Sexton stars for Leinster

CHAMPIONS Leinster swept aside Toulouse in their Champions Cup semi-final in Dublin to book a showdown with Saracens in next month’s final. James Lowe, Luke McGrath and Scott Fardy scored Leinster’s tries and fit-again Johnny Sexton kicked 12 points. ‘Probably what pleased me most is the attitude of the players over the course of the last couple of weeks,’ said Leinster head coach Leo Cullen.

‘There was great fight for each other. You could see the players, how much it means to them,’ Cullen said. ‘I think they showed a lot of resilience, particularly as Toulouse got close to our tryline. They’re good qualities to have in these big games.’ Leinster restricted

Toulouse to just three penalties from Thomas Ramos and one from replacement Romain Ntamack. Sexton was man of the match, but running him close was flanker Sean O’Brien. Soon to join London Irish, O’Brien got special praise from Cullen. ‘I thought he was really exceptional today. In terms of dominating that contact area, he’s one of the best players to have ever played the game.’