MORE MATCH REPORTS...

 

 

IN FINAL WHISTLE

 

 

HEINEKEN CUP WINNERS 2012

LEINSTER RUGBY

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LEINSTER 42 - 14 ULSTER

TWICKENHAM - Saturday 19th May 2012
KO: 17:00 BST HT: 14-6 Att: 81,744

LEINSTER RUGBY came away champions for the second consecutive year -and their third in four years- as Ulster Rugby failed to make the most of their opportunities at Twickenham Stadium.

‘London Calling’ was brought to life by the ERC organisers before kick off with an impressive display of London icons laid out for all to savour, including a host of red phone boxes from yesteryear book-ending ERC Rugby-liveried London cabs. Both sides had excellent support and Twickenham rang with the calls of fans from a record Heineken Cup crowd.

Leinster produced a solid performance and were deservedly elated to leave with the cup in hand after their superior performance, with Brad Thorn adding the Heineken Trophy to his list of accolades having bagged a Super 14 title in 2008 with the Crusaders, and the Rugby World Cup title with the All Blacks in 2011.

The match ended up being a fairly one-sided affair as Ulster were clumsy and unable to finish moves, despite a number of try-scoring chances which would have made all the difference in the final score.

Ulster drew first blood with a swift penalty from Ruan Pienaar, but Leinster quickly hit back with a try from Sean O’Brien. The incumbent champions were ferocious in the ruck and applied pressure to the defensive line causing a kicking error, which gave them the position to set up the try. Jonathan Sexton slotted the conversion and Leinster settled into the game. However, Sexton did miss a fairly simple penalty straight after; it was not just Ulster who were having trouble with kicks.

Ulster were unlucky not to receive more penalties in the first half as the Leinster scrum buckled several times and were warned, but not punished nearly enough for their actions by referee Nigel Owens. After 20 minutes of play, Ulster looked dangerous, spreading the ball wide and showing excellent hands to come within 5 metres of the tryline. However, they were dragged into touch, and this would be the first of many times the visitors would come close but leave wanting. Leinster responded with a blazing break from Eoin Reddan but sloppy play allowed their opponents to clear their lines.

Leinster continued to fumble but eventually, their play held and Cian Healy planted the ball to grab the points Leinster had been finding hard to pin down. Sexton added the extras and Ulster knew they needed to step up to the mark. Their next attack showed promise, but the huge Leinster defence unnerved the Ulstermen and they cobbled together an unsuccessful drop goal instead of going for glory. Fortunately, just before the break, Ulster fended off some brilliant Leinster attacks and earned a penalty, which Pienaar whacked over from distance to leave the score 14-6 at half-time.

The restart saw Ulster make a bad decision, stealing the ball only to kick possession away and allow Leinster to gain a very useful lineout. From this ensued a driving maul that marched forcefully towards the tryline which Ulster pulled down and foolishly gave away a penalty try. Sexton chipped over the conversion and the situation did not look good for the boys from Northern Ireland.

Leinster soon attacked again, but this time Ulster were gifted a penalty and able to escape from their own 22. The Dubliners then handed over a shot at the posts for a high tackle allowing Pienaar to slot a 3-pointer, but Sexton replied with one of his own just 2 minutes later to regain the margin.

Once again Ulster moved into enemy territory with a glimmer of hope, but their passing failed them and a knock-on should have brought the move to nothing. However, Leinster’s clearing kick was appalling and this set up an Ulster try for Dan Tuohy as he raced through a gap to touch down. Pienaar’s conversion flew wide and Ulster had just 20 minutes to tot up 10 more points with the score at 24-14.

But it was not to be. The Ulstermen took a hammering for the final quarter with Sexton knocking over two penalties before the real onslaught began. The second of these 3-pointers was also paired with a yellow card, Stefan Terblanche throwing in a tip tackle on Sean Cronin to be sent marching for the remainder of the match.

The extra man soon showed its worth for Leinster as Heinke Van der Merwe stormed over the whitewash, and was swiftly followed by Cronin in a similar fashion. Fergus McFadden added the extras to the final try and it was all over.

Leinster celebrated with a lap of honour as Ulster shook their heads; their play simply did not live up to Heineken Champion standards.

15 Rob Kearney 14 Fergus McFadden 13 Brian O'Driscoll 12 Gordon D'Arcy 11 Isa Nacewa 10 Jonathan Sexton 9 Eoin Reddan 1 Cian Healy 2 Richardt Strauss 3 Mike Ross 4 Leo Cullen (capt) 5 Brad Thorn 6 Kevin McLaughlin 7 Sean O'Brien 8 Jamie Heaslip BENCH: 16 Sean Cronin 17 Heinke van der Merwe 18  Nathan White 19 Devin Toner 20 Shane Jennings 21 Isaac Boss 22 Ian Madigan 23 David Kearney COACH: Joe Schmidt

SCORERS T: O'Brien, Healy, Penalty try, van der Merwe, Cronin C: Sexton (4) P: Sexton (3)

15 Stefan Terblanche 15 Andrew Trimble 13 Darren Cave 12 Paddy Wallace 11 Craig Gilroy 10 Paddy Jackson 9 Ruan Pienaar 1 Tom Court 2 Rory Best 3 John Afoa 4 Johann Muller (capt) 5 Dan Tuohy 6 Stephen Ferris 7 Chris Henry 8 Pedrie Wannenburg BENCH: 16 Nigel Brady 17 Paddy McAllister 18 Declan Fitzpatrick 19 Lewis Stevenson 20 Willie Faloon 21 Paul Marshall 22 Ian Humphreys 23 Adam D'Arcy COACH: Brian McLaughlin

SCORERS T: Tuohy P: Pienaar (3) S Terblanche

Man of the Match: Sean O'Brien (Leinster)

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU) Asst. Referees: Romain Poite (FFR), Jerome Garces (FFR) 4th Official: Leighton Hodges (WRU) 5th Official: Neil Hennessy (WRU) TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)

 

 

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ULSTER 22 - 19 EDINBURGH

AVIVA STADIUM - Saturday 28th April 2012
KO: 17:45 HT: 13-9 Att: 45,147

AN inability to finish moves saw Edinburgh Rugby fail to beat Ulster Rugby at the Aviva Stadium. The Scottish side showed enthusiasm and dedication but were unable to find the tryline until the final minutes, missing out on numerous chances.

Ulster were first to draw blood as Ruan Pienaar stepped up and slotted a penalty, his accuracy was pin-point throughout and his general play excellent, bagging himself Man of the Match. There had been worries that Ulster’s pack would buckle under Edinburgh due to John Afoa being banned, however, it soon became clear that this was no problem for the homeside. Each team made heavy tackles and dug in at the scrum, in what was a physical and compelling game.

Edinburgh soon equalised, thanks to Greig Laidlaw, and were finding gaps in the centre of Ulster’s defence. Laidlaw then added a further 3 points to give the visitors the advantage. But Pienaar was causing problems, this time by racing downfield and making the Edinburgh defence scramble. The homeside secured a scrum and Pedrie Wannenburg took his chance to haul himself over the whitewash. Pienaar converted and Edinburgh were in trouble.

The Ulster attack kept the pressure on and some big tackles were made to halt them. However, the Scottish side had guts and proved it when they hammered their Irish opponents for several minutes, chipping away and inching closer to the tryline. But foolish mistakes hampered Edinburgh and any time they moved in for the kill, Ulster were handed a way to clear their lines.

