Rugby: Rare place-kick shootout decides Champions Cup quarter-final between Toulouse and Munster

Antoine Dupont led Toulouse to the semifinals of the Champions Cup in a dramatic kicking shootout victory over Munster.

Dupont converted both his place kicks, with Thomas Ramos and Romain Ntamack also scoring, as the French side held their nerve to win the decider 4-2. Ben Healy's missed effort from the 10-metre line ultimately handed holders Toulouse victory after these two sides could not be separated by 100 minutes of rugby.

This was the first time a kicking contest had been used to decide a European match since Leicester beat Cardiff in the 2009 Heineken Cup semifinal. But the rules have since been changed with three nominated players each attempting two kicks across the pitch.

It is certainly a dramatic, if rare, way to settle a match. And there was a gladiatorial feeling as Conor Murray, once Europe's pre-eminent scrum-half, landed the first kick followed by his usurper – the current world player of the year Dupont – nailing his. The Munster crowd remained silent, as is their custom, despite replacement Healy then missing his first attempt and Thomas Ramos nailing his.

Antoine Dupont of Stade Toulousain lines up a shot in the shoot out during the Champions Cup quarter- final.

Joey Carbery kept his side in it only for Ntamack to edge Toulouse ahead. Murray missed his 10-metre effort and when Dupont kicked his second effort it was all eyes on Healy, who had endured a difficult afternoon at the tee after missing a long-range kick to win the game in normal time. History repeated and Munster were eliminated.

Munster head coach Johann vann Graan, who is Bath bound next season, was visibly upset speaking to the media after the dramatic conclusion. The 42-year-old South African said: "I'm incredibly proud. I think today is what Munster rugby is about. To lose it like that is unfortunately the rules… someone has got to miss. It was one of the best rugby games I have ever been involved in."

He then likened the experience to when he was part of South Africa's backroom staff at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. where they narrowly lost out on a place in the final to New Zealand.

"I was saying to my wife this was like the World Cup semifinal with South Africa in 2015 where we lost 20-18 to the All Blacks and that feeling was our players gave all they got, management staff and the people of Munster gave it everything. I think everyone associated with Munster rugby should be incredibly proud of the 23 guys who stood up and fought today."

The Aviva Stadium is no stranger to the singing of the Fields of Athenry, as it is popular with fans of the Irish rugby and football teams, but there were fears Munster's legendary "16th man" would be muted due to Ed Sheeran taking over the province's home of Thomond Park for Thursday and Friday night concerts. Yet the crowd were just as febrile as the one Exeter faced in the last-16 a few weeks ago.

Despite the obvious passion from the home crowd the Toulouse players seemed to enjoy it with Dupont looking at ease in the warm up wearing a pair of hot pink boots, which he later swapped for white for the match. Perhaps the laid-back approach from Toulouse snuck into their play at times despite looking on top at times.

The sense that Munster would be up against it was apparent from the celebratory roars coming from the partisan crowd when they secured an early turnover. But the nervous energy turned to delight when the hosts opened the scoring through highly rated 21-year-old flanker Alex Kendellen.

The loudest cheer of the first half was reserved for 34-year-old winger Keith Earls. Having seen Toulouse peg Munster back, then establish a 14-7 lead, Earls' 38th-minutes score gave the province parity at half-time.

Minutes after the break this see-saw game tilted again and English-born full-back Mike Haley was in excellent form dealing with the unstructured Toulouse attack and the Aviva Stadium was rocking when he crossed the line on 43 minutes. The conversion from Carbery took it to 21-14.

Despite Toulouse going a man down after Rory Arnold was shown yellow, the French side clawed their way back into the game.

There seemed to be a turning of the tide with some of the Munster replacements. Just moments after making a try saving turnover captain O'Mahony was replaced with Murray, making way for Craig Casey just moments earlier.

It would come down to a three-point game with 12 minutes to play after Matthis Lebel, scorer in the first half, secured his brace. Then with just five minutes left a scrum penalty allowed Ramos to kick the game to 24 points apiece. It looked as if Munster could nick it at the end as they were awarded a penalty with the final play of the game. Replacement Healy had a 56-metre kick but could make the monster kick but missed.

The first period of extra time was tightly contested. Murray returned to the field of play as wing Simon Zebo was taken off for a head injury assessment. After Munster gained late territory through a line-out, Healy missed a drop goal which sent the match to place kicking contest. Healy was again left crestfallen, but the 16th man found its voice again to console their beloved Munster. Van Graan summed up the sentiment: "The tough thing is, great game of rugby, could have won it in the final play of the game, had one or two opportunities, but it's gone now. The sun will come up tomorrow morning."