Marcelo Bosch delivers at the death to deny Racing Metro

Racing Metro 92 11 Saracens 12: Marcelo Bosch basked in the gratitude of his team-mates after kicking Saracens into the semi-finals of the Champions Cup in dramatic scenes in north Paris.

Bosch, striking the ball into a strong wind, landed a 55-metre penalty in the final act of the last eight showdown against Racing Metro to snatch a 12-11 victory at the Stade Yves-Du-Manoir.

It completed a scarcely believable win given Saracens had been battered for most of the match only to display remarkable tenacity and set up a semi-final appointment with Clermont in two weeks.

“With kicks like this you’re either the hero of the day or the bad guy, so I’m happy that it went my way. I just stayed relaxed and fortunately it went through the posts,” Bosch, 31, said.

“Sometimes they ask me if I’m keen to take the long-range kicks and because of the wind it was not a good distance for the other kickers. I said, ‘why not? I can take it’ and the rest is history.

“It was the last minute of the game so I was tired and tried not to think about what it represented.”

Bosch also executed a try-saving tackle on Racing wing Juan Imhoff when all his Argentina team-mate had to do was fall over the line for a final-quarter try.

“Juan is a real player. He’s like a striker — always smelling the goal. I followed him and fortunately stopped him from scoring,” Bosch said.

Until Bosch delivered the knockout blow a full blooded quarter-final that was often a poor spectacle appeared to be destined for a home win.

Saracens fly-half Charlie Hodgson kicked one penalty and full-back Alex Goode supplied six points to keep the match favourites in sight.

Two second-half penalties from scrum-half Maxime Machenaud, who also crossed for the game’s solitary try in the 27th minute, placed Racing in control that the Parisians only relinquished as Owens was preparing to blow for full time.

“I was surprised to see it was Bosch taking it because I though it was in Alex Goode’s range,” Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said.

“But the wind was very strong, so it was Bosch’s range. He had the nerve and balls to say he wanted it, which is half the battle. He hit it pretty sweetly.”

Racing Metro 92 scorers: Tries: Machenaud. Pens: Machenaud 2.

RACING METRO 92: Dulin, Imhoff, Chavancy, Roberts, Thomas, Sexton, Machenaud, Ben Arous, Szarzewski, Ducalcon, Charteris, Van Der Merwe, Lauret, Gerondeau, Claassen.

Replacements: Goosen for Imhoff (57), Dumoulin for Roberts (51), Phillips for Sexton (76), Brugnaut for Ben Arous (52), Lacombe for Szarzewski (52), Mujati for Ducalcon (52), Metz for Van Der Merwe (76), Dubarry for Gerondeau (56).

Saracens scorers: Pens: Hodgson 2, Goode, Bosch.

SARACENS: Goode, Ashton, Bosch, Wyles, Strettle, Hodgson, Wigglesworth, M. Vunipola, George, Du Plessis, Kruis, J. Hamilton, Wray, Burger, B. Vunipola.

Replacements: de Kock for Wigglesworth (65), Brits for George (54), Johnston for Du Plessis (52), Itoje for J. Hamilton (57), Brown for Wray (52), Gill for B. Vunipola (54).

Ref: Nigel Owens (Wales).