

Flair

The Toulouse scrum-half deftly chipped his kick through the static Edinburgh defence - Clerc had the simple task of diving over and grounding the ball.

Elissalde was on target with the conversion as the hosts flew into a 15-3 lead.

Toulouse picked up their third try of the half after a superb break from centre Florian Fritz.

Fritz pounced on a loose Edinburgh pass to intercept and run virtually the length of the field - leaving opposing defenders in his wake.

After a sluggish start to the second half Toulouse turned on their attacking flair once more - and a fantastic break by wing Donguy resulted in the hosts' fourth try of the afternoon.

The conversion by Gaffie du Toit made it 29-3 and put the game virtually out of sight.

Toulouse increased the score to 34-3 on 60 minutes when the powerful Perugini drove his way over the line as Edinburgh crumbled under intense home pressure.

Edinburgh showed plenty of spirit and deserved their try through Ben Gissing on 73 minutes.

As the Toulouse defence went missing David Blair picked the pass to send the second-row over for Edinburgh's only try of the day.