By Charlie Elliott
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Toulon 18-21 Toulouse: Thomas Ramos breaks hearts at the Stade Mayol
An all-Top 14 affair in the Champions Cup went right down to the wire as Thomas Ramos nailed a penalty with the last kick of the game to seal an away victory for the Rouge et Noir.
With the rain pouring in the South of France, the tie never truly got going as much as expected, with it being a very scrappy affair across the 80 minutes.
Toulouse‘s Ramos might have opened the scoring with an early penalty, but four unanswered kicks from Melvyn Jaminet quickly gave the hosts a strong lead.
It would have been 12-3 at half time if not for some excellent work by Emmanuel Meafou that caused a penalty that Ramos finished off, to put them within a converted try at the break.
Whatever Ugo Mola said at half time clearly worked as the visitors flew out of the blocks for the second period, with a disallowed Julien Marchand try a minute after the restart being followed up by a bruising Jack Willis finish just moments later.
Another try, this time by Pita Ahki, gave the visitors an 18-12 lead, before Jaminet nailed home two unbelievable kicks under pressure to restore parity.
Usually reliable Toulon winger Gabin Villiere dropped a high ball before a penalty was conceded in the last minute, which Ramos finished brilliantly.
Simply raising his finger to the sky in celebration, it truly was a fittingly composed end to such a chaotic game.
A clash with another French side, Bordeaux-Bègles, awaits Toulouse in the semis.
Bath 61-26 Gloucester: Blue, Black and Whites keep treble hopes alive with huge win at The Rec
Two very strong attacking teams went toe-to-toe, and the result was just as expected, with 13 tries scored between the teams
Bath were by far the better team throughout and scored nine of those 13, but there were moments in which the Cherry and Whites could have found a way back in.
The result was deserved for the hosts and they progress into the semis of the Challenge Cup, still with hopes of securing a rare treble.
It ebbed and flowed to start with, with Bath staying ahead for most of the first period but Gloucester staying within arm’s length with a few scores of their own.
Santi Carreras scored nicely against his future side, leaping to collect a Gareth Anscombe cross-kick in the corner to equalise early on.
A mix of errors from both sides, but mainly the visitors, saw five tries to three scored in the opening 40 minutes.
Alfie Barbeary’s converted try just before the break saw the hosts take a 33-19 lead into the second half, but with the full knowledge that the attacking nature of their visitors meant that they were never truly safe.
Second Half
Johann van Graan rallied the troops, and the second period was very one-sided, with four tries to one scored and a final result that slightly flattered the hosts.
For all their great attacking work in this game, a lot of the joy that they had was caused by uncharacteristic mistakes from George Skivington’s side, who are often criticised for their lack of care defensively and proved the critics right on this occasion.
By the time Tom Carr-Smith rounded off the scoring, the game was long done and had petered out into a bit of a dead rubber.
Bath’s ability to fight on multiple fronts deserves huge credit, as the Premiership Rugby Cup is already wrapped up, they sit comfortably top of the Premiership and now a European semi final awaits.
They will face Edinburgh away in the next round, with a place in the final for the winner.
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