Borders salavge some pride

Biarritz 27 Border Reivers 17

Brave Borders went within a whisker of creating the biggest ever Heineken Cup shock as they salvaged pride in France.

Even the most ardent of Reivers followers had been geared up for a merciless thumping at the hands of the tournament co-favourites.

But with just three minutes left and the scores locked at 17-all, they sensed the possibility of a sensational outcome.

However, two touches of brilliance by substitute Dimitri Yachvili sparked the last-gasp try-double for powerhouse Sireli Bobo which smothered the gutsy challenge of the Scots.

As expected, Biarritz had the bulk of possession and territory in the early stages, but they looked strangely jittery and disjointed.

Their uncharacteristic sloppiness was underlined when, having spurned an easy penalty chance, they opted to kick for the corner – only for Damien Traille to thump it directly over the dead-ball line, giving the Reivers an escape route.

The Frenchmen then spoiled more promising lead-up work by making a series of basic handling errors, prompting howls of derision from their fans.

Having weathered the early storm, the Scots were handed a penalty opportunity at the other end for handling in a ruck.

However, Calum MacRae’s angled effort drifted past the near post.

The reprieve seemed to act as a wake-up call for Biarritz – and they broke the deadlock immediately after the drop-out.

Santiago Delappe did the initial damage with a powerful surge and with the Borders defence stretched, stand-off Traille scorched through a gap to touch down, brushing off Gregor Townsend’s weak tackle in the process.

Julien Dupuy slotted the conversion to give his side some breathing space.

Dupuy was back in the spotlight when he claimed he was obstructed as he set off in pursuit of his own chip, but referee Donal Courtney ruled no foul.

He did, however, award a penalty for a high challenge by Nick de Luca, leading to the second Biarritz score.

They opted for another line-out instead of going for goal and hooker Benjamin Noirot celebrated his birthday by being driven over by his pack-mates.

There was more line-out woe for the Reivers in the build up to the interval following back-chat by scrum-half Rob Chrystie.

Biarritz earned five scrums in quick succession, with the frantic crowd begging for a penalty try. It inevitable that they would add to their tally and it happened when veteran breakaway forward Thomas Lievremont picked up from the base and sent substitute Philippe Bidabe over.

Reivers gave themselves a glimmer of hope in the dying seconds of the half as MacRae banged over a penalty.

And the stadium was stunned into silence when the Reivers blew the contest wide open with two touchdowns after the restart.

The half had begun in fiery fashion as Serge Betsen and Andy Miller were yellow-carded for fighting. And when substitute home hooker Denis Avril followed them to the sin-bin, the Scots seized their opportunity.

From the penalty line-out, lock Opeta Palepoi was powered over the line by the rest of the pack, MacRae converting.

And MacRae bounced back into the limelight on the hour-mark to grab the score that left the encounter well and truly in the balance.

There seemed to be no way through when he gathered the ball 35 metres out, but a couple of sidesteps and changes of pace enabled him to somehow wriggle his way through before adding the equalising kick.

But the dream perished when Yashvili came off the bench to spare the home side’s blushes.

First, he caught the Borders defence on the hop with a cross kick penalty to the unmarked Bobo – the visitors clearly expecting the safe option of a pot at goal.

Then a narrow side dash by Yashvili created the time and space for Bobo to beat the exhausted Reivers markers for pace in the dying seconds.