‘Where we want to be’, says Leinster’s Sheehan after reaching Champions semis

Player of the Match Dan Sheehan says a Champions Cup semifinal for Leinster after a season of “ups and downs” is exactly where the powerful Irish club “want to be”.

Four-time winners and four-time runners-up Leinster saw off Sale Sharks 43-13 in Saturday’s quarterfinal at Lansdowne Road.

Glasgow Warriors beat Toulon 22-19 in Saturday’s other quarterfinal at Scotstoun Stadium. On Friday hosts Bath beat Northampton Saints 43-41 at The Rec.

Union Bordeaux-Begles host Stade Toulousain at Stade Chaban-Delmas in Sunday’s final quarter (4pm SA time).

Sheehan said despite the ultimately convincing scoreline, Leinster had to put in the hard graft against Sale.

“It’s exactly where we want to be,” he said. “It’s been a bit of a weird season with the ups and downs, but we’ve got a home semifinal we can get excited about.

“The first half was a bit disappointing — we were stuck in third gear, but the lads pulled through, and the bench had its impact.

“We had to work hard for our points. Sale put us under huge pressure. It took us a while to break them down.”

Leinster lead a tight opening half, with Sheehan prominent.

The Irish hooker crashed one over under the posts at nine minutes as the hosts found a way through an otherwise solid Sale line.

The visitors’ youthful pack impressed at the scrums as Leinster struggled to assert dominance despite their advantage on the scoreboard.

It was a more explosive start to the second half from Leinster as Hugo Keenan intelligently found space inside.

Keenan then impressed under the high ball to set up the next Irish score before Rieko Ioane went over shortly after for number four.

I’m proud of the players. We’ve been through a lot these past few weeks domestically, and last week gave us a new lease of life

—  Toulon coach Pierre Mignoni

Tommy O’Brien added a fifth for his third try in two weeks before Alex Wills grabbed one back for Sale minutes from time.

Jamie Osborne officially put the tie to bed on 80 minutes when he ran one in from 40m, sealing a sixth successive semifinal for the Irish side.

Toulon coach Pierre Mignoni said he was “so proud” after a win that took the French club back to the Champions Cup semifinals for the first time since 2015

“I’m proud of the players. We’ve been through a lot these past few weeks domestically, and last week gave us a new lease of life.

“A lot of people don’t believe in us, but we do, and that’s what’s important.”

Champions Cup media