Champions Cup roundup: Exeter to host Bath in last 16 after defeats in France
Exeter will host West Country rivals Bath in the Champions Cup last 16 after both sides slipped to defeat in France on Sunday.
Bath were beaten 31-19 by Toulouse at Stade Ernest-Wallon as the home side finished top of Pool 2. Both sides had already qualified for the last 16 but the English side were hoping to secure a home tie in the first knockout round with a victory that would have taken them ahead of Harlequins in the group.
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, finishing the group stage with the best record overall and the top seed in the last 16.
Exeter, meanwhile, crashed to a 40-17 defeat away to Bayonne. The Chiefs, who were already assured of a home tie in the last 16, were punished for their indiscipline as the hosts, who sit fifth in Pool 3, ran in six tries.
Northampton top Pool 3 as a result and will host Munster in the round of 16; Leicester visit the Pool 4 winners, Leinster, Harlequins host Glasgow Warriors and Saracens go to BordeauxBègles. The two-time defending champions, La Rochelle, secured their place by beating Sale and will next face South Africa’s Stormers.
In Toulouse, the hosts took the lead in the sixth minute after Emmanuel Meafou bundled his way over. The hosts moved 12 points in front three minutes later after Thomas Ramos went over and slotted the conversion.
Bath had a try of their own five minutes later. After winning a penalty, a five-metre lineout was executed to perfection as Beno Obano ran over the line, with Ben Spencer adding the extras. Bath were level after 23 minutes when Thomas du Toit crossed from close range.
Toulouse reestablished their lead via a penalty try. They worked their way to within a metre of the line from a 10metre lineout before Charlie Ewels illegally dropped the maul and was 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 halftime.
Toulouse won it late on by crossing twice in the final 12 minutes. Juan Cruz Mallía got on the end of Ramos’ kick and the win was sealed with three minutes to go when Antoine Dupont kicked behind the defence for Ramos to round off a 31-19 win.
In Exeter’s defeat to Bayonne, the French side scored first via Tom Spring, who showed great pace to the tryline. Exeter responded through Dan Frost and Henry Slade added the conversion to level the score at 7-7. Bayonne bounced back after a mistake from Exeter’s Josh Hodge; the full-back failed to control the loose ball and Kote Mikautadze went over.
After Exeter’s Ollie Devoto was shown a yellow card, Bayonne took advantage through Aurélien Callandret, who crossed to make it 19-7. Bayonne added the bonus point through Victor Hannoun, but the away side scored two quick tries in the second half through Dafydd Jenkins and Rus Tuima to cut the deficit to 26-17.
Despite Callandret being shown a yellow card, Bayonne’s resolute defence withstood Exeter’s pressure and the hosts scored a try of their own through Federico Mori in the 65th minute.
Yellow cards for Jenkins and Jack Yeandle, either side of Mori’s second try of the game, ended the visitors’ hopes of a win. Exeter lost another player in the closing stages as Joe Hawkins was shown a straight red for a head-on-head collision.
David Moyes claimed the level of officiating has plunged so low that no one knows what referees are “going to do”, after chaotic scenes in stoppage time at Bramall Lane. The West Ham manager was unhappy at the referee, Michael Salisbury, awarding a late penalty to Sheffield United, scored by Oli McBurnie in the 103rd minute, before refusing to give Jarrod Bowen a penalty at the other end 60 seconds later.
McBurnie’s equaliser made it 2-2 for Sheffield United and, when Bowen and Anel Ahmedhodzic came together in the hosts’ area a minute later, Salisbury’s decision incensed Moyes, who also believed his goalkeeper, Alphonse Areola, had been fouled in the buildup to McBurnie’s spot-kick. Moyes said: “I’m certainly not going to talk about any referees. I don’t want to get myself in trouble. You should ask the referee [about these decisions]. We’ve got to a stage now where we are settling for a level of officiating where we are all shrugging our shoulders and saying: ‘OK.’ I’m shrugging my shoulders again, we don’t know what they are going to do.”
Before McBurnie scored, Moyes replaced Areola, who required treatment, with Lukasz Fabianski. “I thought it would be better to put someone in who wasn’t dazed,” the Scot said. “Absolutely, he was completely fouled. I think it was a foul on the goalkeeper.”
West Ham twice let the lead slip. McBurnie’s goal cancelled out James Ward-Prowse’s 79th-minute penalty, while just before the break Ben Brereton Díaz equalised Maxwel Cornet’s opener. Moyes was also unhappy at the display.
“My team’s performance was so poor. Maybe the worst [ever]. It was a throwback game, long throws, free-kicks, balls in, and we had to deal with it. But we never passed it well.”
In added time Rhian Brewster was shown a red card for a heavy challenge on Emerson Palmieri. Salisbury initially booked the striker before consulting the VAR monitor. Vladimir Coufal was also sent off for two yellow cards. The draw leaves Chris Wilder’s team on 10 points, seven from safety after 21 games.
The Blades’ manager struck a defiant note. “There has to be a fighting spirit. It’s a ruthless, relentless league that kills you if you show the white flag,” Wilder said.
Ahead of McBurnie taking the penalty James McAtee held the ball to suggest he would take it. This was deliberate. “The keeper was going to be down for a long time and we understood from a psychological point of view with a lot of people being in that area,” he said. “They were smart between them. Oli still has to stick it in.”