Biarritz claim home tie

Biarritz were forced to battle back from a nine-point deficit before beating Glasgow and securing a home quarter-final.

The Scottish side led 20-11 early in the second half following tries from Thom Evans and Chris Cusiter.

But Biarritz hit back with 30 unanswered points, the crucial fourth try and a bonus point coming 50 seconds from the final whistle.

Eduard Coetzee and Takudzwa Ngwenya crossed before Ilikena Bolakoro's score followed a penalty try, as Glasgow suffered a fourth defeat in Pool Two.

Biarritz had already secured their place in the quarter-finals but were without key playmakers Dimitri Yachvili and Damien Traille through injury, while fly-half Julien Peyrelongue was rested.

It was Peyrelongue's replacement, Valentin Courrent, who stepped up to open the scoring in the fourth minute with a penalty, but Glasgow managed to handle the muddy conditions well early on.

Flanker John Barclay hammered a hole through the heart of the Biarritz defence and the vision of Chris Cusiter created the first try.

The Scotland scrum-half found Evans out wide in open space with an intelligent kick and the winger scooted past prop Mosese Moala before diving over despite Bolakoro's lunge.

Parks coverted for a surprise 7-3 lead and that advantage soon grew as Glasgow dominated the close-quarter exchanges. Second-row forward Richie Gray's charge led to a second Parks penalty, and a neat interchange of passes between Max Evans, John Beattie and Cusiter ended in a third as the visitors stunned the home crowd by leading 13-3.

Tempo

That sparked a change in tempo and tactics from Biarritz which reduced the deficit to 13-11 by half-time. Courrent kicked a 28th-minute penalty but was off target five minutes later, and he missed again after prop Coetzee was shoved over the line by the rest of the Biarritz pack three minutes before the break.

The second half got off to a tremendous start for Glasgow, despite Parks missing for the first time.

Full-back Bernardo Stortoni launched an audacious attack with a quickly taken penalty just 10 metres from the Glasgow try-line, and it ended with Cusiter sliding between the Biarritz posts.

Stortoni burst from defence and exchanged passes with Max Evans before handing Cusiter a 25-metre dash to score.

Parks' conversion moved Glasgow 20-11 ahead after 48 minutes, but that was to be as good as it got for the visitors.

Biarritz turned their fortunes around in the scrum, with replacement Kiwi prop Campbell Johnstone having an impact, and with more firepower following off the bench that dominance up front quickly led to an avalanche of points.

Race clear

Courrent drew Biarritz level with three successive penalties, before wing Ngwenya shrugged off Hefin O'Hare's weak attempt at a tackle to race clear for a try that put the hosts ahead for the first time since the 10th minute.

The French side's advantage at the scrum forced referee Dave Pearson to award a penalty try after 69 minutes, but it took until the last minute of the game before they clinched the vital bonus point when Bolakoro supported Imanol Harinordoquy's break to score.