A brave Connacht performance was not enough to secure a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup final after a superb contest at a packed Sportsground in Galway on Friday night.

Connacht gave it everything they had but were unable to haul the French side who now advance to the final in Marseille on May 23.

An Ian Keatley penalty gave Connacht a great start after just a minute into the teeth of a strong wind, and he landed two more kicks in response to three penalties and a drop goal from Jonny Wilkinson.

That left Toulon leading by 12-9 approaching half-time but then they forced seven scrums in the right corner as the opening half continued for almost ten minutes of stoppage time, before eventually centre Mafileo Kefu burst through for the game's only try.

Wilkinson's conversion made it 19-9 at the break but Connacht came storming back after the restart and a penalty from Keatley reduced the deficit after 44 minutes.

But that was as near as Connacht got as Toulon defended superbly as Connacht threw everything at them throughout the second-half but it was not enough to nail down a first ever European final.