Battling Bath beaten by Toulouse in Champions Cup
Bath were beaten 31-19 by Toulouse in their Investec Champions Cup clash at Stade Ernest-Wallon as the hosts finished top of Group B.
Both sides had already qualified for the last 16 but were aiming to keep their respective unbeaten runs going in the competition.
Toulouse led 12-0 and then 19-12, with Bath hitting back on both occasions to go in level at the break, but the home side proved too strong and scored two tries deep into the second half to earn a fourth win from four.
Toulouse took the lead in the sixth minute after an incredible 20 phases, Emmanuel Meafou bundling his way over the line despite the best efforts of Josh Bayliss. A TMO review confirmed the grounding, but Thomas Ramos hit a post with the conversion attempt.
Toulouse moved 12 points in front three minutes later. Following a penalty, Antoine Dupont took a quick tap and kicked in behind the Bath defence, Ramos latching on to the long ball before touching down in the corner. This time he made no mistake with the conversion.
Bath struck back quickly and had a try of their own five minutes later. After winning a penalty the five-metre line-out was executed to perfection as Beno Obano ran over the line before Ben Spencer added the extras from the left touchline.
Bath were level after 23 minutes when Thomas du Toit proved too powerful for the defensive line and crossed the whitewash from close range following a five-metre tap penalty.
Toulouse re-established their lead via a penalty try. They worked their way to within a metre of the line from a 10-metre line-out before Charlie Ewels illegally dropped the maul and was subsequently shown a yellow card.
Ramos hit a post with a penalty and Bath made Toulouse pay just before the break when Ollie Lawrence crossed to make it 19-19 at half-time.
However, Toulouse won it late on by crossing twice in the final 12 minutes.
Juan Cruz Mallia got on the end of Ramos’ kick and the win was sealed with three minutes to go when Dupont kicked behind the defence for Ramos to round off a 31-19 win.
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It didn't work against the Boks in 2 tests this year. They also lost by more points this year than in the final last year. How would they be WC Champions now? Get real please
Go to commentsOnly 8% of the NZ voting base voted for the Act party, so it does not represent "all people". You sound super upset and sensitive because Perenara spoke out about something you don't like, which is a precious far right-wing party trying to rewrite New Zealand’s founding document to suit a particular political agenda that disenfranchises the indigenous people and wants to eradicate their culture through assimilation and domination. Your perspective is skewed tbh. Your comment about Perenara being "super woke" shows your fragility and xenophobia. Maybe the All Blacks should stop doing any haka so that Maori culture isn't displayed for financial benefits and entertainment. Do you know what the other players in the team think? Are they your mates and you rang them straight after the game to get their thoughts? How did the Hurricane Poua debacle go? Any sponsors pull out yet???
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