When Stefan Terblanche was shown a yellow for throwing a punch, it looked as if Edinburgh’s chance had come. However, they were unable to make anything of the extra man advantage and Ulster increased the margin with another penalty. Laidlaw returned the deficit to 4 points before the whistle, but fans were disappointed to not see more from the visitors than 13-9 at the break.

Stephen Ferris had limped off at half-time and returned with large amounts of strapping to help him fight through the final 40 minutes. The restart was scrappy and Ulster soon paid the price as Laidlaw teed up. The tackles were becoming brutal now, Matt Scott receiving a particularly heavy blow that left supporters wincing.

Now only a point behind, the visitors had a surge of belief and worried the Ulster defence. But the ever-calm Pienaar soon alleviated the stress by knocking over another penalty to extend the tally once more. Now it was Ulster’s turn to strike fear into the heart of their opposition, marching towards the whitewash and pushing the defensive line back. Pienaar struck true twice to give his side a 10 point cushion with only 6 minutes of the match left.

But the plucky Edinburgh side were not going to lie down and fought for a consolatory try, thanks to a brilliant break, which Jim Thompson planted. Laidlaw converted but it was all too late, the Irish had managed to remain impenetrable long enough to seal the win.

S Terblanche, A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy, P Jackson, R Pienaar, T Court (P McAllister 78), R Best, D Fitzpatrick (A Macklin 65), J Muller (C), D Tuohy, S Ferris (L Stevenson 78), W Faloon (R Diack 73), P Wannenburg

SCORERS T: P Wannenburg C: R Pienaar P: R Pienaar (5) S Terblanche

T Brown, L Jones (J Thompson 70), N De Luca, M Scott, T Visser, G Laidlaw (C), M Blair, A Jacobsen (K Traynor 78), R Ford, G Cross (J Gilding 73), G Gilchrist (S Turnbull 78), S Cox, D Denton, R Rennie (R Grant 56), N Talei

SCORERS T: J Thompson C: G Laidlaw P: G Laidlaw (4)

Heineken Man of the Match: Ruan Pienaar (Ulster Rugby)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

 

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CLERMONT AUVERGNE 15 - 19 LEINSTER

STADE CHABAN DELMAS, BORDEAUX - Sunday 29th April 2012
KO: 16:00 HT: 12-6 Att: 32,397

FORMER Amlin Challenge Cup winners, ASM Clermont Auvergne ran out in Bordeaux with a mission - to take down the incumbent Heineken Cup champions from Irlande and mark their place in history as being one of the few teams in the northern hemisphere to win both tournaments. Leinster clearly had other ideas, but for the first 40 minutes, their plan did not come to fruition.

In what was a monumental battle of the titans of European rugby, the most unpredictable element was the referee, Wayne Barnes, who illustrated his gift of missing vital infringements in the Rugby World Cup 2011. With Barnes in charge - anything was possible.

The formidable battle began with the homeside gifting the first penalty allowing Jonny Sexton to put the first points on the board. But either side of Brock James equalising, Clermont lost two backs to injury; first, France international, Julien Malzieu followed by Wales international and British Lion, Lee Byrne, significantly reducing their depth in the first quarter of the match.

Clermont came so close to scoring the first try as Fijian All Black, Sitiveni Sivivatu flew across the 22, until Barnes deemed a good pass as forward and halted momentum. By now Leinster were flustered, and captain Leo Cullen landed a pathetic but closed-fist punch on Lionel Faure at a ruck in front of the referee, which clearly deserved a yellow card, despite Faure’s just as pathetic dive, but Barnes, in his wisdom, decided to simply let it go.

Half an hour into the game, and it was predominantly a French party, though the score remained at just 3-all. Leinster’s indiscipline began to emerge, and James punished them with a second penalty. Sexton immediately retaliated with one of his own, but the loss of focus was apparent, and by half time, James doubled Clermont’s score and the homeside led 12-6.

A renewed and recharged Leinster emerged from the tunnel, and Ireland and British & Irish Lion, Rob Kearney broke in spectacular fashion, side-stepped the defence, perfectly offloaded to Cian Healy to score what turned out to be the only try of the match. Sexton added the extras, and just 3 minutes into the second half, Leinster had stolen the lead.

Clermont responded with a massive drive into Leinster’s 22, but the visitors snaffled the ball away and a monster clearance drove play back into Clermont’s 22. More magnificence followed from Kearney with a huge drop goal from 45 metres out

James’ attempt at a retaliatory drop goal failed miserably, but Kearney was pinged for holding on,  and the fly half brought the deficit to just a single point, 15-16.

As the replacements began to arrive from both benches with just the final quarter remaining, Leinster were by now firmly in control, driving into Clermont's 22 and winning a penalty at the breakdown allowing Sexton to add 3 final points in the 62nd minute. But the lack of further points did not detract from the ensuing drama.

With just 10 minutes on the clock, Clermont gifted yet another penalty for Sexton to land between the uprights from well within his range, but the flags stayed down, and arguably the world’s best referee, Nigel Owens, today acting as touch judge, informed Barnes the ball had gone over but not through the posts. The referee deferred to the TMO, Geoff Warren who confirmed Owen’s position.

Replacement Eoin Reddan attempted a poor drop goal which missed the posts by a country mile, and then Clermont struck once more.

In the 77th minute, wave upon wave of attack came from the homeside just a few metres from the whitewash. Eventually, recently capped Wesley Fofana found the line and turned his hand coveting the ball down before celebrating the last minute try, enough to send Clermont to Twickenham. However, Barnes was not convinced, and the TMO was called upon one last time to confirm that though there was not a Leinster defender within inches of the ball, and Fofana’s arm clearly crossed the line, the centre applied absolutely no downward pressure. And with that, Clermont’s dream was shattered.

Leinster did gift one more penalty, but 3 points was not an option for the French contenders. Clermont drove repeatedly at the posts, but the final penalty went Leinster’s way, and a kick to touch had the Irish champions ready to take on their fellow compatriots, Ulster, at Twickenham in three weeks time.

L Byrne (R King 20), S Sivivatu, A Rougerie (C), W Fofana, J Malzieu (J Buttin 13), B James, M Parra, L Faure (V Debaty 48), B Kayser (T Paulo 63), D Zirakashvili (D Kotze 58), J Cudmore, N Hines (J Pierre 56), J Bonnaire (E Vermeulen 60-67), A Lapandry, E Vermeulen (J Bardy 55)

Scorers P: B James (5)

R Kearney, I Nacewa, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald (F McFadden 63), J Sexton, I Boss (E Reddan 53), C Healy (H Van der Merwe 55), R Strauss (S Cronin 63), M Ross, L Cullen (C), B Thorn, S O'Brien, S Jennings (K McLaughlin 63), J Heaslip

Scorers T: C Healy C: J Sexton P: J Sexton (3) DG: R Kearney

Heineken Man of the Match: Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

 

 

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EDINBURGH 19 - 14 TOULOUSE

Murrayfield, Edinburgh - Saturday 7th April 2012
KO: 15:00 HT: 10-14 Att: 37,881

EDINBURGH made history by becoming the first Scottish team to ever make it through to the semi finals of the pinnacle of northern hemisphere rugby, the Heineken Cup. Edinburgh also broke another record with an attendance of 37, 881, the highest in the UK for a quarter final. Twice finalists and four times champions, Stade Toulousain had to bow out in the Scottish capital and return to the south of France to defend their Top 14 title.

Edinburgh may well be languishing at the bottom of the RaboDirect Pro12 table just above a team that is financially bankrupt, but the side that turned up in front of the record crowd at Murrayfield was a wholly different outfit that displayed the brilliance they are actually capable of, packed with Scottish internationals.

It took scrum half Mike Blair just over a minute from kick off to seek out the Toulouse tryline and score, the result confirmed by the TMO and converted by captain and eventual Man of the Match, Greig Laidlaw, who single-footedly contributed 14 of Edinburgh’s 19 points. It also took only more 2 minutes for the homeside to reduce their lead by handing over the first penalty for the excellent Lionel Beauxis to convert to points.

The score remained at 7-3 until the end of the first quarter, when Edinburgh conceded a penalty at the scrum, and Beauxis punished with another 3-pointer. Both sides continued to present an exciting spectacle by running the ball as much as kicking it away.

Arguably the best referee in world rugby, Nigel Owens officiated the match with fairness, and showed no mercy to Allan Jacobsen when he cynically made a body charge off the ball, handing over a yellow card in the 25th minute. But the resulting penalty bore no fruit for the visitors as Beauxis’ kick fell wide of the posts, and the score remained at 7-6.

Again only 2 minutes passed before Ross Rennie also cynically infringed as Toulouse were on the attack, and Edinburgh, for all their early gains, were down to 13 men no thanks to two yellow cards. This time Beauxis was bang on target and Toulouse took the lead.

On the half hour mark, Timoci Matanavou collected a high ball outside own his own 22 and charged the length of the pitch to score unhindered, and though Beauxis missed the conversion, Toulouse began to take the upper hand in the game with the two-man advantage.

As Jacobsen returned from the naughty step, Laidlaw dropped back into the pocket and nailed a perfect drop goal, bringing the scoreline to 10-14, where it remained going into the break, and Edinburgh returned to a full complement of XV.

Soon after the break, Laidlaw kicked his first penalty after Toulouse hooker, William Servat saw yellow, and the opposition were forced to bring on 18 year old inexperienced hooker Christopher Tolofua. And Edinburgh also took advantage of being a man up, winning a penalty which Laidlaw kicked over to take the lead once more, 16-14.

Tim Visser chipped the ball cleverly down the touchline right over Matanavou’s head but it found touch before he got to it. And the replacements began to make their appearances for the last quarter.

The homeside forced errors on the opposition, but a resulting penalty was a kick too far for Laidlaw from 50 metres out. Edinburgh built significant phases attacking Toulouse’s 22, and the visitors battled to hold their defensive line.

Beauxis bulldozed into Edinburgh territory but was stopped short; Thierry Dusautoir brilliantly stole Edinburgh's lineout ball on half way, but eventually the homeside managed to scramble the ball back with just 2 minutes left on the clock.

Edinburgh kept the ball in hand, the referee played advantage, and with the penalty en route in the 79th minute, Laidlaw took his time in making a decision, called for the tee, faffed around adjusting it just long enough for the clock to tick over 80 minutes, and beautifully aimed his final kick between the uprights to seal the win and the semi final spot.

T Brown, L Jones (K Traynor 32-35), N De Luca, M Scott (J Thompson 9-17), T Visser, G Laidlaw (C), M Blair (C Leck 41), A Jacobsen (K Traynor 60-64), R Ford, G Cross, G Gilchrist, S Cox, D Denton, R Rennie (S McInally 69), N Talei (R Grant 69)

SCORERS T: Blair C: Laidlaw P: Laidlaw (3) DG: Laidlaw Jacobsen, Rennie

Y Jauzion, T Matanavou, F Fritz (C Poitrenaud 51), Y David , Y Donguy, L Beauxis, L Burgess (J Doussain 66), J Poux (D Human 53), W Servat (C Tolofua 73), C Johnston (Y Montes 60), Y Maestri (G Lamboley 70), P Albacete, J Bouilhou (C Tolofua 48-56, Y Nyanga 60), T Dusautoir (C), L Picamoles (G Galan 47)

SCORERS T: Matanavou P: Beauxis (3) Servat

Heineken Cup Man of the Match: Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

 

 

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LEINSTER 34 - 3 CARDIFF BLUES

Aviva Stadium, Dublin - Saturday 7th April 2012
KO: 17:45 HT: 27-3 Att: 50,340

INCUMBENT Heineken Cup champions Leinster ran roughshod over the visiting Cardiff Blues at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening, annihilating them at every turn to secure a 34-3 win and a place in the semi finals.

Cardiff began well, drawing first blood in the second minute with a Leigh Halfpenny kick at the uprights which landed perfectly. Sadly, this was also the last points the Welsh would see, as from now on, the four tries, four conversion and two penalties all came from the home side. And as an added bonus, legendary Irish talisman, Brian O’Driscoll returned to European action following surgery on his shoulder in November 2011.

Jonny Sexton began his tally of 14 points with a penalty in the 5th minute. Blues’ Dan Parks attempted to regain the lead with a drop goal but it went awry. And the downfall began.

Leinster began to demonstrate the most sublime handling skills early from inside their own half as the ball passed from player to player to Rob Kearney who offloaded to Isa Nacewa to score a textbook try, efficiently converted by Sexton. This was soon followed by another kick at the uprights for Jonny from a penalty off a scrum, but this one he missed even though it was in front of the posts.

The next penalty was a result of Bradley Davies using sleight of hand on Jamie Heaslip in his lineout lift, but referee Dave Pearson was on his game and caught it. Though anything the Blues did was hard to miss when blinded by the flashes of fuchsia and white of their away kit.

The Blues appeared to have little game plan, and Leinster exploited every inch given, allowing Kearney to deftly finish a play which began at the half way line with a try under the posts. A simple conversion brought the homeside ahead 20-3 on the half hour mark. But Leinster were not resting on their laurels, and the team continued to illustrate how rugby should be played at the highest level with more exquisite passing, this time putting O’Driscoll over the whitewash, again under the posts for an easy conversion.

The score stood at 27-3 with 6 minutes remaining of the half; Leinster continued to run riot, and another penalty allowed a place kick to set up a 5m lineout for Leinster from the Blues tryline. However, Richardt Strauss threw the ball long allowing Martyn Williams to collect and kick to touch at half time.

The Cardiff side came out with a mission in the second half, and began with conviction by charging within 5 metres of Leinster’s tryline, but a turnover allowed Sexton to clear them right back to half way. And then the destruction continued, albeit at a much slower pace.

Another balletic display from the Leinster pack and more beautiful passing allowed Kearney to run in his second try of the evening. Sexton's conversion hit the upright but deflected in between the posts perfectly to bring the score to 34-3 with half an hour left on the clock.

Though no more points were scored, Leinster continued to run rings around the visitors. However, on more than one occasion, the Blues managed to cross the gainline in this half, venturing into the Leinster 22. One chip forward had Nacewa chasing the ball behind his own tryline but it continued rolling into the dead ball area.

In the final quarter, Leinster emptied out their bench, but the Blues cautiously only brought on three pairs of fresh legs. In the 65th minute, having already missed the opportunity of a third of the pitch undefended by Leinster, the Blues recycled the ball quickly and Martyn Williams was deemed to have scored, but the TMO agreed that there was no downward pressure on the ball as it hit the ground, so ruled no try.

The final 10 minutes saw the Blues attack repeatedly, but every time they made a little headway, Leinster shut them down and sent them reeling backwards. A final flourish almost came from the homeside with a scrum V, but by the time the Blues front row stopped procrastinating, the scrum fell flat and the ball found touch.

Leinster had done more than enough to secure their place in the semi finals against ASM Clermont Auvergne in three weeks time.

R Kearney, I Nacewa, B O'Driscoll (I Madigan 68), G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald (F McFadden 59), J Sexton, E Reddan (I Boss 61), C Healy (H Van der Merwe 65), R Strauss (S Cronin 53), M Ross (N White 72), L Cullen (C), B Thorn (D Toner 59), K McLaughlin (S Jennings 47), S O'Brien, J Heaslip

SCORERS T: Nacewa, Kearney (2), O'Driscoll C: Sexton (4) P: Sexton (2)

L Halfpenny, A Cuthbert, C Laulala, D Hewitt, T James, D Parks (C Sweeney 68), L Williams (R Rees 66), G Jenkins, M Breeze, S Andrews, B Davies, J Down (M Molitika 59), M Paterson, M Williams, X Rush (C)

SCORERS P: Halfpenny James

Heineken Cup Man of the Match: Cian Healy (Leinster Rugby)
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

 

 

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MUNSTER 16 - 22 ULSTER RUGBY

Thomond Park, Limerick - Sunday 8th April 2012
KO: 13:45 HT: 10-19 Att: 26,000

IT was a purely Irish affair in Limerick as Munster squared up to Ulster for this Quarter Final match. Prior to this game, Ulster last won the prestigious European accolade in 1999, and since then had only made it to this stage last season where they convincingly sent home by Northampton Saints who carried on through to the Final. Munster, on the other hand, were twice finalists and twice champions. The teams had never met in the Heineken Cup before.

Both sides were nervy to begin with but some gutsy kicking from Ruan Pienaar gave Ulster an early advantage. Munster got into gear just before half time and the second half left fans enthralled as they made a comeback. However, Ulster managed to keep the homeside at bay and clung on to claim the win, setting up an exciting prospect in the semi final against Edinburgh at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Kicking was the focal point of the game with some interesting attempts being made by the usually accurate Ireland international, Ronan O’Gara. The fly-half was not at his best today though, making a mess of several opportunities for Munster. Ian Humphreys had an awful start with his boot too, but found his feet to slot a perfect drop goal, adding to Pienaar’s large tally.

Munster were the stronger side at the off -although neither looked overly confident- and made some progress but were halted by sloppy hands. The opening minutes were strewn with errors from both sides and it was not long until Munster were handing over soft penalties. Pienaar stepped up and smacked over two enormous penalties within 10 minutes; Munster’s discipline left fans frustrated throughout the first half hour. The homeside were not helped, however, by some fairly inconsistent refereeing and were unlucky not to claim a few 3-pointers of their own. Meanwhile, the situation rapidly worsened, with Craig Gilroy producing a stunning solo run to crash over the tryline, increasing Ulster’s advantage. Pienaar added the extras and Munster were in trouble.

Munster piled in at the ruck and once again Pienaar left no prisoners, furthering the margin with ease from far out. The visitors were jittery no longer but Munster were about to spark into life and cause unforeseen problems. Keith Earls found a gap and left the defence scrambling; Munster edged closer to the whitewash and could taste the try. The homeside were awarded a penalty but chose to head for touch in a courageous push forward. However, O’Gara made an appalling kick and a flustered Munster were sent packing back to their own half. There then followed an intense and disappointing period when O’Gara butchered most of the chances that came his direction. Humphreys rubbed salt into the wound with his drop goal which this riled Munster.

Just 2 minutes later, an excellent cross-field piece of play left Simon Zebo with a gap to squeeze through and a try for the homeside. O’Gara’s boot hit its mark with the conversion and the score was no longer looking as dire for the newly-awoken Munster. A penalty from the fly-half left his side only 9 points adrift at the break. The final 40 minutes were going to be the making or breaking of Ulster, who were not feeling as comfortable heading down the tunnel though they were two scores clear at 19-10, especially with Chris Henry being sent to the sin bin just before the whistle.

The restart saw Munster rally further, O’Gara added a further 3 points and it was clear that the visitors could not hope for an easy ride after all. Play rocked back and forth between the sides and Ulster became a little jittery at times. Pienaar relieved the tension with a penalty eventually, but O’Gara replied with one of his own taking the score to 16-22.

The battle raged on but Ulster held their own and kept their discipline sharp to clinch victory. Fans could barely watch for the final 10 minutes and were happy to relax when the clock ran out, and Stephen Ferris was awarded Heineken Man of the Match.

F Jones, D Hurley (J Murphy 57), K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo, R O'Gara, C Murray (T O'Leary 72), W du Preez, M Sherry (D Varley 67), B Botha, D Ryan, P O'Connell [C], P O'Mahony (D Wallace 72), T O'Donnell (D O'Callaghan 59), J Coughlan

SCORERS T: Zebo C: O'Gara P: O'Gara (3)

S Terblanche, A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy, I Humphreys, R Pienaar, T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller [C], D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg

SCORERS T: Gilroy C: Pienaar P: Pienaar (4) DG: Humphreys Henry

Heineken Man of the Match: Stephen Ferris (Ulster Rugby)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

 

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SARACENS 3 - 22 CLERMONT AUVERGNE

Vicarage Road, Watford - Sunday 8th April 2012
 KO: 16:30 HT: 3-9 Att: 11,047

A clumsy Saracens side produced a sloppy game that gave Clermont Auvergne a comfortable pass through to the Semi Finals, and much for their travelling supporters to cheer about throughout the match, La Marseillaise reverberating around Vicarage Road on numerous occasions, drowning out any noise from the majority Saracens support.

The game was littered with handling errors from both sides and was slowed by constant scrum resets, but Clermont were able to take advantage of Saracens lacking discipline. Brock James, who replaced David Skrela in the opening minutes, showed fantastic kicking skills and led the charge for victory, racking up 17 points from his efforts. Saracens would have been barely noticeable in the game if it had not been for their fumbles. Apart from a late surge from the Sarries, it was clearly Clermont’s game, although the French side failed to make the most of their dominance in the first half.

Saracens actually began with a strong defence, keeping the fast pace of Clermont under wraps initially. But it took all of 6 minutes before they handed over the first penalty. This unsettled the homeside further and they were soon scrabbling to clear the ball as Clermont swarmed in, and the assault began. Clermont fired a high ball at their opposition, which Sarries did well to deal with, before claiming another penalty. Their attempt to take this quick was quashed by the referee, Alain Rolland, but in the confusion Morgan Parra was taken out high by Charlie Hodgson. The touch assistant was asked to comment and it was decided that the original penalty would hold with no further sanction. James slotted the 3-pointer and another soon after to raise the Clermont tally to 9-0 after just 12 minutes of play.

The Saracens were ruffled and not thinking about even the simplest of moves with clarity but, against the grain of play, Owen Farrell was given a shot at reducing the deficit. The young fly-half showed utter calm in the face of his team’s panic and coolly knocked through the wide angle kick. This should have settled the homeside’s nerves but it was evident that confidence was still an issue as Alex Goode failed to stop the ball bouncing to touch and Clermont gaining a very good position in the process.

Aurelién Rougerie caused problems for the defence as he broke free and created a chance for the visitors. However, Saracens were not the only side with handling issues; Clermont threw away a perfect opportunity due to some sloppy passing.

Clermont applied pressure in the scrum and James was soon teeing up once more, but this time his boot faltered, the ball flying wide. Farrell had similar problems with his next shot not finding its mark either. Meanwhile, the visitors continued to dominate open play and left Sarries floundering, clearing manically in order to keep their tryline protected. James’ foot seemed to have an unwanted break for a while, with his next penalty being sliced horribly, but the visitors remained 9-3 ahead. But worse was to come for Saracens, who not only wasted every hopeful run but saw Farrell pick up a leg injury just before half-time.

Bravely Farrell returned after the interval and tried to carry on but it was obvious that he was in pain and was replaced after 15 minutes of valiant play. In the meantime, he hobbled bleakly whilst the margin extended, Lee Byrne crashing through to touchdown 3 minutes after the restart. James converted and slotted a beautiful drop goal just to add insult to injury.

Sarries frantically emptied their bench, and the fresh legs did give them once last rush, but it was not enough. James ended scoring in the 54th minute with one final penalty, and Clermont relaxed. The homeside battered the defensive line optimistically, trying to grasp a consolatory try to save their blushes. Alas, it was not to be and the home crowd were left thoroughly disappointed.

The visitors and their vocal support meanwhile celebrated their progression to the semi final where they face Leinster in front of a French home crowd at the Stade Chaban Delmas in Bordeaux. 

A Goode, D Strettle, O Farrell (J Short 54), B Barritt (A Powell 66), C Wyles, C Hodgson, R Wigglesworth (N de Kock 54), R Gill (M Vunipola 64), S Brits, M Stevens (C Nieto 69), S Borthwick [C], M Botha (G Kruis 54), J Melck (J Wray 50), W Fraser (J George 66), E Joubert

SCORERS P: Farrell

L Byrne, S Sivivatu, A Rougerie [C], W Fofana, J Malzieu, D Skrela (B James 3), M Parra (L Radoslavjevic 76), L Faure (V Debaty 49), B Kayser (T Paulo 57), D Zirakashvili (D Kotze 56), J Cudmore (J Pierre 54), N Hines, J Bonnaire, A Lapandry, E Vermeulen (J Bardy 54)

SCORERS T: Byrne C: James P: James (4) DG: James

Heineken Man of the Match: Brock James (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

 

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POOL 1	POOL 2	POOL 3	POOL 4	POOL 5	POOL 6	HC7	HC8
Munster	Edinburgh	Leinster	Clermont	Saracens	Toulouse	Cardiff	Ulster

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POOL 1

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 36 - 51 MUNSTER

STADIUM:MK - Saturday 21 January 2012
KO: 18:00 HT: 19-19 Att: 22,220

MUNSTER guaranteed themselves a home quarter final in this year's Heineken Cup with a bonus point 51-36 win over Northampton Saints in front of a packed stadium:mk today with quite a breathtaking second half performance and three tries for Simon Zebo.

The sides were tied 19-19 at half time.

Northampton went into a 6 point lead with 5th and 12th minute penalties before Ronan O’Gara opened Munster’s with a penalty from the ten metre line shortly after.

Then when Munster’s scrum came under severe pressure Romain Poite awarded a penalty try that Lamb converted.

O’Gara reduced the deficit at the start of the second quarter with another penalty after a sustained bout of Munster pressure and in the 28th minute the home side had to be happy to concede just three further points after another sustained bout of pressure.

From the restart, Lamb shot over a neat drop goal but the end to end stuff continued with first Simon Zebo and then Peter O’Mahony stopped short of the line before BJ Botha crashed over with O’Gara’s conversion bringing the scores 16 points apiece.

Munster raced into the lead early in the second half with tries from Johne Murphy and Simon Zebo the first converted by O’Gara but then the Saints were awarded their second penalty try and Conor Murray and Lee Dickson were both yellow carded.

O’Gara and Lamb swapped penalties before O’Gara extended Munster’s lead with a 68th minute penalty and Simon Zebo’s intercept try from inside his own half guaranteed Munster a home quarter final.

Report courtesy of Pat Geraghty, Munster Media Manager

B Foden, J Elliott (S Armstrong 68), G Pisi, J Downey, V Artemyev, R Lamb (S Myler 73), L Dickson (M Roberts 73), S Tonga'uiha (A Waller 66), D Hartley [C], B Mujati (P Doran-Jones 66), S Manoa, M Sorenson (C Day 62), C Clark (B Nutley 62), P Dowson, R Wilson

SCORERS T: Penalty Try (2), Armstrong C: Lamb(2), Myler P: Lamb (4) DG: Lamb Dickson

D Hurley, J Murphy, K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo, R O'Gara (I Keatley 73), C Murray (T O'Leary 67), W du Preez, D Varley, B Botha, D O'Callaghan (M O'Driscoll 73), P O'Connell [C], D Ryan, P O'Mahony (D O'Callaghan 73), J Coughlan

SCORERS T: Botha, Murphy, Zebo (3) C: O'Gara (3) Keatley P: O'Gara (6) Murray

Match points: Northampton 0pts, Munster 5pts
Man of the Match: Simon Zebo (Munster)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

 

CASTRES OLYMPIQUE 13 - 16 SCARLETS

STADE PIERRE-ANTOINE Saturday - 21 January 2012
KO: 19:00 HT: 6-8 Att: 6.500

THE Scarlets claimed an impressive 16-13 away victory to Castres Olympique to finish Pool 1 in second place.

Castres have only lost once at the Stade Pierre Antoine this season but went behind early courtesy of a Rhys Priestland penalty and a try from No 8 Matt Gilbert.

South African scrum-half Rory Kockott clawed Castres back into the game with two quick penalties after the Scarlets were found guilty of infringements at the breakdown to make it 8-6 to the visitors at half-time.

The Scarlets lost Priestland with what looked like an ankle injury at the start of the second half after he twisted in a tackle and limped off the field before flanker Aaron Shingler ran 80metres for a superb interception try.

The hosts levelled the scores with a try by replacement Yannick Forestier, converted by Romain Teulet, to make it 13-all but fly-half Stephen Jones sealed the victory with a penalty in the dying moments.

R Teulet, R Martial, P Bonnefond, P Garcia (M Evans 53), M Andreu (P Bernard 67), S Bai, R Kockott (T Lacrampe 69), S Taumoepeau (Y Forestier 48), M Bonello (B Mach 48), K Wihongi (M Coetzee 62), S Murray (M Rolland 67), R Capo Ortega, J Bornman, S Malonga (Y Caballero 60), C Masoe [C]

SCORERS T: Forestier C: Teulet P: Kockott (2)

R Priestland (V Iongi 53), G North, S Williams, J Davies, L Williams (G Maule 75), S Jones [C], R Williams (G Davies 50), P John (I Thomas 57), K Owens (E Phillips 64), P Edwards (R Jones 50), L Reed, D Day (S Timani 64), A Shingler, J Edwards, M Gilbert

SCORERS T: Gilbert, Shingler P: Priestland, S Jones

Match points: Castres 1pt, Scarlets 4pts
Man of the Match: Chris Masoe (Castres Olympique)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)

 

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POOL 2

CARDIFF BLUES 36 - 30 RACING MÉTRO 92

CARDIFF CITY STADIUM - Sunday 22 January 2012
KO: 15:15 HT: 23-24 Att: 8,091

WITH all the permutation of the weekend's game over it was all to play for at the Cardiff City Stadium in their final Heineken Cup pool match with the Blues aiming to clinch a home quarter final spot.

A late change for the Blues saw Tyrell move from the bench to start at hooker, with Rhys Thomas pulling out with a stomach bug.

Wisniewski slotted two early penalties for the visitors to put points on the board, however, the outside half turned from hero to villain for the French side when Lloyd Williams charged down his kick and gathered to touch down. Halfpenny slotted the conversion and added a further penalty to bring the score to 10-6.

Racing Métro claimed the lead in the 20th minute then they worked the ball down the right with forwards and backs combining well to put Josh Matavesi in the corner. However, his conversion went wide. Descons further extended the lead for the Frenchmen with a long distance effort before Halfpenny claimed one back.

The lead was constantly changing but the Blues regained it with a well worked effort. They won clean ball in the scrum and spread it right where Halfpenny joined the line and did well to gain ground and slip a pass to Cuthbert who gathered and sprinted in the corner. Halfpenny again added the extras.

However, the lead didn't last long. Estebanez went on a powerful run from his own half, knocking defenders aside, all the way up to the Blues try-line before the ball was recycled for Bobo to cross. Descons again converted. Steyn added a long distance penalty to put Racing a point ahead at the break.

The Blues had a blistering start to the second half with a Dan Parks up n under allowing Cuthbert to sprint and score his second. Halfpenny added the touchline conversion. Descons and Halfpenny exchanged penalties and it was nail biting stuff for the fans.

Frans Steyn put in another monster penalty from his own half and with 20 minutes left there was only 3 points in it. Racing were beginning to dominate territory but Matavesi squandered a chance when he went for a drop goal and the Blues defended for their lives and managed to keep Racing from crossing the line.

With the news that Edinburgh had scored a third try, the Blues had to be sure of the win and ideally a bonus point. Halfpenny converted a penalty to give the Blues a 6 point cushion with 5 minutes left. No matter how hard they tried, Racing’s defence held up and the homeside had to be content that they were second in the pool, but had done enough to secure a quarter final spot to face Heineken Cup champions Leinster in the quarters.

L Halfpenny, A Cuthbert, C Laulala, G Evans, C Czekaj (T James 67), D Parks, L Williams (R Rees 53), G Jenkins (J Yapp 35), R Tyrrell, S Andrews, B Davies, P Tito [C] (M Molitika 70), M Paterson, S Warburton, X Rush

SCORERS T: L Williams, A Cuthbert (2) C: L Halfpenny (3) P: L Halfpenny (5)

J Matavesi, H Chavancy, F Steyn, F Estebanez, S Bobo, J Wisniewski (J Imhoff 25), S Descons, M Tuugahala (E Ben Arous 46), B Noirot (G Arganese 54), B Sa (J Orlandi 54), K Ghezal, F van der Merwe (J Nailiko 50), J Leo'o (R Vaquiin 70), A Batut, S Chabal (J Cronje 52)

SCORERS T: S Bobo, J Matavesi C: S Descons P: S Descons, J Wisniewski (3), F Steyn (2)

Match points: Cardiff Blues 4pts, Racing Métro 92 1pts
Man of the Match: Fabrice Estebanez (Racing Métro 92)
Referee: Andrew Small (England)

 

 EDINBURGH 34 - 11 LONDON IRISH

MURRAYFIELD - Sunday 22 January 2012
KO: 15:15 HT: 20-6 Att: 10,892

A dramatic 78th minute try from flying wing Lee Jones bagged Edinburgh their first home Heineken Cup quarter-final in front of a record gate of 10,892.

It was the home side's fourth try and clinched the bonus point they needed to stay ahead of Cardiff Blues and win Pool 2 by a point.

It means Edinburgh will host four times champions Toulouse at Murrayfield in April, the team that knocked them out in their last quarter-final appearance.

Edinburgh had to shuffle their line-up before kick-off as they lost both full back Chris Paterson (groin) and flanker David Denton (hamstring) from their selected line-up. But the changes didn't alter the equation - Edinburgh needed a draw or win to reach the quarter-finals - or the home determination to try to clinch a home draw for the first time.

Irish took the lead through an early Adrian Jarvis penalty, but Edinburgh's try machine, Tim Visser, steadied everyone's nerves when he crossed for his 14th try of the season in the 12th minute as he raced onto an inch perfect grub kick from Greig Laidlaw.

The home skipper was his usual inventive self at outside half and his reliable boot added the conversion and two more penalties before the break. He also added the extras to another superb try from Paterson's replacement at full back Jim Thompson that came after the forwards had made the hard yards through 18 phases.

That score in the 36th minute stretched the Edinburgh lead to 14 points and gave them a handy half-time lead. There was no more scoring for 25 minutes in the second half and the home defensive line was called on to stand firm.

But then replacement centre Jonathan Joseph broke the deadlock with a try for the visitors before a final rally saw outstanding No 8 Netani Talai power over and Jones add the icing on top of the cake.

Laidlaw converted both to end with another 100 per cent record with 14 points.

J Thompson, L Jones, M Scott, J Houston, T Visser, G Laidlaw [C], M Blair, A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross (J Gilding 73), G Gilchrist (E Lozada 73), S Cox, S McInally, R Grant, N Talei

SCORERS T: T Visser, N Talei, J Thompson, L Jones C: G Laidlaw (4) P: G Laidlaw (2)

D Armitage, T Ojo (S Shingler 58), J Spratt (J Joseph 58), S Hape, A Thompstone, A Jarvis, P Hodgson (R Samson 52), A Corbisiero (M Lahiff 52), J Buckland (B Blaney 38), L Halavatau (F Rautenbach 47), J Sandford (N Kennedy 52), B Casey [C], M Garvey, D Sisi, A Gray

SCORERS T: J Joseph, P: A Jarvis (2)

Match points: Edinburgh Rugby 5pts, London Irish 0pts
Man of the Match: Netani Talei (Edinburgh Rugby)
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

 

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POOL 3

BATH RUGBY 23 - 18 GLASGOW WARRIORS

THE REC - Saturday 21 January 2012
KO: 13:30 HT: 10-6 Att: 11.015

BATH clinched their second victory in the Heineken Cup this season beating Glasgow Warriors 23-18 at The Rec.

Scotland fly-half Duncan Weir kicked the visitors into the lead but Glasgow were soon back behind their own posts after Tom Biggs intercepted in midfield for the hosts and raced clear to score.

Olly Barkley converted for Bath and then traded penalties with Weir but the hosts went into the break 10-6 ahead.

Man of the Match Ben Skirving got the second-half off to a flying start for Bath, touching down after a powerful forward drive.

Glasgow responded with a try from Tommy Seymour and replacement Scott Wight's conversion brought the Scottish side right back into the game.

A neat blindside move saw Rob Harley touchdown to give Glasgow the lead but two late Barkley penalties won the game for Bath.

J Cuthbert, M Carraro (S Vesty 40), O Barkley, M Banahan, T Biggs (T Heathcote 55), S Donald, C Cook, C Beech (D Flatman 63), P Dixon (L Mears 54), D Wilson (A Perenise 63), D Attwood, R Caldwell, A Beattie [C] (S Taylor 68), G Mercer, B Skirving

SCORERS T: Biggs, Skirving C: Barkley (2) P: Barkley (3) Cook

R Lamont, T Seymour, S Hogg, G Morrison, C Shaw (P Murchie 62), D Weir (S Wight 51), C Cusiter (H Pyrgos 62), J Welsh (R Grant 69), P MacArthur (D Hall 51), E Kalman (G Reid 44), R Gray, A Kellock [C] (T Ryder 31), R Harley, C Fusaro (R Wilson 62), J Barclay

SCORERS T: Seymour, Harley C: Wight P: Weir (2)

Match points: Bath 4pts, Gloucester 1pt
Man of the Match: Ben Skirving (Bath Rugby)
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

 

 LEINSTER 25 - 3 MONTPELLIER

AVIVA STADIUM - Saturday 21 January 2012
KO: 13:30 HT: 20-0 Att: 18,500

LEINSTER may have already qualified for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals but they kept their unbeaten record in Pool 3 with this comfortable win over French side Montpellier in Dublin.

The reigning champions, who lifted the trophy for the second time in last season's epic final over Northampton Saints at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, had already qualified for the knockout stages last weekend.

But this impressive victory over a Montpellier side, who had nothing to play for but pride at the RDS, stretched Leinster's unbeaten record in the Heineken Cup to a dozen matches.

Leinster fly-half Jonathan Sexton was a late withdrawal just before kick-off with a recurrence of his ankle injury and was replaced by Ian Madigan, starting his first Heineken Cup game, but it hardly had an impact on the home side.

The hosts soon established their superiority and had scored a point a minute when they took an early lead of 17-0 after 17 minutes of this contest, with tries by flanker Sean O'Brien and full-back Rob Kearney and the boot of wing Fergus McFadden.

The Irish province went down to 14-men when they lost second row Damian Browne midway through the first half for a professional foul but despite immense Montpellier pressure the home side did not concede a point.

McFadden added his second penalty to stretch Leinster's lead to 20-0 at half-time but soon extended their lead just after the break when prop Cian Healy barged over from short-range.

Wing Martin Bustos Moyana did manage to get the visitors on the scoreboard with a penalty on the 67th minute, but that was all they had to show despite having their periods of pressure and dominance in the game.

R Kearney (F Carr 65), F McFadden, E O'Malley, G D'Arcy, I Nacewa, I Madigan, I Boss (E Reddan 57), C Healy (H Van der Merwe 48), R Strauss (S Cronin 57), J Hagan (M Ross 41), L Cullen [C] (D Toner 55), D Browne, R Ruddock, S O'Brien (S Jennings 55), J Heaslip

SCORERS T: O'Brien, R Kearney, Healy C: McFadden (2) P: McFadden (2) Browne

J Peyras Loustalet (T Combezou 55), T Nagusa, Y Audrin (B Paillaugue 78), P Bosch, M Bustos Moyano, F Trinh-Duc (S Fernandez 55), J Tomas, N Leleimalefaga (J Figallo 60), A Creevy (R van Vuuren 55), G Jgenti (M Bustos 55), D Hancke, J Tuineau (M Demarco 57), F Ouedraogo [C], M Gorgodze, A Tulou

SCORERS P: Bustos

Match points: Leinster 4pts, Montpellier 0pt
Man of the Match: Rob Kearney (Leinster)
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

 

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POOL 4

LEICESTER TIGERS 33 - 6 AIRONI RUGBY

WELFORD ROAD - Saturday 21 January 2012
KO: 15:40 HT: 9-6 Att: 19,652

LEICESTER TIGERS put their defeat to Ulster behind them to finish off their Pool 4 campaign with a comfortable morale-boosting victory over Italian outfit Aironi at Welford Road.

The former champions, who lifted the trophy in 2001 and 2002, didn't have it all their own way against the Italian new boys but they dominated the second half and recorded a bonus point victory.

It was the Italians who drew first blood in the Midlands when South African fly-half Naas Olivier landed a 14th penalty to stun the home crowd into silence to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.

The Tigers dominant scrum soon rewarded when the Aironi pack were penalized in the shadow of their own posts and fly-half Billy Twelvetrees converted the three points to draw the home side level.

Olivier and Twelvetrees swapped penalties in a closely contested first half to give the Tigers a narrow 9-6 lead over a stubborn Italian side, who made the home side scrap for every point, at half-time.

After the break, the Tigers scored two early tries at the start of the second half by No 8 Thomas Waldrom and fellow backrower and flanker Ben Woods crashed over to make it 21-6 to the home side.

Murphy then got in on the act to cross for the Tigers third try to extend his record and as the club's record try-scorer in Europe before fly-half George Ford crossed for the fourth try for the bonus point.

G Murphy [C], H Agulla, B Twelvetrees, A Allen (S Hamilton 65), A Tuilagi, J Staunton (G Ford 59), M Young (S Harrison 51), M Ayerza (B Stankovich 71), G Chuter (J Stevens 71), M Castrogiovanni (D Cole 51), E Slater, G Skivington, T Croft (K Kitchener 72), B Woods, T Waldrom (S Mafi 61)

SCORERS T: Waldrom, Woods, Murphy, Ford C: Twelvetrees, Ford P: Twelvetrees (3)

A A Benettin (M Pratichetti 61), G Toniolatti , R Quartaroli (G Pavan 70), G Pizarro, G Venditti, N Olivier, T Tebaldi (G Bronzini 65), A de Marchi (L Romano 48), R Santamaria (T D'Apice 51), F Staibano (S Perugini 43), Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami [C], M Bergamasco, S Favaro (F Ferrarini 72), J Sole (C del Fava 55)

SCORERS P: Olivier (2)

Match points: Leicester 5pts, Aironi 0pts
Man of the Match: Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)

 

CLERMONT AUVERGNE 19 - 15 ULSTER RUGBY

STADE MARCEL MICHELIN - Saturday 21 January 2012
KO: 16:40 HT: 6-6 Att: 17,633

ASM Clermont Auvergne secured top spot in Pool 4 with a hard-fought win over Ulster at the Stade Marcel Michelin on Saturday night.

Another enthralling European encounter ended 19-15 in the home side's favour as Ulster fell just short of a huge Heineken Cup upset.

The sides finished level on 20 points at the top of the pool but Clermont's superior try count in the head-to-head games means it is they who go through as group winners.

After weathering the early storm in what has to be one of liveliest atmospheres in world rugby, Ulster found themselves down to 14 men as a result of a moment of madness from Dan Tuohy. The in-form second row dumped Morgan Parra on his backside right under the nose of referee Dave Pearson as the Clermont scrum-half looked to take a quick tap and Ulster's task suddenly got a whole lot harder.

But Brian McLaughlin's men took the setback in their stride and were only a single penalty behind at 6-3 when Tuohy returned 10 minutes later. A 17th-minute effort from Pienaar was sandwiched in between two short-range strikes from Parra as Clermont failed to make the most of their numerical advantage.

A loose pass from Clermont skipper Aurélien Rougerie then almost gifted Craig Gilroy a 25-metre run in but the tiniest of ankle taps from Lionel Faure saved the French centre's blushes.

Pienaar was off-target with a 28th-minute shot at goal before levelling the scores four minutes later from wide on the right. Ulster will feel three points could easily have been seven, however, as they blew a substantial overlap as Ian Humphreys' lopping pass forced Andrew Trimble to break his stride and allowed the covering defence to pull him down just short.

Pienaar missed a second penalty attempt 40 seconds before the break but handed Ulster a 9-6 lead five minutes after the restart. The two kickers then exchanged a penalty apiece - with Parra striking on 48 minutes and Pienaar on 56 - before Paulo delivered the game's central blow.

Parra's conversion pushed Clermont four points clear but Ulster refused to give up. Pienaar landed another penalty and, although Parra hit back, Ulster could have won it at the death had Rory Best's throw in at a close-range lineout at the death hit its mark.

L Byrne (R King 70), S Sivivatu, A Rougerie [C], W Fofana, J Malzieu, D Skrela (B James 46), M Parra, L Faure (V Debaty 46), B Kayser (T Paulo 53), C Ric (D Kotze 64), J Pierre (J Cudmore 67), N Hines, G Vosloo, J Bardy (A Lapandry 56), J Bonnaire

SCORERS T: Paulo C: Parra P: Parra (2)

S Terblanche, A Trimble, I Whitten, P Wallace, C Gilroy, I Humphreys (P Marshall 61), R Pienaar, T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller [C], D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg (W Faloon 75)

SCORERS P: Pienaar (5) Tuohy

Match points: Clermont 4pts, Ulster 1pt
Man of the Match: Gerard Vosloo (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

 

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POOL 5

BENETTON TREVISO 20 - 26 SARACENS

STADIO COMUNALE DI MONIGO - Sunday 22 January 2012
KO: 14:00 17-13 Att: 4,500

SARACENS were made to work for a hard fought 26-20 victory over Benetton Treviso in northern Italy on Sunday but got the points they required to finish top of Pool 5 and set up a home match against Clermont Auvergne.

