Bath breezed past Section Paloise into quarters with an overwhelming 49-24 win after leading 28-10 at the halftime break.
If Section Paloise were hoping for any first-half hangover for Bath, they would have been mistaken. The English side came out firing, with Tom Dunn becoming the evening’s fifth scorer after 42 minutes of play.
Even the eventual dismissal from a high Sam Underhill tackle wasn’t enough to affect Bath’s game, as McConnochie’s expert move saw the visitors breach the Section Paloise back line for the sixth time.
The home side did manage to get one back through Brau-Boirie, but it was in vain. Miles Reid went over for Bath to increase an already commanding lead and cement the side’s spot in the quarters.
Scorers:
Section Paloise: Tries: Carwyn Tuipulotu, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Fabien Brau-Boirie. Conversions: Axel Desperes (3). Penalty: Axel Desperes.
Bath Rugby: Tries: Will Muir, Joe Cokanasiga, Beno Obano, Josh Bayliss, Tom Dunn, Ruaridh McConnochie, Miles Reid. Conversions: Ciaran Donoghue (7).
Teams
Section Paloise: 15 Aymeric Luc, 14 Eliott Roudil (c), 13 Olivier Klemenczak, 12 Fabien Brau-Boirie, 11 Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, 10 Axel Desperes, 9 Thomas Souverbie, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Thibaut Hamonou, 6 Joel Kpoku, 5 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 4 Thomas Jolmes, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Youri Delhommel, 1 Ignacio Calles. Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Hugo Parrou, 18 Siate Tokolahi, 19 Remi Picquette, 20 Jimi Maximin, 21 Reece Hewat, 22 Dan Robson, 23 Tumua Manu.
Bath Rugby: 15 Ruaridh McConnochie, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Will Butt, 11 Will Muir, 10 Ciaran Donoghue, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano. Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Jaco Coetzee.
