Montpellier beat Bath 32-14 in Champions Cup opener

Bath 14-32 Montpellier, The Rec

Montpellier opened their Investec Champions Cup campaign with an impressive 32-14 victory over Bath at The Rec.

The French visitors recovered from a 14-10 half-time deficit to score 22 unanswered points after the break, with Donovan Taofifenua crossing twice. Stuart Hogg and Alexandre Bécognée also scored as Montpellier secured a bonus-point victory away from home.

Bath made a promising start through tries from Ollie Lawrence and Arthur Green, but missed opportunities and costly errors allowed Montpellier to take control in the second half.

Bath Respond To Early Montpellier Try

Bath began brightly and thought they had scored inside the opening minutes when Max Ojomoh crossed the line. However, the try was ruled out following a TMO review after he failed to retain control of the ball while grounding it.

Montpellier made the most of that early escape and opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Hogg finished an attacking move in the corner. Adam Hastings converted to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.

The hosts responded through Lawrence in the 18th minute. Strong carries from Green and Will Jeanes helped Bath move into attacking territory before Lawrence powered through two defenders to score. Finn Russell converted to level the scores.

Bath soon moved ahead after winning a penalty. Green reacted quickly, spotting space in the Montpellier defence and breaking through to score the hosts' second try in the 24th minute. Russell added the conversion to make it 14-7.

Montpellier reduced the deficit when Hastings kicked a penalty in the 34th minute. The visitors also had a potential try ruled out following a TMO review for a forward pass, leaving Bath 14-10 ahead at half-time.

Taofifenua Puts Montpellier Ahead

Bath started the second half looking to extend their narrow advantage and came close to scoring when Joe Cokanasiga failed to gather the ball cleanly near the try-line.

Montpellier capitalised on the missed opportunity and regained the lead in the 47th minute when Taofifenua finished in the corner. Hastings missed the conversion, leaving the visitors narrowly ahead at 15-14.

Bath attempted to respond, but Montpellier's defence continued to frustrate the hosts and prevent them from building sustained attacking pressure.

Hastings extended the visitors' advantage with another penalty in the 55th minute, making it 18-14.

Montpellier then struck a decisive blow when Russell attempted a no-look pass towards Cokanasiga. Taofifenua intercepted the ball and raced clear to complete his second try in the 62nd minute. Hastings converted to put Montpellier 25-14 ahead.

Bath Denied As Montpellier Pull Clear

Bath continued to search for a response and thought they had scored when Josh Bayliss forced his way over following a strong passage of forward play.

However, the try was ruled out after the TMO identified a neck-roll infringement by Ted Hill earlier in the move, denying the hosts an opportunity to reduce the deficit.

The visitors secured their fourth try around the 75th minute after kicking a penalty to touch and establishing an attacking lineout near the Bath line. Their forwards built pressure before Bécognée crossed from close range.

Hastings converted to extend the lead to 32-14 and complete Montpellier's scoring.