Saints, Racing set up pool decider
Racing Metro sneaked past Northampton Saints at the top of Pool Five in the European Cup to set up a thrilling decider next week.
Racing took top spot after thrashing Treviso 53-7 at the Stade Yves du Manoir, to emerge as the only surviving unbeaten team at the end of five rounds.
Northampton moved closer to a Champions Cup quarterfinal spot with a comfortable 20-9 victory over the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.
The English champions scored tries through Calum Clark and George North, with flyhalf Stephen Myler adding both conversions and two penalties.
The Ospreys could only register three Dan Biggar penalties as their own hopes of advancing from Pool 5 were ended.
Saints can now move on to the pool decider against Racing Metro next weekend knowing a victory will give them a home quarterfinal, while even a losing bonus-point could be enough to claim a last-eight spot.
The Ospreys knew anything other than a bonus-point win would end their slim hopes of reaching the quarterfinals, and they made an enterprising start.
Justin Tipuric made a lovely midfield break from Biggar's pass early on and the pressure yielded a penalty which the Wales No.10 kicked to give the hosts an early lead.
The lively opening continued with a breathless passage of play sparked by Ospreys fullback Dan Evans. His scything run took the home side into the Saints 22, but a turnover saw Ken Pisi return the ball with interest before the counter was halted at the halfway line.
Unfortunately for Ben Foden it marked his last involvement as a tweaked knee saw him leave the fray and James Wilson replace him.
It was already clear Northampton were in the ascendancy up front, and good scrum pressure yielded their first try in the 16th minute.
Tyler Ardron was forced to hurriedly pick up at the base on his own line, and when Rhys Webb tried to box-kick the scrumhalf was charged down by Tom Wood and Clark pounced to score.
Biggar and Myler exchanged penalties before a moment of controversy. George Pisi was guilty of a tip-tackle on Biggar but, with the crowd baying for a red card, referee Jerome Garcès decided a yellow would suffice.
Biggar dusted himself down to kick the resulting penalty, but the Ospreys gifted their nemesis North the critical try just before half-time.
Luther Burrell's tackle on Tipuric dislodged the ball and North, who scored four tries in the reverse fixture at Franklin's Gardens, scooped up the loose ball and ran in from halfway, with Myler adding the extras.
Saints pressed on early in the second half, knowing they were already halfway to a bonus point.
They thought prop Alex Waller had got their third as he tried to burrow his way over, but replays showed he was just short of the line.
However, the Ospreys lack of a forward platform was stunting their efforts to get back into the game, and Myler completed Northampton's win with his second successful penalty.
* Racing Metro versus Benetton Treviso report follows below!
Racing Metro 92 took top spot in the pool in some style, after thrashing Treviso 53-7 at the Stade Yves du Manoir to emerge as the only surviving unbeaten team at the end of five rounds of the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The French giants scored nine tries in a free-flowing display that sets up a mouth-watering encounter with Northampton at Franklin's Gardens next week, with the victor poised to win the pool.
Skipper Dimitri Szarzewski will grab the headlines with his hat-trick, but wing Juan Imhoff and fullback Benjamin Lapeyre were equally impressive in grabbing a brace of tries apiece. Henry Chavancy also touched down early on, with a penalty try providing the seventh score after 68 minutes .
Racing got off the mark with nine minutes played after impressive link work among the pack gave Argentine international Imhoff a glimpse of space out wide. The Pumas star turned on the gas to cut through into the 22 before finding centre Chavancy with a well-timed inside pass.
Maxime Machenaud added the extras but the home faithful had to wait close to 20 minutes to celebrate their second score despite almost total domination from their side. It was worth the wait, though, as far as Lapeyre was concerned, with the former Toulon No.15 claiming his first try since a debut score some 17 months ago. Lapeyre stretched out off the back of a close-range ruck after a strong carry from Eddy Ben Arous rescued a sloppy five-metre line-out.
Again, Machenaud converted to make it 14-0 approaching the half-hour and Szarzewski then put the result beyond any real doubt when he powered over from a rolling maul four minutes before the break. The extras missed the mark this time around but Racing's 19-0 lead left a Treviso side who hadn't won on French soil for more than a decade facing a mountain to climb in the second period.
And their task got even tougher straight after the restart as former Gloucester prop Rupert Harden saw yellow for a needless block on Racing wing Marc Andreu, with Szarzewski claiming the bonus point try almost immediately after Harden's departure.
The Racing captain then put the disappointment of missing out on a place in the French squad for the Six Nations behind him as he became a hat-trick hero with just 54 minutes on the clock, with a driving line-out again the platform for his personal milestone.
Michele Campagnaro's interception try from 30 metres out finally got Treviso off the mark three minutes later but any hopes of a sensational comeback were shortlived as Imhoff sliced through in style for Racing's sixth score.
The brilliant individual break from the Pumas wing featured a classy hitch kick thrown in for good measure and replacement Benjamin Dambielle's successful conversion saw Racing lead 36-7 with 63 minutes gone.
A penalty try for a scrum offence followed five minutes further down the line and Imhoff barged over out wide for try No.8 with 10 minutes left to play. Lapeyre then rubbed salt into Treviso's substantial wounds at the death as his second and Racing's ninth try took the tally past 50.
Scorers and scorers:
Ospreys 9-20 Northampton Saints
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Pens: Biggar 3
For Northampton:
Tries: Clark, North
Cons: Myler
Pens: Myler 2
Yellow card: George Pisi (Northampton Saints, 32)
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Aisea Natoga, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 James King, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Marc Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Morgan Allen, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Steve Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Christian Day, 4 Sam Dickinson, 3 Gareth Denman, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Alex Corbisiero, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Joel Hodgson, 22 James Wilson, 23 Jamie Elliott.
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert (France), Jonathan Gasnier (France)
TMO: Jean-Marie Piraveau (France)
Racing Metro 92 53-7 Benetton Treviso
The scorers:
For Racing Metro:
Tries: Chavancy, Lapeyre 2, Szarzewski 3, Imhoff 2, Penalty try
Cons: Machenaud 2, Dambielle 2
For Benetton Treviso:
Try: Campagnaro
Con: Carlisle
Yellow card: Rupert Harden (Benetton Treviso, 41)
Teams:
Racing Metro 92: 15 Benjamin Lapeyre, 14 Juan Imhoff, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Benjamin Dambielle, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (captain), 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Walter Desmaison, 19 Tomas Lavinini, 20 Juandre Kruger, 21 Camille Gerondeau, 22 Mike Phillips, 23 Yoan Audrin.
Benetton Treviso: 15 Angelo Esposito, 14 Simone Ragusi, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Enrico Bacchin, 11 Andrea Pratichetti, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Francesco Minto, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Meyer Swanepoel, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Albert Alfred Anae, 1 Matteo Zanusso.
Replacements: 16 Amar Kudin, 17 Josè Francisco Novak, 18 Cosma Garfagnoli, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Mathew Henry Luamanu, 21 Marco Barbini, 22 James Ambrosini, 23 Alberto Lucchese.
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Andrew Small (England), Andrew Pearce (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
