Challenge Cup wrap: Clermont thump Northampton

Editor

There were Challenge Cup wins for La Rochelle, Dragons, Benetton, Ospreys, Connacht, Bristol, Harlequins, Clermont and Worcester on Saturday.

POOL 1

Clermont were too good for Northampton Saints on Saturday as they dominated the Franklin’s Gardens side, winning their pool opener 41-20.

Peter Betham (2), Peceli Yato (2), Rabah Slimani and Arthur Iturria crossed for the European giants, who mean business in this competition.

Dragons also got off to a victorious start in this group as they overcame Timisoara Saracens 54-17 at Dan Paltinisanu Stadium on Saturday.

Elliot Dee (2), Leon Brown, Dafydd Howells, Lewis Evans, a penalty try, Ollie Griffiths and Rhodri Davies provided the five-pointers while Josh Lewis kicked 12 points off the tee. Jack Umaga and Marius Simionescu were the Romanians’ try-scorers as they crumbled after the break.

POOL 2

Ospreys got their pool campaign off to a perfect start as they picked up a bonus-point victory over Pau, winning 27-0 at Liberty Stadium.

James Hook, George North and Luke Morgan scored tries before Harri Morgan’s late crossing secured the maximum over the French outfit.

This pool’s other match saw Worcester Warriors beat Stade Francais 38-27 on the road thanks to scores from Matt Cox, Tom Howe (2), Ted Hill and Jamie Shillcock. Kylan Hamdaoui, Laurent Panis and Piet van Zyl crossed for Stade.

POOL 3

This pool’s only game of the day saw Connacht claim a 22-10 win over Bordeaux-Begles to go one point behind Sale Sharks at the summit.

A brace from Australian Kyle Godwin and one try from Finlay Bealham sealed the four points for the Irish side in this Sportsground meeting.

POOL 4

Bristol Bears put last week’s disappointing result in the Premiership to bed as they thumped Zebre 43-22 in their Challenge Cup opener.

Tries from Alapati Leiua, Ryan Edwards (2), Joe Latta, Nick Haining, Jake Armstong and Andy Uren saw them get five points on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, La Rochelle began their charge for Challenge Cup glory with an impressive 82-21 victory over Enisei-STM in Russia.

Crossings from Gregory Alldritt, Maxime Lafage, Hikairo Forbes, Paul Jordaan (2), Marc Andreu, Jean Victor Goillot (2), Romaric Camou, Pierre Aguillon (2) and Ihaia West saw them to a bonus-point win, with Lafage kicking 20 points off the tee and West two.

POOL 5

Benetton Rugby impressed as they got off and running with a 40-14 triumph over Grenoble in their pool opener at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.

Jayden Hayward, Federico Ruzza, Tommaso Allan (2), Epalahame Faiva and Juan Ignacio Brex crossed for the Italian outfit, with Duncan Casey and Halani Aulika scoring five-pointers for the visitors.

In the other game in this pool, Harlequins secured a 54-22 win over Agen as they scored eight tries in front of the Twickenham Stoop faithful.

Mike Brown, Charlie Mulchrone, Semi Kunatani (2), Nathan Earle, George Merrick, a penalty try and Joe Marchant provided their five-pointers.