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Watch: Biarritz snatch dramatic victory with chaotic last-gasp try after opposition fail to kick ball out twice
By Online Editors
Biarritz have scored one of rugby's most dramatic last-gasp tries in chaotic sequence of play that included a cross kick, two offloads and two failed kicks for touch in France's Pro D2 on Thursday.
Facing fifth-placed Colomiers, Biarritz came away from Stade Michel-Bendichou with a 20-16 win, but only after midfielder Brieuc Plessis-Couillaud scored an 80th minute try that came in hectic fashion.
With the match entering its final play, Biarritz opted to challenge the Colomiers defence 40 metres from their line by lofting a cross kick for replacement wing Alexandre Nicoue to chase onto.
However, the speedster was caught off guard and struggled to retain the ball as took a bounce and landed into his arms.
After slipping through two tackle attempts, Nicoue offloaded to left wing Yohann Artru, who looked destined to dot down in the right-hand corner.
However, a strong chase from the Colomiers defence forced Artru to hurl the ball back in-field as he was going out.
The ball hit the deck again, only to bounce into the hands of Colomiers wing Simon Delas, who was facing his own tryline and tried to kick the ball out of over the dead ball line to bring the match to an end.
Just as he went to kick the ball, though, he was tackled from behind, forcing him to lose control of possession just five metres from the tryline.
From there, the ball bounced into the clutches of Colomiers first-five Sebastian Andres Poet, who tried to boot the ball out of play himself.
He also become victim of a blindside tackle from behind, though, as he was hauled down by Nicoue inside the Colomiers in-goal area.
As the ball skidded towards the dead ball line, Plessis-Couillaud - who was the closest player to the ball - scampered and bounced on it to score one of the wildest tries of the year thus far.
After consultation with the television match official to check for any knock-ons in the action beforehand, the try was awarded, handing Biarritz a dramatic win.
The result keeps Biarritz in third place on the Pro D2 table as they continue their bid for promotion into the Top 14, while Colomiers sit nine points astray from their opponents in fifth place.
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Latest Comments
i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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