Champions Toulon into quarters, face Racing

Toulon kept their hopes of a fourth consecutive European Champions Cup title alive on Saturday but will have to take on bitter French rivals Racing 92 in the quarter-finals.
The champions won 19-14 at Bath but Wasps got a bonus-point in defeating Leinster 51-10 to pip them to top spot in Pool 5.

"It's a huge satisfaction. OK, we finished second in the group despite having won five matches compared to Wasps' only winning four, but those are the rules regarding the bonus points," said Toulon manager Bernard Laporte.

"Wasps deserved to qualify. I'm very proud of our team because we're missing important players but that didn't stop us progressing."

Elsewhere on Saturday, Northampton and Ulster sealed runners-up spots in Pool 3 and Pool 1 respectively but must wait until the conclusion of the group stages on Sunday to discover if they make the last eight.

At Bath, Australian full-back James O'Connor kicked two early penalties for Toulon before George Ford landed his first for the hosts.
But the reigning champions struck first in terms of tries after a Bath mistake.

The hosts turned over ball deep inside their own 22 and Toulon quickly moved it wide left for Steffon Armitage to brush off Ford and score on 19 minutes.

Another Ford penalty kept the English side in contention but they struggled to make any significant leeway against the well-drilled Toulon defence.

Bath, 11-6 down at the break, were a transformed outfit after the restart and really took the game to Toulon with Anthony Watson finishing off a sweeping team move to score in the corner.

- Northampton, Ulster wait -
Bath's tempo was explosive and they earned a penalty in front of the posts that Ford kicked to give them the lead for the first time in the match.

But almost immediately, Bryan Habana picked off a risky David Denton loop pass and ran in unopposed to score a try.

O'Connor had the last word, kicking his third penalty, and although Bath had one last attacking chance to win the game, Toulon held firm.

In Coventry, Leinster struck first with a second minute Zane Kirchner try and Eoin Reddan's score on the half hour brought the Irish province back to 12-10.

But after that, Wasps started to pull away. Jimmy Gopperth, who finished with 19 points, notched their first try when finding a gap in the visiting defence while lock Joe Launchbury ran in the second try down the left.
Elliot Daly showed a stunning turn of pace to streak clear for the third before halftime and the forwards forced the bonus-point fourth just after the break with a rolling maul.

Wasps, who a week ago lost out on a famous victory at Toulon when Drew Mitchell scored a try after the final hooter, were buoyant and the points kept coming with New Zealander pair Frank Halai and Charles Piutau both crossing the whitewash, before South African prop Ashley Johnson rounded off the scoring with the seventh try two minutes from time.

Ulster kept their quarter-final hopes alive with an eight-try, bonus-point 56-3 victory over Oyonnax.

Tries from Rob Herring, Darren Cave, Rory Scholes, Sean Reidy, Craig Gilroy, Robbie Diack, Ian Humphreys and Jared Payne meant Ulster finished the group stages on 18 points, well behind runaway Pool 1 winners Saracens who ended with a perfect six wins from six after winning 28-17 at Toulouse.

"We knew we needed to do a job and make sure all the pressure goes on to the other sides who are also trying to get out of the pool stage," said Ulster No8 Nick Williams.

At a rainswept Llanelli, Northampton defeated the Scarlets 22-10, picking up a bonus point as they finished runners-up in Pool 3 behind already qualified Racing 92 who slumped to a 22-5 loss at Glasgow.

Harry Mallinder, George Pisi, Sam Dickinson and George North scored the tries for Northampton who have 19 points and should feature in the quarter-finals.

But they will have to wait until Sunday when Ospreys, Clermont and Stade Francais all have a chance to make the last eight.
Source: AFP