Connacht (9) 12
Pens: Keatley (4)
Toulon (19) 19
Try: Kefu Con: Wilkinson Pens: Wilkinson (3) Drop-goal: Wilkinson

Gabiriele Lovobalavu of Toulon battles with Connacht's Frank Murphy

A Mafileo Kefu try just before half-time and 14 points from Jonny Wilkinson gave Toulon victory over a committed Connacht in the Amlin Cup semi-final.

Connacht threw everything at their classy opponents but fell just short.

Ian Keatley and Wilkinson landed three first-half penalties each with the Toulon star also landing a drop-goal.

Kefu surged over after a lengthy series of scrums before the break which proved decisive as Keatley's fourth penalty was the only score of the second half.

Toulon's victory means the final will be staged in Marseilles' 60,000-capacity Stade Velodrome on 23 May, with Wasps or Cardiff Blues meeting in the other semi-final on Saturday.

Connacht will be hugely disappointed having been right in it for so long.

They enjoyed a brief early lead at Galway's Sports Ground, with Keatley kicking a simple penalty after Juan Fernandez Lobbe had been caught offside.

Wilkinson replied with two penalties as Toulon threatened to overpower the home side.

But, after all that pressure, a Toulon infringement from the restart saw Keatley level at 6-6.

Wilkinson landed a fine drop-goal before exchanging penalties with Keatley.

The first-half action stretched to almost 50 minutes as Toulon were awarded a series of penalties and scrums close to the Connacht line.

The pressure told when Australian scrum-half Matt Henjak put centre Kefu in under the posts from close range and Wilkinson converted to give the French side a 19-9 interval advantage.

Keatley claimed a fourth penalty early in the second period as Connacht came out fighting.

But, despite laying siege to the visitors' line in the closing stages, the Irish province could not find the try they needed.

"It was a really tough match," said Toulon's number eight and man-of-the-match Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

"Connacht played a great game with great defence and managed to ruin our line-out, which made it hard for us to get ball there.

"We are just glad we managed to hold them at the end and get the win. It will be lovely to play the final in Marseille."

Connacht: G Duffy; T Nathan, N Ta'auso, A Wynne, F Carr, I Keatley, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan, M Swift, M McCarthy, J Muldoon (capt), J O'Connor, G Naoupu.
Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney (for Wilkinson, 48), B Upton (for Swift, 59), M McComish (for McCarthy, 58), C O'Loughlin (for Murphy, 69), M Nikora (for Keatley, 54), B Tuohy (for Nathan, 19), R Morris (for Hagan, 40).

Toulon: L Rooney, G Lovobalavu, M Kefu, T May, C Marienval, J Wilkinson, M Henjak (c), S Taumoepeau, P Fitzgerald, T Leaaetoa, J Suta, E Lozada, J van Niekerk, T Sourice, J Fernandez Lobbe.
Replacements: S Bruno (for Fitzgerald, 54), B Basteres (for Taumoepeau, 59), T Ryan (for Leaaetoa, 64), K Chesney (for Lozada, 64), O Missoup (for Sourice, 54), F Auelua (for Fernandez Lobbe, 79), P Mignoni (for Henjak, 68) S Williams (for Wilkinson, 58).

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