Nick De Luca produced a finishing masterclass with a thrilling try as Edinburgh scared red-hot favourites Toulouse at Murrayfield but the French side emerged triumphant in the end running out as 19-15 winners.

The 23-year-old Scotland A international tore into Toulouse’s constellation of stars with a devilish sidestep and an eye for the whitewash as Edinburgh gained a losing bonus point while troubling the French aristocrats.

And replacement John Houston stepped off the bench to score with almost his first touch of the ball to set up a grandstand finale with Toulouse leading 16-15 going into the final furlong of the season.

But tragically it was Toulouse half-back Jean-Baptiste Elissalde’s boot that proved to be the decisive factor between the two clubs in this Heineken Cup pool six opener.

Toulouse edged in front when the influential Elissalde struck over a penalty after only three minutes of the contest had lapsed.

Concerted pressure from the visitors almost threatened to puncture Edinburgh’s defence, but fortunately the home side were let off the hook by some handling errors.

Nevertheless Toulouse kept on causing Edinburgh problems with their confident side-stepping and awareness and Elissalde quickly doubled their advantage.

Winger Andrew Maxwell’s run led to Edinburgh’s first opportunity to put some points on the board, but David Blair ended up missing his first-ever penalty since making his first team debut three weeks beforehand.

But the 22-year-old quickly made amends when he effortlessly swept over a further penalty minutes to later to send alarm bells ringing in the Toulouse camp.

Edinburgh survived a few scares in the latter stages of the first half and Toulouse were penalised yards short of the home side’s whitewash.

Elissalde scored again with another expertly-executed penalty to keep Toulouse firmly in control of proceedings, but Edinburgh then began to show glimpses of genuine potential.

The home side thrilled the crowd with bursting runs from Nick De Luca and Craig Hamilton and a series of clever off-loads.

With the momentum and increasing self-belief, Edinburgh resisted the chance to point to the posts and chose to kick for the corner.

But David Blair couldn’t find touch and the chance went missing. His elder brother Mike though tried to initiate the revival with a spirited run that troubled Toulouse.

After half-time, Toulouse winger Maxime Medard displayed enough power and technique to touch down and Elissalde continued his kicking heroics with an excellent conversion.

Club captain Simon Cross then was substituted by Scotland No8 David Callam as Edinburgh reshuffled the back row in a bid to seize control of the game.

Then John Houston came on for Maxwell as Edinburgh stepped up a gear and De Luca scored a memorable try at Murrayfield; stepping, creating a gap and then finishing under pressure.

With the wind in their sails Edinburgh tore into a bewildered Toulouse and finished off in the corner by Houston.

It was his old centre partner, Ben Cairns who fed the skilful back and he raced through to finish on the blindside.

Replacement Phil Godman, who had come on for David Blair, made sure his first contribution in the game was a positive one when he fired over the conversion.

With Toulouse on the back-foot, Elissalde got the three-times winners out of jail with a well-taken penalty as Toulouse enjoyed some much-needed breathing space.

Edinburgh: Hugo Southwell, Andrew Turnbull, Ben Cairns, Nick De Luca, Andrew Maxwell, David Blair, Mike Blair, Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Gavin Kerr, Craig Hamilton, Ben Gissing, Allister Hogg (capt), Ross Rennie, Simon Cross.
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Augusto Allori, Matt Mustchin, David Callam, Ben Meyer, Phil Godman, John Houston.
Toulouse: Poitrenaud, Clerc, Jauzion, Mermoz, Medard, Du Toit, Elissalde, Maka, Dusautoir, Nyanga, Albacete, Lamboley, Montes, Servat, Perugini. Replacements: Courrent, Bouilhou, Sowerby, Kunavore, Millochluski, Poux, Basualdo.