LONDON: French side Clermont Auvergne spurned a late penalty which would have sent them through to the quarter-finals as Exeter Chiefs and Stade Francais progressed in a dramatic finale to the European Champions Cup group stage on Sunday.
Last season's runners-up Clermont trailed Bordeaux-Begles 37-28 when Morgan Parra turned down an 80th-minute penalty in front of the posts in favour of going for a try and squandered the chance of a losing bonus point to top the group.
The kick would have taken the French side to 16 points, enough to win Pool Two with a superior aggregate points tally, but instead Exeter advanced as group winners with a 33-17 victory over Welsh team Ospreys at Sandy Park.
"At the time, we didn't know," Clermont captain captain Damien Chouly told local media. "We were playing to win the match, giving everything to try and score at least four tries. Anyway, I don't think we'd have taken the time to think about whether we should have tapped or not." Ospreys also went for broke in the dying stages without realising that a bonus defensive point would have sent them through to the last eight on 17 points, but they left the door open and conceded further.
Exeter will face Pool Five winners Wasps in an away quarter-final, while Stade Francais' 36-21 victory over Leicester Tigers took them through as one of the three best runners-up and set up a rematch with the English group winners at Welford Road in the quarter-finals.
Stade Francais started slowly in Paris as Leicester enjoyed the majority of the early possession and took the lead through England centre Manu Tuilagi, who impressed ahead of the Six Nations as he continues his return to full fitness.
The home side then took control of the match, however, with three tries during a tempestuous 10-minute spell. Already eliminated Munster consigned pointless Benetton Treviso to a sixth defeat, winning 28-5 away to end the group campaign in third on 15 points in Pool Four.
In the other quarter-finals, Pool Three winners Racing Metro will host defending champions Toulon and Northampton Saints will visit Pool One victors Saracens.
The winners of the Northampton v Saracens match will meet Wasps or Exeter in the semi-finals, ensuring that at least one English team will reach the final in May.
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