Halfpenny back in action
The Welshman sustained a devastating knee injury in a pre-World Cup warm-up game against Italy in September.
The 27-year-old marked his first club match of the season by contributing 17 points in Toulon's 27-18 victory over Montpellier in the semi-final.
Toulon will now go up against Dan Carter's Racing 92 in a mouth-watering Top 14 final in Barcelona.
"It's been a long journey coming back from injury, but it's been helped by the medical staff here who have worked very hard to get me back from injury, and also the players and management have been fantastic in supporting me in overcoming the injury," Halfpenny said.
"I was just absolutely delighted to be back out on the field playing with the boys on Saturday.
"The players here were fantastic in helping me get back to playing and getting up to speed on the calls and how we want to play."
Halfpenny said he had been excited to be back and had tried to enjoy every minute of the game, but warned that there was more to come.
"The victory over Montpellier was a big game for this club and a fantastic achievement that we've made the final, but that's not it for us, we want to go on and win the trophy, the Bouclier Brennus" the fullback stated.
Capped 59 times by Wales and three times by the B&I Lions on the victorious Australia tour in 2013, Halfpenny's start at Toulon was also blighted by injury but he rebounded to score 14 points as the Mediterranean club beat Clermont in the 2015 European Cup to claim a record third successive continental crown.
Toulon this season were edged 19-16 by Racing in the European Cup quarter-finals, Halfpenny acknowledging the strength of the Parisian side driven by goal-kicking All Black legend Carter at fly-half.
"It's exciting to go to Barcelona with an opportunity to win the Bouclier," he said.
98 000 crowd attendance is expected at the Camp Nou for the first final to be held off French territory due to the ongoing European football championships in France.
"It's huge for us as a team, it was our goal at the start of the season and now we have an opportunity to do that, although we have difficult opposition in front of us.
"It's going to be a huge challenge. Racing are a very good team and we'll have to be at our best on Friday. We need a good week of preparation leading into that game.
"For us as a team it will be a huge occasion and one that we need to go out and try to enjoy," Halfpenny stated.
Agence France-Presse
