Bath hold off brave Saracens to reach last eight

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Joe Cokanasiga's try put Bath ahead for the first time in the second half [Getty Images]

Investec Champions Cup

Bath (0) 31

Tries: Arundell 2, Cokanasiga, Spencer, Lawrence Cons: Russell 3

Saracens (10) 22

Tries: Bracken, Malins, Caluori Cons: Farrell, Burke Pen: Farrell

Bath held off a brave effort from out-of-form Saracens to book their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals with a thrilling 31-22 win at The Rec.

Saracens, who had lost 62-15 to Bath on the same ground two weeks earlier, had a deserved 10-0 lead at half-time through a converted Charlie Bracken try and an Owen Farrell penalty.

But Prem champions Bath roared back after the break, with tries from Henry Arundell, Joe Cokanasiga and Ben Spencer seemingly giving them the momentum to reach the last eight.

However, a Max Malins try meant Saracens - without a win in five games prior to the trip to Bath - closed in again until Bath's Ollie Lawrence went over by the posts.

Noah Caluori's try in the corner was superbly converted by Fergus Burke to reduce Bath's lead to four points, but Arundell's second try in the final minute clinched a home tie for Bath against Northampton next weekend for a place in the semi-finals.

More to follow.

Line-ups​

Bath: Carreras; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Ojomoh, Arundell; Russell, Spencer (capt); Obano, Dunn, Griffin, Roux, Ewels, Bayliss, Pepper, Barbeary.

Replacements: Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Du Toit, Hill, Underhill, Van der Linde, Redpath, Reid.

Yellow cards: Pepper (25), Obano (45)

Saracens: Daly; Caluori, Tompkins, Farrell, Elliott; Burke, Bracken; Carre, George, Street, Itoje (capt), Tizard, McFarland, Onyeama-Christie, Willis.

Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Riccioni, Wilson, Michelow, Van Zyl, Lozowski, Malins.

Yellow cards: Wilson (70)

Match officials​

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales), ***** Tevzadze (Georgia)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

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