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Benetton Treviso will fancy their chances when they host French side Biarritz Olympique in the first of their back-to-back Heineken Cup clashes in Pool 5 at the Stadio Comunale Monigo on Saturday. - 08/12/2011 11:27
Biarritz Olympique will be looking to avenge their shock defeat to Benetton Treviso in Italy when they host the return game between the two sides on French soil on Friday night.
Treviso became the second Italian side, following Aironi’s victory over the Basque side in last season’s Heineken Cup, to beat the Top 14 outfit in the tournament on Italian soil.
The Italian side, who also held the Ospreys to a draw at the Stadio Comunale Monigo, will be more than aware of the French side’s daunting home record at the Stade Aguilera.
Biarritz, who reached the final of the Heineken Cup in 2006 and 2010, have an impressive pedigree on their own patch and have lost only four of 39 home games in the tournament.
Treviso have a record of their own they have to overcome if they are to beat a formidable French side – they have lost their last 11 games away from home in the Heineken Cup.
Biarittz wing Iain Balshaw says his side are taking some consolation from earning a losing bonus point at the Ospreys
Biarritz Olympique survived another scare against a 14-man Benetton Treviso to avenge their defeat in Italy to keep their Heineken Cup quarter-final hopes alive with a much-needed victory at the Stade Aguilera.
The French side crossed for four tries to get a bonus try but the Top 14 side made hard work of things against a Treviso side which played nearly 60 minutes with Francesco Minto shown a red card in the first half.
The Basque outfit had left themselves a lot to do on their home patch after the 30-26 defeat to Treviso in Italy last weekend and needed a bonus point victory to keep their qualification hopes from Pool 5 alive
The Italians started where they left off from last weekend and adapted to the awful wind and rain by using their impressive forward pack to dominated the opening exchanges, with fly-half Kris Burton slotting over the first penalty of the game after seven minutes.
Burton did exactly the same five minutes later to stretch Treviso’s lead to 6-0 but the Italian’s were soon down to 14-men after flanker Minto was shown the red card for violent play at a ruck by Irish referee Peter Fitzgibbon on the 26th minute.
Despite Biarritz dominating most of the opening exchanges and being camped in the visitors half , the Italian side stretched their lead with another Burton two penalties towards before his opposite number Julien Peyrelongue made it 12-3 at half-time to Treviso.
After the break, Biarittz, playing with the wind, scored the game’s first try when full back Iain Balshaw gathered a kick by centre Damien Traille to cross in the left corner to claw the home side back into the contest.
Peyrelongue added the extras to make it 12-10 to Treviso before the French side started to make their one-man advantage pay and took the lead with a try by replacement scrum half Dane Haylett-Petty only minutes later.
The French side blew a number pf try-scoring chances in the last quarter of the contest until flanker Wenceslas Lauret crashed over to stretch the home side’s lead with their third try converted by Peyrelongue.
Hooker Arnaud Heguy then crossed for the Basques fourth try for the all-important bonus point on the 80th minute to keep the French side in the mix for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.
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