Bourgoin go down to Bath

Bourgoin 17 Bath 23

Bath shrugged off chronic injury problems with a brave victory in the final Pool 2 Heineken Cup match at Stade Pierre Rajon.

Neither side had a hope of quarter-final qualification, although Bath’s six-point victory gives them second place in the Pool, ahead of Benetton Treviso but well behind runaway unbeaten leaders Leinster.

Bourgoin are flying high in the French Championship – lying level with heavyweights Stade Francais and Toulouse at the top of the table – but coach Laurent Seigne has long since regarded the Heineken Cup as a distraction.

The powerful French side finished the tournament with six losses out of six and only two points.

John Connolly’s injury-ravaged Bath had only six fit players on the bench - all of them forwards – but opened the scoring in only the second minute with an Olly Barkley penalty goal, before Alexandre Peclier levelled matters with a well-struck dropped goal.

In the 12th minute, Bath’s makeshift winger Michael Lipman grabbed a long, looping pass from Chris Malone and the backrower showed impressive pace to score the game’s opening try in the corner.

The Bath pack began to take control and gave Malone a perfect platform to slot a dropped goal by driving the Bourgoin scrum off their own ball. A second penalty goal to Barkley gave the visitors a 16-3 lead at halftime, but Connolly’s injury woes continued as powerhouse number eight Isaac Feaunati had to be replaced at the break.

Replacement back David Janin narrowed the margin in the 47th minute, but Bath continued to benefit from their forward dominance when lock Rob Fidler was driven over the line to give his side a 23-10 lead after an hour.

Bourgoin centre David Venditti scored a try in the 71st minute, but Bath held on for the victory – despite finishing the match with 14 men after prop David Barnes was shown a yellow card.