Machenaud the hero of Racing victory

Having missed three of his previous five kicks at goal - including a sitter minutes earlier - Machenaud managed to compose himself to secure his team a 19-16 win over three-time defending champions Toulon at Stade Yves-du-Manoir on Sunday.

The result means Racing will travel to Nottingham on Sunday, April 24, to face Leicester Tigers.

The other semifinal will be an all-English play-off - with Saracens hosting Wasps at the Madejski Stadium in Reading on Saturday, April 23.

The teams, in a see-saw battle for most of the game, scored one try each.

Racing roared out to an early lead at home in Paris thanks to a Carter penalty and conversion of Argentinian wing Juan Imhoff's intercept try.

But Toulon responded with a well-taken try from flank Charles Ollivon converted by Jonathan Pelissie.

But a game that had started off with elan descended into a kicking battle of attrition in the swirling winds of the northwest Parisian suburbs.

Seven missed penalties peppered the match, three for Racing and four for Toulon.

Maxime Machenaud took over Racing's kicking duties from Carter, after he suffered an ankle injury, to match Pelissie's three penalties, the latter's third sealing a nail-biting match just two minutes from time.

World player of the year Carter was in action after just 13 seconds, booting a penalty after Ollivon was pinged for holding on directly from the kick-off.

No sooner had Toulon coach Bernard Laporte taken his place in the stands than Imhoff then picked off Maxime Mermoz's pass and raced away from 50 metres for a try Carter also converted.

Toulon's quality shone through, however, going through the phases until the ball eventually found dynamic Fijian wing Josua Tuisova, who squirted through the defence and offloaded to Ollivon who crashed over the line, Pelissie converting.

As the star-studded teams with a veritable foreign legion (17 of the starting 30 players representing nine nationalities) of some of the world's most exciting players settled into a calmer rhythm than the opening helter-skelter 10 minutes, tight defences ruled.

Delon Armitage went wide with a long-range penalty, and Pelissie shortly after as the wind swirled around the Stade Yves du Manoir.

It was then the turn of Racing scrumhalf Machenaud, with Carter carrying a niggle and foregoing kicking duties, to see his effort go wide before Pelissie finally drew the scores level at 10-all at half-time of a hard-hitting yet entertaining encounter.

The Toulon scrumhalf was on target with a second penalty to hand the visitors the lead for the first time just minutes into the second period.

Machenaud equalled the scores and then put Racing back in front as Toulon's ill-discipline saw them gift the home side a raft of penalties.

Pelissie missed a second penalty as Racing withstood wave after wave of Matt Giteau-inspired Toulon attack and cleared after a Luke Charteris turnover.

But the scrumhalf finally pulled Toulon level again at 16-all, to set up a nervy final quarter.

It was then the turn of Armitage and then Pelissie to see their penalty efforts go wide as the wind continued to play havoc with the kickers.

When Toulon's Georgian replacement prop Levan Chilachava failed to roll away from a ruck in the 78th minute after some concerted Racing possession, Machenaud made sure his aim was true to the crosshairs, bringing to an abrupt end Toulon's bid for an unprecedented fourth consecutive European title.

Man of the match: Josua Tuisova, Ma'a Nonu and Matt Giteau asked some questions of the Racing defence, while Duane Vermeulen showed he could still add value to the Springbok team if they continue to select players playing abroad. Dan Carter, despite handing over the kicking duties, battled through the pain barrier of an ankle injury and produced some sublime moments of reading the game. Chris Masoe had a big game as well. However, out award goes to Racing 92's Welsh lock Luke Charteris - who showed he is right up there with the best second row forwards in the world.

The scorers:

For Racing 92:

Try: Imhoff

Con: Carter

Pens: Carter, Machenaud 3

For Toulon:

Try: Tuisova

Con: Pelissie

Pens: Pelissie 3

Teams:

Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Johan Goosen, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (captain), 1 Eddy Ben Arous.

Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Khatchik Vartanov, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Yannick Nyanga, 20 Manuel Carizza, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Marc Andreu.

Toulon: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 James O’Connor, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Jonathan Pélissié, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Charles Ollivlon, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Mamuka Gorgodze, 3 Manasa Paulo, 2 Guilhem Guirado (captain), 1 Florian Fresia.

Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Mathieu Bastareaud, 21 Tom Taylor, 22 Éric Escande, 23 Thibault Lassale.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Assistant referees: JP Doyle (England), Luke Pearce (England)

TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

Sources: AFP & @rugby365com