Amitage leads way against his old club

By TOM SHEEDY

Biarritz …………20

Toulon…………..17

IN a superb contest, Steffon Armitage, now 36, rolled back the years to lead Biarritz to victory over a Toulon side he helped win three Champions Cup titles.

Both of these sides have slipped from former glory but Biarritz, who Armitage guided back to the Top 14 in dramatic fashion last year when he landed a sudden death penalty against neighbours and bitter rivals Bayonne, have made it through to the last 16 in the Challenge Cup.

Biarritz looked set for a comfortable win when they raced into a 12-0 lead with two excellent tries. French sevens player Steeve Barry got over for the opening try with Gilles Bosch converting. And then former Wallaby Henry Speight supplied the finish as incessant pressure paid off.

But Toulon battled back and they cut the margin to 12-9 as Anthony Belleau landed three penalties following good pressure.

Belleau tied the sides three minutes after the restart and they hit the front when Thomas Salles got over for a try after 49 minutes. Belleau was unable to convert and the sides were back on level terms four minutes later when Tevita Kuridrani scored Biarritz's third try.

Bosch was unable to convert but his 66th minute penalty turned out to the winning score as Biarritz held off a frantic late rally from Toulon and will now play Wasps.