Louw stars as Bath blast Toulouse

Francois Louw scored Bath's fourth try to inflict Toulouse' heaviest home defeat in the European Cup competition.

Louw dived over eight minutes from time to complete an impressive 35-18 win at Stade Ernest Wallon on Sunday.

Matt Banahan, Chris Cook and Jonathan Joseph all crossed in the first-half as Bath raced into a 25-7 lead.

Toulouse responded through Yoann Maestri and Yoann Huget, but 15 points George Ford completed a victory that keeps them in the Champions Cup to the final week of pool games.

Horacio Agulla immediately put Bath on the front foot, allowing Ford to kick the opening points and within seven minutes they had found a way through for the game's first try.

Cook picked up possession after a pass went to ground and Francois Louw's long pass sent Banahan over for his 14th Champions Cup try.

Toulouse responded through their driving line-out that saw Maestri touch down for a try that was converted by Flood.

However Bath stunned Stade Earnest Wallon with two tries in the space of four minutes to lead 22-7.

Banahan almost scored a second from Kyle Eastmond's kick before Cook raced almost the length of the field for Bath's second after intercepting a pass by opposite Jean-Marc Doussain.

Banahan was then the provider of the scoring pass for Joseph after Eastmond's break through the heart of the Toulouse defence.

Bath thought they had clinched the bonus just four minutes later but Anthony Watson was prevented from touching down by Toby Flood and Vincent Clerc so they had to settle for a second Ford penalty.

Toulouse, trailing 25-7, mounted a recovery that began with Huget scoring in the left-hand corner from a scrum.

Flood converted and added a penalty on the stroke of half-time before adding a second early in the second-half to cut Bath's advantage to seven points.

Yannick Nyanga went close to further reducing that lead from Jean-Marc Doussain's burst but was held up over the try line by Ford.

Toulouse had turned the tables on Bath but twice the visitors' scrum helped clear the danger and Banahan was fortunate to escape punishment for a high-tackle.

Bath finally clinched the bonus point eight minutes from time when Joseph's kick and chase ended with Louw diving over. Ford converted and added a penalty on the final whistle.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:

Tries: Maestri, Huget

Con: Flood

Pens: Flood 2

For Bath:

Tries: Banahan, Cook, Joseph, Louw

Cons: Ford 3

Pens: Ford 3

Teams:

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Joe Tekori, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.

Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Kisi Pulu, 19 Patricio Albacete, 20 Gillian Galan, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Clément Poitrenaud, 23 Gregory Lamboley.

Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 David Attwood, 4 Dominic Day, 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James (captain).

Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Stuart Hooper, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Olly Woodburn.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)

TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

@EPCRugby