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Bath ran in five tries in their quarter-final dress-rehearsal at home against London Welsh last weekend
Bath ran in five tries in their quarter-final dress-rehearsal at home against London Welsh last weekend, but lost England blockbusting centre cum wing Matt Banahan with an injury.
That could cost them some fire-power behind the scrum, although Fijian flyer Semesa Rokoduguni stepped into the midfield with devastating effect when Banahan’s knee injury forced him to retire.
Stade Francais will bring with them one of the leading players in Europe in Italian No 8 Sergio Parisse and will also have Argentinean legend Felipe Contepomi seeking to sign off his remarkable career in style with a European title.
Even though Stade Francais have lost their last two games heavily to two of the top three teams in the Top 14, Toulon and Toulouse, they remain a threat and are a side with a strong pedigree in the Amlin Challenge Cup having reached the final in Cardiff two years ago.
Bath are one of only two teams to have won both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup and are still not certain of Heineken Cup qualification next season. That makes their knock-out phase in the Amlin vitally important to former Springboks forwards coach Gary Gold as he prepares his team for the next stage in the development of his side at Bath.
Match Facts
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Stade have figured in the knockout stages of this competition for the last two seasons and have won through to the last four on both occasions, losing the final in 2010/11.
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On the four previous occasions that Bath have featured in this tournament, they have won their quarter-final match, reaching the final three times.
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Bath have won all 20 of their home matches in this competition.
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Bath’s tackle completion rate of 92% is the best in the Amlin Challenge Cup this season.
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The clubs have met twice before, in the 2009/10 Heineken Cup pool stage. Stade won both matches by margins of two points.
Les Parisiens ont surpris les Anglais sur la pelouse du Recreation Ground (20 - 36). Il y aura donc un club français en finale puisqu'ils affronteront Perpignan en demi-finale à Aimé-Giral. - 06/04/2013 15:02
Stade Francais will face Perpignan in the semi-final of the Amlin Challenge Cup after an impressive victory over Bath Rugby at The Rec.
Waisea Vuidarvuwalu scored twice in the first half before Hugo Bonneval added a double after the break to send the Parisiens into the semi-finals for the third year in a row.
Bath briefly hinted at a fightback with a try early in the second half but it was never enough to save their 20-game unbeaten home record in this competition and secure a place in the last four.
After Gloucester and London Wasps were knocked out on successive nights, English hopes in the Amlin Challenge Cup rested on Bath.
And they got off to a promising start when livewire centre Kyle Eastmond went close to scoring after ducking out of the grasps of two defenders.
But Stade possessed plenty of firepower and skill to stun the Rec with two wonderful tries.
The first on 20 minutes was the result of a perfect blend of driving work by the forwards and slick handling by the three-quarters before Bonneval passed to Vuidarvuwalu to touch down in the corner.
Jerome Fillol converted and added a penalty to Jules Plisson’s earlier penalty for a 13-0 lead.
Stephen Donald clawed back a penalty but it was his misplaced pass that allowed Geoffrey Doumayrou and Jeremy Sinzelle to release Vuidarvuwalu to score from 60 metres out.
However Stade’s indiscipline let them down as Rabah Slimani and Scott Lavalla were sin binned either side of half time.
Lavalla was given his matching orders after conceding a penalty try that fuelled Bath hopes of pulling off a comeback early in the second half.
Having trailed 20-3, Bath twice turned down shots at goal and were finally rewarded when Stuart Hooper set up a driving lineout that ended with referee Nigel Owens’ awarding a penalty try.
Donald converted to cut the gap to 10-20 but Bath just could not keep Vuidarvuwalu under wraps.
The Fijian wing drifted across field, evading the grasps of five would-be tacklers, before handing Bonneval an easy finish.
Stade had their tails up and Bonneval grabbed a second two minutes later after Plisson and Vuidarvuwalu launched a thrilling sweeping counter attack from deep inside their own half.
Michael Claassens squeezed over from the back of a scrum but Tom Heathcote missed the conversion and Plisson hit back with a drop goal from a metre inside his own half.
And despite a late Bath surge that saw Jack Cuthbert score, Jerome Porical had the last say with a long-range penalty to seal an impressive win.
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