Bath suffer Toulouse heartbreak

BUTCH JAMES insists Bath will learn from their last-gasp Heineken Cup defeat away to Toulouse yesterday.

Bath suffered heartbreak despite outscoring the French champs two tries to none.

The home side had a three-point edge at half-time, leading by two penalties from David Skrela to one from Butch James, with both fly-halves missing once in a hugely physical contest in which try-scoring chances were at a premium.

Skrela extended Toulouse’s lead with a penalty three minutes into the second half but Bath hit back with the first try of the game — a 48th-minute touchdown from Michael Claassens after skipper Michael Lipman charged down Byron Kelleher’s attempted clearance.

The French No 10 put over two second-half penalties with James landing one to set up a grandstand finish, and Bath looked to have claimed a famous win when Nick Abendanon scored an unconverted try with three minutes to go.

But Bath were unable to hold on and Skrela eased Toulouse to a narrow two-point victory with the last kick of the game, clipping over a penalty.

It was an ironic climax given James’ ongoing kicking problems. He landed just two kicks — both penalties — out of five shots at goal, missing both conversion attempts.

“We all thought we’d done it when Nick Abendanon got the try. But we played for 89 minutes and 59 seconds and lost our concentration for one second — and it cost us the win,” said James.

“Our heads are down in the dressing room, and there’s a mixture of anger and disappointment in there — disappointment that we didn’t win and anger because we know we threw it away at the end.

“But the bottom line is we’re leaving here a better side for this experience. If we’re in the same position again, we won’t make the same mistake and we’ll close the game out.”

James survived a horrifically high tackle from Toulouse French international centre Yannick Jauzion when he looked set to score Bath’s second try before Abendanon struck late on.

Jauzion escaped unpunished by Irish referee George Clancy — a decision which mystified Bath head coach Steve Meehan.

He said: “There were a few odd decisions out there, notably the one where Toulouse were given a defensive scrum in front of their own line after Butch James was taken out by Jauzion.”

TOULOUSE: M Medard, Y Donguy, M Kunavore, Y Jauzion, C Heymans, D Skrela, B Kelleher, O Poux, W Servat, B Lecouls, F Pelous, P Albacete, J Bouihlou, T Dusatoir, S Sowerby.

Replacements: D Human for Poux (50), R Millo-Chulski for Pelous (60), Y Nyanga for Bouihlou (65).

BATH: N Abendanon, J Maddock, A Crockett, S Berne, M Banahan, B James, M Claassens, D Flatman, L Mears, M Stevens, J Harrison, P Short, S Hooper, M Lipman, J Faamatuainu.

Replacements: T Cheeseman for Berne (76), M Stephenson for Banahan (60), D Barnes for Flatman (41), P Dixon for Mears (71), D Bell for Stevens (74), J Scaysbrook for Hooper (73).

Referee: George Clancy (IRFU).