Tries from wing James Lowe, scrum-half Luke McGrath and flanker Scott Fardy did the damage against a Toulouse side who battled hard but could not take advantage of possession in the Leinster 22 throughout the match.

The visitors made the better start and won an early penalty at the breakdown in kicking range for full-back Thomas Ramos, who made no mistake in handing Toulouse a three-point lead.

Five minutes later, the French side were penalised when prop Charlie Faumuina failed to roll away and Leinster fly-half Johnny Sexton duly levelled the scores with a simple penalty in front of the posts.

New Zealander Lowe then bagged yet another try in the Heineken Champions Cup on 13 minutes. The hosts worked the overlap to perfection out wide and found Lowe, who burst past two Toulouse defenders to dive over the try line.

The visitors were reduced to 14 men after 24 minutes when Richie Gray was sent to the sin bin and seconds later Leinster scored a second try, McGrath touching down under a pile of players after an effective line-out and driving maul from the-then defending champions.

However, Toulouse finished the half strongly and Ramos cut the gap by kicking a simple penalty between the posts to make the score 17-6 at the interval.

That was as good as it got for the visitors, though, as after nearly five minutes of sustained pressure from Leinster at the start of the second half, they got a crucial third try.

Australian Fardy – who replaced Rhys Ruddock in the side just two hours before kick-off – powered past the final Toulouse defender to dot down and leave the visitors with a mountain to climb.

Toulouse’s Romain Ntamack trimmed the Leinster lead with an easy penalty, but Heineken Man of the Match Sexton – who kicked 12 points in the victory – slotted over another three-pointer on 65 minutes to restore their advantage.

With three minutes to play, replacement fly-half Ross Byrne popped over the final points of the afternoon with a penalty in front of the posts.

On this day in 2019, Leinster secured a spot in the Heineken Champions Cup final for consecutive seasons with a dominant victory over Toulouse in Dublin.