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Heineken Cup, r6 review: Toulouse and Biarritz both win to seal home quarter-finals

24 January 2010


The Heineken Cup
Photo: Michael Paler

Stade Toulousain and Biarritz Olympic both won their final pool matches on Sunday - against Sale Sharks and Glasgow Warriors respectively - to seal vital home advantage for their quarter-final ties.

Biarritz had to rally from 11-18 down shortly after half-time as they initially struggled at home to Glasgow Warriors. Tom Evans' 10th-minute try gave the Scots the early advantage and former Perpignan scrum-half Chris Cusiter added a second try on 49 minutes at the Parc des Sports Aguiléra.

Quarter-final ties:
Munster v Northampton Saints
Biarritz Olympic v Ospreys
Stade Toulousain v Stade Francais
Leinster v Clermont Auvergne

Rudi Coetzee's 37th-minute response for Biarritz at least kept the French side in contention, before a 30-point burst after the interval eventually led to their 41-20 home win.

Fly-half Valentin Courrent initially kicked three penalties to bring them back to 20-20, before American speedster Takudzwa Ngwenya touched down just after the hour mark.

A penalty-try four minutes later stretched the lead further before Fijian winger Ilikena Bolakoro wrapped up the victory with his last-minute effort. Courrent kicked both conversions to complete a 21-point haul as the Basques earned the bonus-point win.

The result means Biarritz will now play their home quarter-final at the Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian, Spain.

"Securing a home tie in the quarter-finals was always our objective from the start of the tournament," said Biarritz coach Jack Isaac. "We left it pretty late to get that bonus point but it was credit to the patience of the players. You can't force these things, but they stuck to their guns and had confidence in their ability to get the last try," he added.

Heineken Cup Pools & Fixtures

Stade Toulousain's hard-fought 19-13 win at Sale Sharks also guaranteed them a home tie, with the three-time champions set to host Paris giants Stade Francais in a mouthwatering all-French quarter-final.

Fly-halves Charlie Hodgson and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde ensured it as all square 6-6 at half time, with Hodgson landing a brace of penalties and Elissalde a pair of drop-goals.

But Stade took a grip on the tie when hooker Virgil Lacombe touched down, with Elissalde adding the conversion and two penalties as the French side pulled clear.

Sale rallied with Matthew Tait's converted try but Stade held on to ensure the win, and set up their home quarter-final against Stade Francais as at least one French side is now guaranteed to be in the semi-finals.

On Saturday, Top 14 leaders Clermont Auvergne sealed their Heineken Cup quarter-final berth in style, running in nine tries tries away to Viadana as they overwhelmed the Italian side.

Clermont went into the match knowing a bonus-point win would be enough to guarantee their progress from Pool 3, and they achieved that five minutes before half-time when skipper Aurélien Rougerie touched down for their fourth try of a dominant opening period.

The score was Rougerie's second of the half, adding to those by Fijian winger Napolioni Nalaga and French scrum-half Morgan Parra.

Parra was first over the line, touching down after just two minutes as 'Les Jaunards' got off to the perfect start. It remained largely one-way traffic thereafter, with the French side in total control as they continued their excellent recent form.

Viadana's only reply was a Lloyd Johansson drop-goal after nine minutes as they went in 3-26 down at half time. Full-back Garry Law added a penalty shortly after the resumption, but Clermont stepped on the gas once more to run in a further two tries as they moved 6-40 ahead after just 51 minutes. Replacement lock Elvis Vermeulen (on for the ko'd Jamie Cudmore) was first over, before recalled France winger Julien Malzieu followed in soon after.

Australian fly-half Brock James ensured maximum points were accrued by landing both conversions, adding to his three first-half efforts.

Four minutes later Nalaga grabbed his second - and Clermont's eighth - before prop Julio Garcia crossed for Viadana to add a modicum of respect to the score. Pierre Hola converted to leave it 13-45, but Clermont just came bouncing back, despite coach Vern Cotter introducing a host of second-half replacements.

A 64th-minute penalty try - converted by Anthony Floch - brought up the visitors' half century, although a subsequent yellow card for lock Julien Pierre briefly stopped the scoring. Indeed, Viadana used their man advantage to get their second try of the match, through replacement Gareth Krause, before France flanker Julien Bonnaire touched down two minutes from time for Clermont's ninth try of the afternoon. Floch again converted to make it 20-59 to the French side, and their joy was then doubled when they learnt that Ospreys had beaten Leicester Tigers 17-12 in the other Pool 3 match.

The result wasn't enough, however, to earn Clermont a home tie, and they now face a tough assignment if they're to reach their first Heineken Cup semi-final, with an away trip to defending champions Leinster in the last eight.

Stade Francais also sealed their quarter-final berth on Saturday despite losing 9-7 away to Edinburgh at Murrayfield. The Paris giants scored the only try of the match, through international lock Pascal Papé, but they were undone by Chris Paterson's boot as the Scot landed three penalties.

