RACING METRO CLINCHED a dogged 15-3 win over Edinburgh on Friday to keep their European Cup quarter-final hopes alive as last season’s semi-finalists slumped to a fourth successive defeat.

In a battle of the boot at Murrayfield, Olly Barkley and Gaeton Germain kicked penalties inside the first seven minutes with Piers Francis cutting the French side’s lead after 27 minutes.

But the former Waikato Chiefs fly-half was guilty of five misses out of six attempts on a rain-swept night while Germain was successful with three second half penalties.

The win took Racing to the top of Pool 1 ahead of Sunday’s match between Saracens and Munster.

Torrential rain reduced the Stade Aguilera pitch in Biarritz to a virtual swimming pool as the French side set about avenging their shock 22-14 defeat to Connacht in Ireland last weekend.

Dmitri Yachvili kicked a third-minute penalty before his team had a try ruled out when Takudzwa Ngwenya aquaplaned into touch before he was able to ground the ball.

However, Biarritz grabbed a deserved lead on the half hour when Iain Balshaw darted between a gap left wide open by Dan Parks to score with Yachvili succeeding with a tricky conversion from the touchline for a 10-0 lead at the interval.

The pitch got increasingly heavier in the second half ruining the game as a spectacle.

Fijian replacement Seremaia Burotu grabbed a last-minute try, converted by Yachvili, to give Biarritz a 17-0 victory.

But Biarritz remain five points behind Pool 4 leaders Ulster, who are at home to Northampton on Saturday.

- © AFP, 2012

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