Biarritz 26-19 Bath: Early bath for Euro hopes

• Rough and tumble: Bath's Danny Grewcock tries to steal the ball from Biarritz's rampaging Erik Lund. Photograph: Getty Images

Bath coach Steve Meehan is confident his side can kick on and push for an Aviva Premiership play-off place despite being dumped out of Europe at the hands of Biarritz.

Bath fell to a Basque side with former Rec favourite Iain Balshaw grabbing two of the hosts' four tries.

Dimitri Yachvili and Takudzwa Ngwenya also crossed for Biarritz while Stuart Hooper and Tom Biggs (two) touched down for Bath.

The west country giants had a slim chance of advancing to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals but they had to travel to Parc des Sports Aguilera and secure a bonus-point win whilst also needing Ulster to suffer a shock defeat at Italian minnows Aironi.

But they came up short despite a spirited performance while Ulster romped to a comfortable bonus-point win.

Despite the defeat putting an end to Bath's European dreams, Meehan felt there were plenty of positives his side could take from the encounter.

He said: "If we return to the Premiership and play rugby like that then we are going to be a handful.

"The rugby itself was fairly evenly shared. At times we got on the front foot and played some good attacking rugby.

"If you look only at our win-loss count in this pool, it looks poor. But we performed better than that indicates.

"In the second-half, both of their tries came from poor tactical kicking that put us under pressure. But we finished off well and kept working for the full 80 minutes.

"We thoroughly deserved those three tries.

"It's frustrating to have lost, but you must be optimistic after performances like that."

Biarritz's bonus-point win secured top spot in Heineken Cup Pool Four at the expense of Ulster.

The win sees the French giants claim a home quarter-final while Bath bow out of European action.

With Biarritz and Ulster level on 17 points each at the start of the final round of action, Bath knew they would have to claim a bonus-point victory to secure an unlikely route to the quarter-finals.

But they came up against a fired-up Biarritz outfit who were fighting for their own European fate.

And they got off to a flying start with a Yachvili try after five minutes before Balshaw grabbed tries either side of half-time.

Hooper handed Bath a glimmer of hope but it was short-lived with Ngwenya racing clear for the bonus-point try after 63 minutes.

Biggs struck with two tries for Bath in the last ten minutes but it was not enough as Biarritz marched into the knockout stages.

England's Olly Barkley could have given Bath the perfect start but he struck the right post with a penalty after just five minutes.

It got worse five minutes later when Bath shot themselves in the foot. Barkley's attempted clearance was charge down by French international Yachvili. The terrier-like scrum-half quickly gathered the ball to race clear and score. He then added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The hosts extended their lead after 18 minutes when Bath old boy Balshaw celebrated a new contract with the French giants with a second touchdown. The former British Lion received the ball out wide and combined with Dane Haylett-Parry to claim the hosts' second try.

Nick Abendanon saved a probable third try but the hosts continued to press in the closing stages of the half and had several close-range scrums, which saw Duncan Bell sent to the sin-bin, but Bath held strong and the score remained 14-0 at the half-time.

Bath got off to a wretched start in the second half with Biarritz grabbing a second Balshaw try. Biarritz made several attacks through the middle, the ball was spread wide and, despite Luke Watson getting a hand to Yachvili's pass, the ball fell to Balshaw who stepped inside Abendanon to score.

But the West Country giants kept fighting and hit back from close range after 46 minutes.

After several phases, second row Hooper was on hand to crash over. Barkley was unable to add the conversion and the score remained 21-5.

But Biarritz hit back with the crucial bonus-point try thanks to Zimbabwean-born United States flyer Ngwenya.

Yachvili, a constant thorn in the side of Bath, threw a long pass out to Marcelo Bosch and the centre sucked in three defenders to create the space for Ngwenya. The wing raced clear to score in the corner to restore his side's 21-point lead, although Yachvili failed to land the conversion.

Biggs grabbed two late consolation tries which Sam Vesty converted but it was not enough for Steve Meehan's men.

Scorers: Biarritz: Tries: Name, Name, Name. Cons: Name 3. Pens: Name 2. Bath: Tries: Name, Name, Name. Cons: Name 3. Pens: Name 2.

Biarritz: Haylett-Petty, Ngwenya, Bosch, Traille, Balshaw, Peyrelongue, Yachvili, Lakafia, Harinordoquy, Vahafolau, Lund, Taele, Marconnet, August, Coetzee. Substitutes: Terrain, Watremez, Guinazu, Thion, Guyot, Lesgourgues, Mignardi, Bolakoro.

Bath: Abendanon, Banahan, Barkley, Hape, Biggs, James, Claassens, Skirving, Watson, Taylor, Grewcock, Hooper, Wilson, Mears, Bell. Substitutes: Dixon, Flatman, Jarvis, Fernadez Lobbe, Ovens, McMillan, Vesty, Cuthbert.

Referee: G Clancy. Attendance: XX,000.