Rhys Priestland snatches victory from the jaws of defeat for Bath as they down Wasps

Bath 18-16 Wasps: Wales fly-half kicks a 79th-minute penalty to secure victory but both Premiership teams already out of the reckoning in the race for the quarter-finals

Rhys Priestland kicked the match-winning penalty for Bath in the 79th minute (Reuters)

Bath consigned Wasps to an 18-16 European Champions Cup defeat at the Recreation Ground in their first win in the competition this season.

Both sides' European Champions Cup ambitions had long fallen by the wayside but Bath summoned up just enough energy in the last 10 minutes to claim victory with a 79th-minute penalty from Welsh fly-half Rhys Priestland.

Scrum-half Max Green and number eight Zach Mercer scored tries for Bath, with Priestland also adding another penalty and a conversion.

Wasps scored one try through Nathan Hughes, with Lima Sopoaga kicking two penalties and a conversion and Rob Miller also scoring from the tee.

A Sopoaga penalty had opened the scoring for Wasps after six minutes but Bath responded immediately with a score from 75 metres, as Taulupe Faletau exploded into action.

Breaking from his own 22, he brushed aside both Michele Campagnaro and Juan de Jongh before bursting clear and offloading to Green who dived over in the corner for an unconverted try.

After a general warning to Bath skipper Luke Charteris, the visitors battled their way to the line and Hughes stretched out to touch down, with Sopoaga adding the conversion.

Bath's second try came out of the blue, much like the first, as Mercer burst through the porous Wasps midfield and strode 40 metres to the line. Priestland converted to give the home side a 12-10 lead in the 21st minute.

Joe Launchbury returned from injury for Wasps but could not prevent the defeat (Action Images via Reuters)

The second quarter was dominated by Wasps as Thomas Young and Brad Shields dominated the breakdown and bigger forwards such as tighthead Will Stuart began to carry with menace.

But Bath defended stubbornly and Wasps own errors hindered their hard-won momentum.

They upped the tempo significantly after the restart and a sweeping move earned a penalty kicked by Sopoaga to restore their lead.

With Dave Attwood briefly on to bolster the Bath eight, the home side forced a scrum penalty from which Priestland again spurned the points, but the line-out yielded nothing.

However, when Sopoaga was shown a yellow-card for a no-arms block on Jackson Willison, the Welsh fly-half chipped the ball over from 25-metres for a 15-12 lead. That was quickly reversed as Miller kicked a longer-range effort, earned again at the scrum.

Tauluope Faletau got another game under his belt as he returns from injury (PA)

A break-out from their own line should have brought a Bath try on 71 minutes but Francois Louw's pass to Faletau was uncharacteristically wayward.

Then Wasps just got back to prevent Atkins grabbing a try in a frantic last 10 minutes that got the 13,307 crowd on its feet.

Zach Mercer slides over the line for a try for Bath (Action Images via Reuters)

Leinster ended Toulouse's unbeaten run in this season's Heineken Champions Cup as a terrific 29-13 bonus point victory at the RDS secured their quarter-final place with one round remaining.

Jack Conan's 34th-minute try gave the defending champions a 10-6 lead after playing into a strong wind in the first half, with Thomas Ramos kicking two penalties in reply for Toulouse.

The hosts, despite a significant list of absentees that included captain Jonathan Sexton, Rob Kearney, Robbie Henshaw, Devin Toner and Dan Leavy, then went on to dominate the second half with three further tries.

Dave Kearney scores a try in Leinster's win over Toulouse (PA)

Dave Kearney, Sean Cronin - the Ireland hooker's ninth in 12 appearances - and Adam Byrne all crossed as Leinster claimed a victory that moves them top of Pool 1.

Having been kept quiet for the most part, Toulouse back Cheslin Kolbe wriggled free to run in a last-minute consolation try for the French side, whose quarter-final hopes rest on next Sunday's final-round clash at home to Bath.

Sealing a home quarter-final will be Leinster's aim when they visit Wasps at the same time.

PA