Saturday Heineken Cup Rugby Quarter Finals

Cardiff Hold on Against Toulouse, Leicester Tigers Stun Bath Rugby

Apr 12, 2009

In Saturday's European Rugby Cup Quarter Finals, Cardiff beat Toulouse at Cardiff, whilst Leicester beat old rivals Bath with a last minute try.

Saturday saw the first two Heineken Cup quarter finals with best qualifiers Cardiff playing three times champions Toulouse and Leicester Tigers taking on old rivals Bath

Cardiff V Toulouse

With the introduction of the ELV’s, the IRB would have us believe that unless a game finishes 46-45, it’s boring and of no interest to fans. This game at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium was proof that this isn’t true. Despite finishing 9-6 with no tries, this was a pulsating game.

The first half was dominated by the defences, but was no less intriguing for that. Cardiff led 6-3 at the break, two penalties from Ben Blair against one for Toulouse by Michilak. After half time, Toulouse upped the pace and stretched the Blues defence to the limit. A devastating attack from the French only stopped by Martyn Williams killing the ball, giving three points, but saving the try and somehow avoiding a yellow card.

Despite only getting into the French 22 twice in the match, Cardiff were good value for the win, making over 120 tackles in the match with prop Gethin Jenkins leading the way with a man of the match performance which must make him favourite for the Lions test spot.

Leicester Tigers v Bath Rugby

In the eighties, Bath ruled English rugby, winning virtually everything. The only team that challenged them was the Tigers. It's been 12 years since they won the Heineken Cup however, so victory in this match would be sweet indeed.

The early stages of the game were typical Leicester, Bath had most of the possession and played most of the rugby, but Leicester took their chances and got on the scoreboard first with two penalties. Bath struck back with a piece of magic by Bath centre Hape. His ‘show and go’, splintered the Tigers defence, creating a try under the posts for Shaun Berne. The conversion and another Butch James penalty gave Bath a 10-6 lead at half time.

Leicester recaptured the lead with two more penalties, both for offences at the breakdown, an area which caused trouble throughout the game. Bath looked to have had the last word when Maddock scored a try in the corner following a charge down looked to be enough, despite the conversion hitting the post.

Bath kept the pressure on Leicester as the clock ran down, going through the phases under the Leicester posts. Inexplicably, James failed to position himself for the drop goal attempt and when they turned it over, Leicester capitalised, working their way down field until replacement scrum half Dupuy burst over to score. The final Score 20-15.

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