Dimitri Yachvili kicked six penalties to send Biarritz into the European Cup final on Sunday with a 18-7 win over Munster at the Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian.

Biarritz will now meet Toulouse in an all-French May 22 final at the Stade de France after the three-time champions defeated reigning champions Leinster 26-16 on Saturday to reach their sixth European Cup trophy match.

Toulouse were the inaugural champions in 1996 since then they have added two crowns - in 2003 and 2005 - while they lost the 2004 and 2008 finals to Wasps and Munster respectively.

Biarritz, who called on a masked Imanol Harinodoquy despite a broken nose suffered playing Sebastien Chabal's Racing Metro last week, were strongly favoured to get past the Irish.

But until Yachvili was allowed opportunity to find his range, it was Munster who were quickest out of the blocks.

After a patchy opening by both sides Irish centre Keith Earls went over on 28 minutes, set up by lock Donncha O'Callaghan, and Ronan O'Gara converted for a 7-0 lead and the game's only try.

But a Yachvili penalty deficit reduced the arrears moments before the interval after Biarritz piled the pressure on the visitors' scrum with prop John Hayes penalised.

Three minutes after the restart the boot of Yachvili was again unerring, bringing the Basques to within a point of parity against a side who saw off Sunday's hosts in their last meeting in the 2006 final.

The Irish also lifted the trophy two years later but this time, Yachvili's accuracy was their downfall.

His trusty boot swung the hosts into a 64th-minute lead with a third penalty after O'Gara had first missed the target for the Irish as an ambitious effort from just inside his own half fell short.

Having seen his men get their noses in front Harinordoquy, visibly suffering with a knock to the ribs, went off on 66 minutes, giving way to Florian Faure.

Yachvili then promptly kicked three more penalties in the last eight minutes to see off the final vestiges of Irish resistance.

Biarritz - who included English trio Iain Balshaw, Ayoola Erinle and Magnus Lund - were doubly happy to have Harinodoquy in their ranks for the bulk of the encounter having lost international centre Damien Traille after he injured his right forearm in a league loss to Clermont.

That injury is set to rule him out of the final.

Munster missed skipper Paul O'Connell with groin trouble as well as former All Black winger Doug Howlett and Ian Dowling, meaning call-ups for Lifeimi Mafi and Denis Hurley.

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