Zebre 6 Toulouse 16 match report: Former champions secure top-spot but must wait to find out quarter-final plans

A bonus point could have secured the French giants a home tie but they struggle to victory in Italy

Toulouse beat Zebre 16-6 to move into the Heineken Cup quarter-finals (GETTY IMAGES)

Toulouse wrapped up their Heineken Cup pool campaign with an unconvincing 16-6 victory over whipping-boys Zebre to leave their hopes of a home quarter-final in the balance.

Already assured of a place in the last eight going into the match at the Stadio XXV Aprile, Toulouse needed a win and the bonus point to guarantee an April date in front of their own fans.

The visitors, however, could only manage one try against Zebre who had conceded 194 points in losing all five of their previous pool matches.

Toulouse could even have found themselves trailing at half-time but for three missed penalties from their hosts, but instead were 10-3 to the good courtesy of Sebastien Bezy's coverted score just before the break.

That, however, failed to open the floodgates for the French side, who only managed two further penalties from Bezy and Jean-Marc Doussain after Luciano Orquera had reduced the deficit to 10-6 with his second three-pointer of the match.