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Rugby Union

'We threw it away', says Bath fly-half Butch James

12/10/2008

Bath fly-half Butch James admitted his side were bitterly disappointed after narrowly losing away at Toulouse in Heineken Cup today.

The Guinness Premiership leaders were ahead 16-15 after Nick Abendanon scored a try in the 79th minute. But Bath were unable to play out the clock and conceded a penalty with only seconds left of the game and David Skrela stepped up to convert his sixth penalty of the match and win the game for the French side.

It was a tough defeat to handle for James and his team-mates as they had been the better team for most of the game, scoring two tries while Toulouse managed none. But the in-form Skrela kept his team in the game with his brilliant kicking.

"We all thought we'd done it when Nick Abendanon got the try," said James. "But we played for 89 minutes and 59 seconds and lost our concentration for one second - and it cost us the win.

"Either side could have won the game. But we played a lot of rugby and if we'd won it, we would have deserved it. Our heads are down in the dressing room, and there's a mixture of anger and disappointment in there - disappointment that we didn't win and anger because we know we threw it away at the end.

"But the bottom line is we're leaving here a better side for this experience. If we're in the same position again, we won't make the same mistake and we'll close the game out."

Bath will be hoping to get their European Cup campaign back on track when they face the Newport-Gwent Dragons at home next Sunday.