Sarries steal it at the death

A last-gasp penalty from Marcelo Bosch guided Saracens past Racing Métro and into the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup in Paris on Sunday.

Racing looked to have done enough to book their place in the final four, as a try and two penalties from Maxime Machenaud saw them take an 11-9 lead into the dying minutes.

However, the French side opted to try run the clock down and were penalised for sealing off at the ruck, handing Bosch the opportunity to win it from about 45m on the angle.

The Argentine made no mistake, as last season's beaten finalists claimed a dramatic 12-11 victory to ensure that England will be represented in the final four of Europe's premier rugby competition.

Racing Métro – Try: Maxime Machenaud. Penalties: Machenaud (2).
Saracens – Penalties: Charlie Hodgson (2), Alex Goode, Marcelo Bosch.

Racing Métro –15 Brice Dulin. 14 Juan Imhoff, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Teddy Thomas, 10 Jonny Sexton, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Camille Gerondeau, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe,  4 Luke Charteris, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (c), 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Subs: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Fabrice Metz, 20 Thibault Dubarry, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Alexandre Dumoulin.

Saracens – 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth (c), 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Subs: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Matt Hankin, 22 Neil De Kock, 23 Nick Tompkins.

Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images