Bath hold off brave Saracens to reach last eight

Investec Champions Cup

Bath (0) 31

Tries: Arundell 2, Cokanasiga, Spencer, Lawrence Cons: Russell 3

Saracens (10) 22

Tries: Bracken, Malins, Caluori Cons: Farrell, Burke Pen: Farrell

Bath held off a brave effort from Saracens to book their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals with a thrilling 31-22 win at The Rec.

Saracens, who had lost 62-15 to Bath on the same ground two weeks earlier, had a deserved 10-0 lead at half-time through a converted Charlie Bracken try and an Owen Farrell penalty.

But Prem champions Bath roared back after the break, with tries from Henry Arundell, Joe Cokanasiga and Ben Spencer seemingly giving them the momentum to reach the last eight.

However, a Max Malins try meant Saracens - without a win in five games prior to the trip to Bath - closed in again until Bath's Ollie Lawrence went over by the posts.

Noah Caluori's try in the corner was superbly converted by Fergus Burke to reduce Bath's lead to four points, but Arundell's second try in the final minute clinched a home tie for Bath against Northampton next weekend for a place in the semi-finals.

Bath, who were playing a knockout tie at home for the first time in this competition since 2002, were disrupted at the set-piece and put off their stride by Saracens throughout the first half.

The visitors took a deserved lead when scrum-half Bracken collected from a ruck to glide past Cokansiga on his inside, dotting down for a try that Farrell slotted comfortably.

They should have extended their lead soon after, but winger Tobias Elliott tried to kick an Elliot Daly grubber onwards when collecting it may have set up the chance for another try, before Farrell landed a penalty with the break in sight.

Referee Nika Amashukeli had been hurt after colliding with Josh Bayliss and was replaced at half-time by assistant Dan Connor, but Bath's introduction of South African Test prop Thomas du Toit shored up their forward pack and brought immediate rewards.

Arundell stepped in off the left wing to touch down despite a last-ditch tackle from Caluori, and Cokanasiga gathered when the ball bounced kindly from a Lawrence back-of-the-hand pass for a try under the posts that put Bath ahead.

The home side stretched their lead with the game's most spectacular moment, a length-of-the-pitch try from Spencer that came moments after Andy Onyeama-Christie seemed destined to score for Saracens.

The Sarries flanker dropped the ball, and Cokanasiga and then Alfie Barbeary tore down the right wing to set up the Bath scrum-half, who raced in by the corner flag.

Sarries hit back quickly when Malins finished off a move that involved Caluori, Farrell and Nick Tompkins, but they were reduced to 14 for the last 10 minutes when Harry Wilson was sin-binned for a shoulder-to-head challenge.

Lawrence barged through three Saracens defenders for Bath's fourth try, but Caluori crossed within a couple of minutes when he cut in from the right to give Burke a slightly easier conversion, which he added.

Du Toit was held up under the posts, but Bath finally made the game safe when Arundell accepted a flat pass and dived in at the corner.

While Bath will be delighted to be back on home turf next time as they seek a second European Champions Cup to add to the one they won 28 years ago, the display against a fired-up Sarries will need improving upon.

They looked a different proposition in the scrum once Springbok Du Toit arrived in the front row, but still had to play for 10 minutes with 14 players after Beno Obano was sin-binned early in the second half.

The Rec's home contingent had been quietened by Saracens' determined display, but they found their voice once Arundell had plunged over for his first try after 43 minutes.

Despite some superb tries, Bath could never quite shake Saracens off and with Northampton having scored seven tries - one a penalty try - in their 49-41 last-16 win over Castres, the quarter-final between the Prem's top two sides could be another high-scoring affair under the lights.

Toulon survived a late TMO decision to beat Stormers and make the quarter-finals with a 28-27 victory.

The Stormers were convinced they had grounded the ball late in the match, but referee Christophe Ridley's 'no try' decision was upheld after a review.

Toulon will face the winners of the Glasgow Warriors-Bulls last-16 tie.

Bath: Carreras; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Ojomoh, Arundell; Russell, Spencer (capt); Obano, Dunn, Griffin, Roux, Ewels, Bayliss, Pepper, Barbeary.

Replacements: Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Du Toit, Hill, Underhill, Van der Linde, Redpath, Reid.

Yellow cards: Pepper (25), Obano (45)

Saracens: Daly; Caluori, Tompkins, Farrell, Elliott; Burke, Bracken; Carre, George, Street, Itoje (capt), Tizard, McFarland, Onyeama-Christie, Willis.

Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Riccioni, Wilson, Michelow, Van Zyl, Lozowski, Malins.

Yellow cards: Wilson (70)

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales), Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)