5 key battles ahead of the Toulon v Leinster game

Carl Hayman v Cian Healy

The battle at the scrum will be a huge factor in deciding who will be the winners of this semi-final clash. Former All Black Hayman goes up against Irish International Cian Healy, who was dominant in the scrum in Leinster’s quarter-final win over Bath.  With Hayman set to retire at the end of the season, he will look to make sure Healy does not get in the way of him securing three successive European Cups before he hangs up his boots.

Steffon Armitage v Sean O’Brien

What a head to head this is going to be as two of the best flankers in Europe go up against each other. Armitage continues to be at his most impressive at the breakdown and has won the most turnovers out of anyone in the tournament. As for O’Brien his only appearance in this seasons Champions Cup was the win over Bath in the quarters and he will look to produce glimpses of his man of the match performance against Scotland in the 6 Nations if Leinster are going to secure a place in the final.

Frederic Michalak v Jimmy Gopperth

The battle at 10 will always go along way in deciding a game and both players will look to control the game with their kicking from hand and also creating space and bringing their backlines into the game. With Michalak, we never know what to expect, whether he is going to be in flying form or make error after error and eventually cost his side the game. Gopperth has been one of Leinster’s most consistent players in what has been a poor season for the Irish province and as he makes his final few appearance before joining Wasps next season, he will look to produce a match winning performance for Matt O'Connor's side.

Mathieu Bastareaud v Ben Te’o

This is set to be an exciting head to head that both sets of supporters will be looking forward to see. With the battering ram that is Bastareaud, Toulon have enjoyed a lot of success in recent years and the French International will look to get the better of another 13 standing in the way of his sides success. As for Te’o after switching codes from Rugby League to Rugby Union, it took him a while to adjust but after some impressive performances in recent weeks including two tries against the Dragons last weekend he looks to have found his feet.

Leigh Halfpenny v Rob Kearney

Two British and Irish Lions players go up against each other on Sunday. If Halfpenny is passed fit he goes up against Rob Kearney, the man he started ahead of in the Lions series win over Australia. Halfpenny has had a tough few weeks suffering some injury setbacks and will need to be at his best against Kearney. When these two faced off against eachother when Ireland met Wales in the 6 Nations, it was Halfpenny who won the head to head that day and Kearney will be looking to make sure that doesn’t happen again this weekend.  

Ciaran Fallon