Biarritz's Damien Traille powers past Gloucester centre Olly Barkley
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Matches: Biarritz 24 - 10 Gloucester Rugby

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup | Heineken Cup

Teams: Biarritz | England | France | Gloucester Rugby

Gloucester failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup thanks to a 24-10 defeat to Biarritz at the Parc des Sports Aguilera.

James Simpson-Daniel's first-half try was upstaged in the south of France by Biarritz's Dimitri Yachvili, who scored 14 points - including a brilliant 13th-minute touchdown. The hosts galloped into a 17-10 interval lead in atrocious conditions thanks to tries from Yachvili and Imanol Harinordoquy - before Julien Peyrelongue sealed the victory.

Both sides needed maximum points and other results to go their way in the final round of pool matches to secure qualification for the last eight. Heavy rain and gale force winds forced Welsh official Nigel Owens to call a pitch inspection an hour before kick-off - but conditions were deemed fit.

The visitors suffered a major blow before kick-off at the Parc des Sports Aguilera when Mike Tindall pulled out with a dead leg, the England centre replaced by Matthew Watkins. Their luck only got worse, as the made an awful start and trailed 10-0 after six minutes.

Yachvili opened the scoring with a close-range penalty and converted Harinordoquy's try, after the France number eight cut through Gareth Cooper's weak tackle. Biarritz were on the front foot and nearly extended their lead when American wing Takudzwa Ngwenya was stopped short of the line by a superb covering tackle from Iain Balshaw.

But when Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam's throw went astray in the following line-out, Harinordoquy - in front of France coach Marc Lievremont - capitalised to score the opening try. Things went from bad to worse for Dean Ryan's men when Yachvili doubled Biarritz's try count - diving on his own brilliant chip through to slide home. The scrum-half added the conversion for a 17-point lead.

Gloucester were handed a lifeline when left wing Simpson-Daniel danced over in the 17th minute after some powerful running from Watkins. Barkley converted, but the Guinness Premiership side were dealt an instant blow when Fijian flanker Apo Satala was yellow-carded for deliberately killing the ball.

After failing to break down 14 men against Cardiff Blues last weekend, Gloucester fought for their lives despite the numerical disadvantage. Barkley added a penalty in the 25th minute, and the visitors were given a boost when Biarritz's Damien Traille was sin-binned for a deliberate trip on Balshaw after neat work by Gloucester captain Luke Narraway.

Gloucester went into the interval in good heart but saw their hopes drifting away in the 47th minute when Willie Walker had his kick charged down by opposite number Peyrelongue. The fly-half pounced for the third try and re-established the hosts' lead, before Yachvili's conversion put Biarritz 14 points in front.

Gloucester tried to mount one final effort - but despite Jerome Thion's yellow card, they failed to break down their hosts and exited the tournament with serious questions hanging over their forwards' ability to compete in difficult conditions.

Gloucester boss Dean Ryan was furious with Welsh referee Nigel Owens for not sending-off Biarritz's Traille following his trip on Balshaw. "I don't want it to be the headline but when you are playing in a game like this with small margins, a deliberate trip is a red card. I didn't see it as anything else," he said. "But we have to accept we're out of Europe. The last three weeks we have played in horrendous weather conditions and we ran the ball more than we should have.

"But we have to play better than that in those conditions. We've got to work on our kicking game and we always pride ourselves on moving the ball around. But that has come crashing down around us in the last few weeks.

"It wasn't the easiest start for us and we were always up against it ever since we didn't perform at the Millennium Stadium against Cardiff Blues."

Ryan admitted that his side had not started well, but did take positives from their fightback. "To concede 17 points over 80 minutes would not have been a problem but to do so early on made it extremely difficult," he said. "But I'm proud we did not take a hammering and the players work-rate was excellent. We were missing players with physicality. Being in the Heineken Cup is about having a full squad and the here and now."

Biarritz scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili was pleased to be back on te winning trail, but also lamented their poor form earlier in the tournament as they lost back-to-back games to the Blues and their away fixture at Kingsholm.

"We're really happy to win this game but tonight makes you think what might have been," he said. "We weren't disciplined enough in the first leg against Gloucester and tonight wasn't enough to save our European campaign.

"But we've got good solidity and the win gives us great confidence."

Biarritz: Nicolas Brusque, Philippe Bidabe, Romain Cabannes, Damien Traille, Takudzwa Ngwenya, Julien Peyrelongue, Dimitri Yachvili, Fabien Barcella, Benoit August, Campbell Johnstone, César Damiani, Manuel Carizza, Samiu Vahafolau, Trevor Hall, Imanol Harinordoquy

Replacements: Eduard Coetzee, Benoit Bourrust, Jérôme Thion, Peïo Som, Andrea Masi, Laurent Tranier, Ilikena Bolakoro

Gloucester: Olly Morgan, Iain Balshaw, Mike Tindall (capt), Olly Barkley, James Simpson-Daniel; Willie Walker, Gareth Cooper; Alasdair Dickinson, Olivier Azam, Carlos Nieto, Will James, Alex Brown, Alasdair Strokosch, Apo Satala, Luke Narraway.

Replacements: Nick Wood, Andy Titterrell, Marco Bortolami, Adam Eustace, Rory Lawson, Anthony Allen, Matthew Watkins.