European Cup semi-final/Biarritz - 18 Bath - 9: The English Premiership clubs want a greater say in how the European Cup is run, but they need to do more running on the field if they are to make a renewed impact in a competition they dominated in the early years of the decade.
Bath promised an expansive approach in San Sebastian but, in a month when their head coach Brian Ashton is expected to be asked to inject imagination and daring into England's back play, their ambition was thwarted by a combination of the rain, poor skills under pressure and an obdurate, cynical defence.
If this semi-final was a largely tedious affair, lacking even one moment of inspiration to linger in the memory, the words of both teams afterwards did not lack a cutting edge. Biarritz were forced on the defensive when asked to comment on an alleged eye-gouge by their captain Benoit August on secondrow Danny Grewcock at the end of the first half.
Biarritz's head coach Patrice Lagisquet said the incident had been an accident and that August had been going for the ball and was unimpressed when asked if he had meant eyeball. He accused Bath of targeting Sireli Bobo, the scorer of the only try in the quarter-final victory over Sale here, from the opening minute when the Fijian wing required prolonged attention after taking a blow to his head in a ruck.
Grewcock played down the alleged gouging, saying that if anything had happened it was an accident, but he was in no mood to turn the other eye at the time, talking animatedly and pointing at a cluster of Biarritz forwards after a cut above his left eye had been treated. He prowled around menacingly for the rest of the half, finishing it by wiping his feet at a ruck on the back of the prop Petru Balan, who lay on the ground for some minutes after the whistle blew for half-time.
Balan and Grewcock spent the afternoon locked in combat. The prop claimed he had been punched by the England secondrow at an early scrum and the pair were eventually sent to the sin-bin 15 minutes from the end after taking the opportunity to mix it when Andy Beattie and Jerome Thion exchanged punches following a scuffle at a ruck that started when Beattie pushed Thion off the ball.
Balan and Grewcock were quickly at each other's throats. The Bath forward had easily the better of the duel, with Balan having to be sponged down before waking up to a yellow card. When the match ended the two embraced in the weary manner of boxers who have gone the distance. As a sideshow, it was more compelling than the game itself.
Bath struggled to make an early impact after conceding five penalties in the opening quarter. Apart from an early break by the centre Philippe Bidabe, which would probably have resulted in a try but for a superb tackle by Steve Borthwick, Biarritz were content to play for position and take advantage of Bath's indiscipline at the breakdown, with Dimitri Yachvili kicking five penalties out of five.
The Irish referee, Alain Rolland, told Borthwick at half-time to talk to his players about their discipline, but the second-half penalty count was 7-1 in Biarritz's favour. Midway through the second period Bath started to offload in contact and make inroads, but David Bory lost the ball having surged into the Biarritz 25, Chris Malone wasted a two-man overlap by failing to take and give a pass in one movement and Salesi Finau, with his side six points down five minutes from the end, lost the ball in contact at the moment he was preparing to dive for the line.
"I am disappointed because we got into their 25 a few times without finishing moves off," said Ashton. "If we cannot play in the wet being English, there is something wrong with us."
Bath's elimination means England will have six clubs in next season's European Cup. Bath will not be one of them and they will probably have to replace their entire coaching team in the summer if Ashton is taken on full-time by England, with Michael Foley returning to Australia and Richard Graham set to join Saracens.
BIARRITZ: Brusque; Gobelet, Bidabe, Traille, Bobo; Peyrelongue, Yach vili; Balan, August (capt), Johnston (Lecouls, 53), Thion, Couzinet (Olibeau, 59), Betsen, Dusautoir, Harinordoquy. Pens: Yachvili 5. Drop-goal: Traille. Sin-bin: Balan, 65.
BATH: Stephenson (Fuimaono-Sapolu, 47); Higgins (Finau, 67), Crockett, Barkley, Bory; Malone, Walsh (Williams, 71); Filise (Barnes, 61), Mears, Bell, Borthwick (capt), Grewcock, Beattie (Short, 76), Lipman, Feaunati (Delve, 70). Pens: Malone 3. Sin-bin: Grewcock, 65
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
Guardian Service
