Biarritz ease to comfortable win

Biarritz 29 Benetton Treviso 12: TRIES IN the final 10 minutes from forwards Wenceslas Lauret and Arnaud Heguy took Biarritz…

Biarritz 29 Benetton Treviso 12:TRIES IN the final 10 minutes from forwards Wenceslas Lauret and Arnaud Heguy took Biarritz to an ultimately comfortable win over 14-man Benetton Treviso in Heineken Cup Pool Five last night.

The visitors were a man down from the 24th minute, when flanker Francesco Minto was shown the red card with his team leading 6-0 through two Kris Burton penalties.

Burton split the posts twice more before Julien Peyrelongue cut the deficit to 12-3 at the interval, but Iain Balshaw’s 44th-minute try brought Biarritz back into contention.

Replacement Dane Haylett-Petty put the French side ahead for the first time at 15-12 and flanker Lauret and hooker Heguy saw them to victory.

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Heguy 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.

BIARRITZ: Balshaw; Ngwenya, Bosch, Traille, Bolakoro; Peyrelongue, Lesgourgues; Watremez, Heguy, Gomez Kodela, Carizza, Taele-Pvihi, Guyot, Lauret, Harinordoquy. Replacements: Haylett-Petty for Lesgourgues (40), Marconnet for Watremez (56), Thion for Taele-Pvihi (70), Faure for Harinordoquy (25). Not used: August, Lebrequier, Roidot, Baby. Scoring: Tries: Balshaw, Haylett-Petty, Lauret, Heguy. Cons: Peyrelongue 3. Pens: Peyrelongue.

BENETTON TREVISO: McLean; Nitoglia, Pratichetti, Sgarbi, Benvenuti; Burton, Botes; Rizzo, Ceccato, Cittadini, A. Pavanello, van Zyl, Minto, Zanni, Barbieri. Replacements: de Waal for Nitoglia (15), Gori for Pratichetti (74), Rouyet for Rizzo (61), Vidal for Ceccato (60), Padro for A. Pavanello (63), Vermaak for van Zyl (70), Filippucci for Barbieri (61). Not used: Di Santo. Sent Off: Minto (26). Scoring: Pens: Burton 4.

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland).