Challenge Cup Wrap: Quins thrashed

Editor

Cardiff Blues, Montpellier, Castres and La Rochelle were the big winners on Friday in Round 6 of the Challenge Cup.


Cardiff Blues 74-6 Calvisano

Tom James scored a hat-trick for Cardiff Blues only a few days after his Wales recall as the Welsh region thrashed Calvisano 74-6.

Cory Allen also bagged a brace of scores in the nine-try rout at Arms Park.

Blues as a result moved up to 17 points in Pool 3, although Montpellier's convincing win over Harlequins rules them out of a runners-up spot.

Gareth Anscombe, in only his second game back from injury, kicked seven conversions after starting at fly-half.

Calvisano's sole points came from two penalties by Romania international Florin Vlaicu.

The scorers:

For Blues:
Tries: James 3, Allen 2, Navidi, Fish, Lewis, Cook
Cons: Anscombe 7

For Calvisano:
Pens: Vlaicu 2

Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Cam Dolan, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Ethan Lewis, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c).
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Aled Summerhill.

Calvisano: 15 Ben De Jager, 14 Giacomo De Santis, 13 Alberto Chiesa, 12 Tommy Castello, 11 Marco Susio, 10 Florin Vlaicu, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Jim Tuivaiti, 7 Renato Giammarioli, 6 Matteo Archetti, 5 Davide Zanetti, 4 Michele Andreotti, 3 Rudy Biancotti, 2 Lorenzo Giovanchelli, 1 Luca Scarsini.
Replacements: 16 Gabriele Morelli, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Agustin Cavalieri, 20 Emilio Vezzoli, 21 Nicola Belardo, 22 Riccardo Raffaele, 23 Filippo Buscema.

Referee: Thomas Charabas (France)
Assistant Referees: Arnaud Blondel (France), Luc Ramos (France)


Montpellier 42-9 Harlequins

Montpellier ran five tries past English visitors on Friday to put themselves in contention for a best runners-up spot in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

The comprehensive win came after Harlequins has secured top spot six days earlier, before suffering their first defeat of the campaign in France.

Former Australia full-back Jesse Mogg opened the scoring for the hosts and he was followed over by Wiaan Liebenberg, Nic White, Yvan Reilhac and finally Charles Geli in a one-sided rout.

Harlequins, who rested several starters but were captained by Jack Clifford and had Chris Robshaw at blindside flanker, could only produce three penalties from fly-half Ben Botica.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Tries: Mogg, Liebenberg, White, Reilhac, Geli
Cons: Catrakilis 2, Trinh-Duc 2
Pens: Catrakilis 3

For Harlequins:
Pens: Botica 3
Yellow Card: Luamanu

Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Anthony Tuitavke, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Marvin O'Connor, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Robins Tchale Watchou, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Davit Kubriashvili, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Jacques du Plessis, 20 Antoine Battut, 21 Nic White, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yvan Reilhac

Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Jack Clifford (c), 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 George Merrick, 3 Will Collier, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Mat Luamanu, 21 Danny Care, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Winston Stanley

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Jon Hardy (Wales)
TMO: Jonathan Mason (Wales)


Castres 24-7 Pau

Castres won the battle of the two Top 14 outfits in the Challenge Cup thanks to tries from France squad member Rémi Lamerat and Julien Beziat.

Those tries along with four penalties by three different players – Benjamin Urdapilleta, Julien Caminati and Francois Fontaine – secured a win that was only truly assured with the late try of Beziat in the 75th minute.

Colin Slade converted Quentin Lespiaucq's try for the visitors, who suffered their sixth loss out of six games in the Challenge Cup this season.

Despite their win Castres were unable to threaten the runners-up places.

The scorers:

For Castres:
Tries: Lamerat, Beziat
Con: Urdapilleta
Pens: Urdapilleta 2, Caminati, Fontaine
Yellow Card: Caminati

For Pau:
Try: 
Lespiaucq
Con: Slade

Castres: 15 Julien Caminati, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Remi Lamerat, 11 Florian Vialelle, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Julien Seron, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Mathieu Babillot, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Benjamin Desroche, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Eric Sione, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau
Replacements: 16 Julien Beziat, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Karena Wihongi, 19 Ibrahim Diarra, 20 Theo Hannoyer, 21 Francois Fontaine, 22 Romain Cabannes, 23 Valentin Mouysset

Pau: 15 Damien Traille, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Julien Fumat, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Mosese Ratuvou, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Paddy Butler, 6 Sean Dougall, 5 Daniel Ramsay, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Chris King, 2 Quentin Lespiaucq, 1 Julien Jacquot.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Geoffrey Moise, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Claude Dry, 20 Brice Monzeglio, 21 Samuel Marques, 22 Brandon Fajardo, 23 Watisoni Votu.

Referee: Ian Tempest (England)
Assistant Referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England), Kevin Stewart (England)


La Rochelle 35-11 Worcester

Four second half tries helped La Rochelle to a comfortable victory over Premiership visitors Worcester Warriors.

Romana Graham, Benjamin Lapeyre, Kini Murimurivalu and Jone Qovu, who secured the try bonus point in the 76th minute, all crossed the whitewash for a big win for the Top 14 side.

Two early penalties from Worcester centre Andy Symons put the visitors in front early on before Zack Holmes hit back for La Rochelle with two strikes of his own.

The hosts' improved second half performance then propelled them to a second win in the tournament, leaving them in third place in Pool 4.

The scorers:

For La Rochelle:
Tries: Graham, Lapeyre, Murimurivalu, Qovu
Cons: Audy, Barraque 2
Pens: Holmes 2, Audy
Yellow Card: Synaeghel

For Worcester:
Tries: Baldwin
Pens: Symons 2
Yellow Card: Kirwan

La Rochelle: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 12 Malietoa Hingano, 11 Elliot Roudil, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Julien Audy, 8 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 7 Romana Graham, 6 Romain Sazy, 5 Leo Cedaro, 4 Damien Lagrange, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Hikairo Forbes, 1 Jordan Seneca.
Replacements: 16 Maxime Gau, 17 Thomas Synaeghel, 18 Gagi Bazadze, 19 Zeno Kieft, 20 Benoit Guyot, 21 Ricky Januarie, 22 Pierre Aguillon, 23 Benjamin Lapeyre.

Worcester: 15 Ben Howard, 14 Andy Short, 13 Andy Symons, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Luke Baldwin, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Marco Mama, 5 Dan Sanderson, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Daniel George, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Bower, 17 Ben Sowrey, 18 Mike Daniels, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Max Stelling, 23 Perry Humphreys.

Referee: Elia Rizzo (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Bertelli (Italy), Luca Trentin (Italy)