Six and out for gallant Bath

Bath defied thunder, lightning, teeming rain, a waterlogged pitch and partial floodlight failure last night in a noble attempt to achieve their toughest task of the season.

They needed to beat Newport by 11 tries to catch the last boat into the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup but, not surprisingly on a pitch looking more like a lake than a rugby field, fell five short.

On a night when the size of their task demanded a dry ball and firm going, nature could hardly have conspired to produce more spiteful conditions. Bath, to their glorious credit, refused to take the hint.

In concluding that the pitch was playable, French referee Daniel Gillet probably decided the match had already been postponed enough times. Bath's inexplicable failure to protect the pitch from last week's frost prevented them from staging the tie on Saturday or Sunday. Last night, though, as they skimmed over the various ponds left by the downpour, the former European champions got off to a flyer with two tries in the opening 10 minutes. Gareth Cooper accounted for the first try, the uncapped Welshman taking full advantage of Gary Teichmann's slip to scuttle 30 yards down the blind side of a scrum and strengthen his case for a place among the 22 against England. Minutes later, though, he went off with a knee injury.

Another Welshman, flanker Gavin Thomas, skidded under the posts for the second before Newport began to plug the leaks left by the absence of four internationals. Bath had to wait almost until half time for the third try, a touchdown by John Preston, replacing Cooper. Shaun Berne, pressed into action after Mike Catt had limped off after 38 minutes, pounced for the fourth try and when Mark Regan claimed the fifth, Bath abandoned the conversion to save time.

Berne burst over for the sixth try 13 minutes from the end but even Bath were forced to concede that their mission was impossible.