'I didn’t really help things myself': Caelan Doris and Andrew Porter react to Leinster win

Leinster captain Caelan Doris praised his side for managing to “get the job done” after they secured an Investec Champions Cup final place by beating Toulon 29-25 in Dublin.

The Irish heavyweights, four-time tournament winners, will face holders Bordeaux-Begles or Prem champions Bath in the final on May 23.

But it was far from plain sailing – Leinster started the second half with two players sin-binned and Toulon produced a points-laden finale – yet their desire and resilience shone through.

Leinster looked home and dry, leading 29-11 with only 10 minutes left, but two converted Toulon tries set up a tense finale.

“A team like Toulon, when they are 14-odd points down, they are going to throw the ball around a little bit more,” Doris told Premier Sports.

“It was a tough fixture – I am sure people were on the edge of their seats – but we are delighted to be going to another final.

“It was a massive effort from all the boys to get us there and we’ve got another one to look forward to. Thankfully, we were able to get the job done.”

Leinster flankers Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier scored tries in the first period, while centre Garry Ringrose and Doris also touched down and fly-half Harry Byrne kicked a penalty and three conversions.

Toulon did not disappear quietly, trailing by just three points at the interval, but they had to be content with tries from Seta Tuicuvu, Baptiste Serin and Gael Drean, plus two Melvyn Jaminet penalties and two conversions.

Byrne and Leinster prop Andrew Porter both received yellow cards and Porter admitted: “I didn’t really help things myself in the first half with that 10 minutes in the bin.

“But it was incredible to see how we stuck in with 13 men and dug it out.

“They (Toulon) definitely put it to us the whole 80 minutes, but you could feel the energy today from the crowd, from each other.”

Leinster now return to Bilbao, where they defeated French club Racing 92 to lift the trophy in 2018, although they were beaten on each of their last three final appearances, losing to La Rochelle twice and Toulouse in successive seasons.