Montpellier down Bath through Taofifenua double, Munster honour Foley

Brian Gleeson paid the perfect tribute to the late Anthony Foley, relinquishing the number eight jersey then scoring Munster’s opening try in a 33-25 win over Racing 92.

The number eight jersey was retired for the night at Supervalu Pairc ui Chaoimh in honour of the club’s former captain and head coach, who died aged 42 on the eve of a clash between the same teams in 2016.

Gleeson instead wore number 24 and gave the Irish side a seventh-minute lead when he powered over the line.

That helped his side take a 14-6 half-time lead, Shay McCarthy adding a second score. Both teams touched down three times in an expansive second half, Tadhg Beirne, Fineen Wychereley and Craig Casey for the hosts, who never surrendered the lead, while Wilfried Hulleu, Maxime Machenaud and Joey Manu responded for the French outfit.

Charlie O’Shea converted three times on debut and Antoine Gibert kicked 10 points in a losing cause.

The game began with a performance of ‘There is an Isle’ in Foley’s memory, with a shirt presentation between the teams before kick-off.

Across in Bath, Johann van Graan’s side were dealt a second-half lesson by Montpellier as they fell to a 32-14 defeat at The Rec in their Pool Four clash.

The home side led 14-10 at the interval after Ollie Lawrence and Arthur Green both scored tries following Stuart Hogg’s opener.

However, Joe Cokanasiga then wasted a golden opportunity to extend Bath’s advantage after the interval and the French side capitalised.

Donovan Taofifenua crossed in the corner to hand Montpellier the lead before he then intercepted Finn Russell’s pass to deliver a quickfire double.

Alex Becognee made the points safe for the visiting side after Josh Bayliss’ try for Bath was ruled out because of an earlier infringement.