But the result was still enough to secure Stade top spot in Pool 4, although not enough to get them a home tie as they only finished with 18 points. Their trip to Stade Toulousain now awaits.

Brive were France's other Top 14 side in action on Friday and the Limousin club finally earned their first point of the competition despite slipping to a 17-20 home defeat against the Scarlets.

Brive hooker Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux opened the scoring when he piled over in the corner after 19 minutes, and the hosts doubled their lead five minutes later when Argentine winger Horacio Agulla followed suit. Both conversions were missed by Andy Goode - making his comeback after injury - but the 10-0 lead was good reward for Brive's early pressure.

England hooker Steve Thompson was playing in an unaccustomed number eight role, but his presence was clearly helping Brive's dominance up front as they put the Scarlets pack to the sword with a number of excellent rolling mauls.

Welsh fly-half Stephen Jones finally put Scarlets on the board with a 28th-minute penalty, and the visitors drew level just before half-time when he also converted lock Damian Welch's try.

The Scarlets then moved ahead for the first time in the match when Morgan Stoddart touched down seven minutes after the restart - with Jones again adding the extras - but Brive replied with a Ronnie Cooke try after 58 minutes shortly after flanker Josh Turnbull had seen yellow for the Welsh side.

Replacement scrum-half Luciano Orquera kicked the conversion to make it 17-17, but Jones then kicked the decisive score when he was on target with a penalty from just within the Scarlets' own half. Lou Reed's subsequent sin-binning reduced the visitors to 14 men as Brive piled on the pressure, but the Scarlets held out for a valuable win which sent them through to the ACC quarter-finals - as one of the three best placed teams outside the initial eight in the Heineken Cup.

The other Pool 6 match saw defending champions Leinster draw 11-11 at London Irish to seal top spot and their own quarter-final berth. 

The loss was their sixth successive reverse in the Heineken Cup, but they did at least outscore their hosts by three tries to two

On Friday, French champions Perpignan bid 'adieu' to this season's Heineken Cup with a 34-6 home win against Benetton Treviso in Pool 1.

The win was only their second in the competition - from six outings - with the Catalans running in five tries (four in the second half) to seal their bonus-point win.

But the victory could not mask a massively disappointing Heineken campaign, which began with a shock 8-9 defeat away to Treviso in round one.

Friday's comprehensive win did at least see them finish on a winning note - a welcome result after losing six of their previous eight games in all competitions - although to label it as 'revenge' for their earlier loss in Italy would be stretching its significance.

Still, at least they gave the near 10,000-strong crowd something to cheer about on another chilly evening in southern France, with hooker Charles Geli grabbing the opening try just before the half-time interval. Treviso scrum-half Simon Picone was then sin-binned in the 40th minute to compound the visitors' misery as they went in 8-3 down.

Perpignan quickly capitalised on their numerical advantage after the break, with replacement hooker Marius Tincu following Geli's earlier example in crossing the try line. Nicolas Laharrague's conversion stretched the home side's advantage to 15-3, although Tobias Botes kicked a penalty soon after to give Treviso another lift.

Friday 22/01/10      
Munster 12 Northampton Saints 9
Perpignan 34 Benetton Treviso 6
Saturday 23/01/10      
Ospreys 17 Leicester Tigers 12
Viadana 20 Clermont Auvergne 59
Bath 10 Ulster 28
Edinburgh 9 Stade Francais 7
Brive 17 Scarlets 20
London Irish 11 Leinster 11
Sunday 23/01/10      
Harlequins 20 Cardiff Blues 45
Sale Sharks 13 Stade Toulousain 19
Newport Gwent Dragons 23 Gloucester 32
Biarritz Olympique 41 Glasgow Warriors 20

The Italians continued to defend manfully as they held the at 15-6 until 15 minutes from time, but then Perpignan's superiority finally told as they scored three more tries in a devastating five-minute spell with second row Yohann Vivalda getting the first of those.

 

Tincu then doubled his own tally shortly after, with centre Jean-Philippe Grandclaude completing Perpignan's scoring when he crashed over 10 minutes from time. Jérôme Porical converted the last of those tries, adding to Laharrague's two earlier successes to leave the final score 34-6.

The win, however, was not enough to lift Perpignan above third place in Pool 1, with twice champions Munster beating Northampton Saints 12-9 in the group's other match on Friday night to ensure they ended as pool winners.

The Irish side had fly-half Ronan O'Gara (pictured) to again thank for their win as the veteran international landed four penalties - two in each half - but the hosts were given a mighty scare as Northampton's pack largely dominated throughout.

Munster even had to weather a 10-minute spell of pressure in the second half without their sin-binned skipper Paul O'Connell, and Northampton's defensive bonus means these two sides could yet meet again if the English team sneak through as one of the two best pool runners-up. They will now an anxious wait over the weekend to see if their efforts proved in vain or not, with their main rivals for that spot likely to come from Pools 3 and 6.

 

 
 
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