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Bath Rugby travel to the Stadio Comunale di Monigo on Saturday afternoon holding slender hopes of a European Rugby Champions Cup quarter-final berth, but to have any chance of reaching the latter stages, they must defeat Benetton Rugby, live on BT Sport.
- Bath Rugby currently stand third in Pool 5, five points adrift of leaders RC Toulon and four behind second-placed Scarlets, but with the top two sides facing each other in Wales, the West Country side could fight their way into contention.
- A bonus-point win will be a must for Bath Rugby, but should they do so against bottom side Benetton Rugby, they could still conceivably top Pool 5, or claim one of the three best placed runners-up spots available this weekend.
- Bath Rugby have faced Benetton Rugby four times in Europe previously and have won three of the encounters between the clubs, averaging four tries per games, a record they will need to maintain if they are to stay in the running for quarter-final places.
- Benetton Rugby come into Round 6 winless in the competition to date and did not enjoy the reverse fixtures, with Bath Rugby keeping a clean sheet in a 23-0 triumph, with tries from Zach Mercer and Aled Brew, who both start again this weekend for the tourists.
- Bath Rugby also have prop Tom Dunn in the starting line-up, with the front-rower leading the tackling tallies in the Champions Cup, making 99 so far, more than anyone in the competition, while Benetton Rugby must watch their discipline having collected three yellow cards and a red card in just five rounds.
Bath Rugby raced in seven tries in a 47-28 victory over Benetton Rugby as they made a spirited effort to reach the European Rugby Champions Cup quarter-finals, only for the final score in Llanelli to deny the West Country side a place in the knockout stages.
- Tom Dunn, Matt Banana, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Zach Mercer and Luke Charteris all scored as well as Bath Rugby being awarded a penalty try as they did all they could, but both Scarlets and RC Toulon coming away with points in Wales means Bath Rugby finish third in Pool 5 and are eliminated from the competition.
- Hosts Benetton Rugby raced out of the blocks as wing Luca Sperandio opened the scoring, but the Bath Rugby riposte was immediate, with hooker Dunn crashing over the whitewash just three minutes later.
- French referee Pascal Guazere would then award Bath Rugby a penalty try as they asserted pressure on the Benetton Rugby defence and when flyers Banahan and Watson slid home, the tourists were assured a bonus point, only for Joseph to add a fifth before the interval.
- Benetton Rugby returned from the break rejuvenated and started their fightback as Sebastian Negri and Tommaso Benvenuti scored tries within four minutes of each other.
- But the night belonged to Bath Rugby in Treviso with forwards Mercer and Charteris adding the gloss to a emphatic away triumph by forcing their way to tries, yet Benetton Rugby had the final say as Monty Ioane snatched a late bonus-point score for the hosts.
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