Bath and Northampton on par for Champions Cup quarter-finals

Bath have kept their Champions Cup quarter-finals hopes alive with a sensational 35-18 bonus-point win in Toulouse yesterday.
The West Country outfit ran the four-times winners off the park scoring three first-half tries through Matt Banana, Chris Cook and Jonathan Joseph to go into the break 25-15 clear as Yoann Maestri and Yoann Huget crossed for the French.
Bath controlled the second half before Francois Louw finished off a superb moved initiated by Joseph to secure the win and the bonus point late on.
Toulouse still remain top of Pool 4 but Bath are only one point behind them. Mike Ford’s should go through as one of the best second-placed teams, at the very least, should they beat Glasgow, who beat Montpellier 21-10 yesterday, at The Rec on Sunday.
Northampton are almost certain to reach the quarter-finals following their hard-fought 20-9 win at the Ospreys but they could go through as the top seeds should they record a bonus-point win over Racing Metro at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday.
The Parisians are in the same situation as they, too, have 19 points thanks to a 53-7 drumming of Treviso in Colombes.
Tries from Calum Clark and George North helped Northampton open a 17-9 lead at the break in Swansea while Stephen Myler added a penalty in the second half to seal the crucial win.