Jake White's Montpellier hungry for success

The Challenge Cup holders led 14-13 at Franklin's Gardens as the clock ticked past the 80 minute mark. But they conceded a late penalty to become the architects of their own downfall, as Stephen Myler stepped up to land a match-winning penalty.

But Rugby World Cup winning coach White says his men are desperate to kickstart their Pool 4 campaign against Leinster next weekend.

He said: "I hope the players learn from this experience and bounce back against Leinster next weekend. We have to prepare properly for next week so this loss doesn't hurt as much. We are really looking forward to playing Northampton in the last round. We are really looking forward to it, and I mean that. The players are desperate to face them again and that's a good sign."

Montpellier fought back from 10-3 down to put themselves in a position to claim a crucial away victory. They had to settle for a losing bonus-points, but White is hopeful his team can progress after they lost the first match of their successful Challenge Cup campaign last season.

"That game just shows how fine the margins are in the professional sport. We had two chances at the end to win it but we've ended up losing the game. It's disappointing, but if you put it into perspective, this club is only 30 years old and is still building. Northampton has a massive amount of history and the last time we were here we were beaten by 50 points, but that doesn't make things better.

"We thought we had done enough after coming back from 10 points down to lead with five minutes to go. We gave two penalties away in the last 90 seconds which wasn't good, but we get to play them again. Last year we lost our first game to Harlequins and went on to win the competition. Stranger things have happened in sport,"

Source: epcrugby.com