In a tight affair at the Stadio Comunale Monigo Owen Farrell's boot proved to be the difference with the centre kicking 16 points.

The visitors opened the scoring courtesy of Farrell with a penalty after ten minutes but Treviso struck back immediately with flanker Robert Barbieri crashing over for the game's first try and Kristopher Burton added the extras with the boot.

Mouritz Botha eased over the line just three minutes later for Saracens and Farrell converted as they moved back in front.

The lead changed hands one again as the hosts doubled their score at the end of the first quarter with wing Tommaso Iannone racing into score. Burton converted and kicked a drop-goal to stretch his side's advantage to 17-10.

Farrell kicked another three points for the visitors before the break to reduce the deficit to 4 points.

It took just 36 second-half seconds for Saracens to retake the lead with England wing David Strettle capitalising on a charge down to side step his way over the whitewash.

Farrell and Burton exchanged further penalties in a tight second period before Farrell continued his impressive display with the boot adding another 3 points to his tally.

L Nitoglia, T Iannone (A Di Bernardo 75), T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi, B Williams, K Burton, T Botes (F Semenzato 58), M Rizzo, L Ghiraldini, L Cittadini, A Pavanello [C] (G Padrò 27), C van Zyl, B Vermaak (G Padrò 68), A Zanni, R Barbieri (M Filippucci 58)

SCORERS T: R Barbieri, T Iannone C: K Burton (2) P: K Burton, DG: K Burton

A Goode, D Strettle, O Farrell, B Barritt, J Short (C Wyles 50), C Hodgson, P Stringer (B Spencer 72), M Stevens, J Smit (J George 60), C Nieto (R Gill 45), S Borthwick [C] (H Smith 32), M Botha, K Brown (J Melck 32), A Saull, J Wray

SCORERS T: D Strettle, M Botha, C: O Farrell (2) P: O Farrell (4)

Match points: Benetton Treviso 1pts, Saracens 4pts
Man of the Match: Robert Barbieri (Benetton Treviso)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

 

 BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE 36 - 5 OSPREYS

PARC DES SPORTS AGUILERA - Sunday 22 January 2012
KO: 14:00 HT: 17-0 Att: 9,412

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE kept their amazing home record in the Heineken Cup with a comfortable bonus point victory in Pool 5 over the Ospreys at the Stade Aguilera.

The Basque outfit had lost only four of their previous 40 Heineken Cup home games and turned on the style against the Welsh side to remind everyone why they have reached two previous finals.

The Top 14 side made the perfect start and took advantage of a disorganized visitors defence when USA Eagles wing, Taku Ngwenya, crashed over for a try after only five minutes.

Full back Iain Balshaw then split the Ospreys defence to create another opportunity finished off by Ngwenya who crossed over for his second try despite the attention of Tommy Bowe.

Scrum half Dimitri Yachvili added his second conversion and a penalty to give the home side a well deserved 17-0 lead at half-time against a Welsh side which struggled to launch a meaningful attack.

The visitors lost replacement scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i to a yellow card and were down to 14-men for the first ten minutes of the second half and Biarritz took full advantage when wing Benoit Baby crossed for Biarritz's third try.

Balshaw was the next to take advantage of their extra-man and crossed for Biarritz fourth try for the bonus point before replacement Richard Hibbard barged his way over for the Ospreys try.

Wing Ngwenya then rubbed salt into the Ospreys wounds with a third try to make it a hat-trick of tries for the American midway through the second half to seal a one-sided victory against the Welsh side.

I Balshaw (D Haylett-Petty 65), T Ngwenya, C Gimenez (M Bosch 10), D Traille (I Bolakoro 58), B Baby, J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili, F Barcella (E Guinazu 58), A Heguy (R Terrain 58), S Marconnet (F Gomez Kodela 48), J Thion, M Carizza (P Taele 58), W Lauret, B Guyot, I Harinordoquy [C]

SCORERS T: B Baby, I Balshaw, T Ngwenya (3) C: D Yachvili (4) P: D Yachvili

B Davies (S Williams 34), T Bowe, A Bishop, A Beck, E Walker, D Biggar (M Morgan 58), R Webb (K Fotualii 41), P James (R Bevington 41), H Bennett (R Hibbard 48), A Jones (A Jarvis 71), I Gough, I Evans (J Bearman 59), T Smith (R Jones 41), J Tipuric [C], J Thomas

SCORERS T: R Hibbard K Fotuali'i

Match points: Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque 5pts, Ospreys 0pts
Man of the Match: Taku Ngwenya (Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

 

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POOL 6

CONNACHT RUGBY 9 - 8 HARLEQUINS

THE SPORTS GROUND - Friday 20 January 2012
KO: 20:00 HT: 9-5 Att: 5,420

QUINS' bad luck with the Irish weather continued at The Sports Ground tonight with what you might refer to as somewhat wet and blustery conditions.

Sadly, their luck against Connacht was as bleak as the weather as they saw their Heineken Cup quarter-final hopes cloud over, with the home side gaining an unlikely 9-8 victory, Connacht’s first win since the end of September 2011.

As the flags blew at full pelt and the rain lashed down, Quins took to the field looking for a win, preferably with a bonus point, to give themselves the best chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

With Toulouse kicking off against Gloucester, and heading the pool by 2 points, mathematics dictated there was all to play for.

The home side had nothing to lose and looked to maintain the physical performance that saw them come close to Quins in their last meeting at the Stoop, back in November. However, Connacht did come into the game on a 14-game losing streak.

With the strong wind at their backs, it was Connacht who fired the scoreboard into life with a penalty just 4 minutes in, which Niall O'Connor slipped through the posts.

However, Quins hit back 4 minutes later after Nick Evans looped Jordan Turner-Hall and fired the ball out to Sam Smith, who evaded Vainikolo's tackle to touch down in the left hand corner. With the wind pounding in his face, Evans' touchline conversion was always going to be tough and, as the ball bobbled, he picked it off the tee to attempt a drop-goal but, despite coming close, the ball drifted just wide.

With the conditions working heavily against flowing play, the two sides scrapped with Quins gaining most of the possession, but it was Connacht who added two penalties, courtesy of Niall O'Connor.

Connacht were making the most of the wind. Whilst Quins had to battle for every inch of ground, Connacht had the advantage of the extra length their kicks were gaining, to probe into Quins territory.

O'Connor missed his first penalty of the night 3 minutes before half time after Connacht battered the Quins line but, whilst the defence held out bravely, the resulting penalty was inevitable. The homeside lead the charge into the break 9-5 up.

The second half was a similarly scrappy affair with only 3 points added by Evans on 60 minutes, taking the score to 9-8.

Despite again dominating the possession and territory for the first 15 minutes of the half, Connacht could not even cross the halfway line, but  Quins could not do enough to take the win. Evans had one more penalty attempt which, much to the delight of the home support, the local wind pushed wide.

Despite Gloucester helpfully beating Toulouse by 10 points, Quins are now hanging on to a qualifying spot in the Heineken Cup by the skin of their teeth. With the rest of the games taking place over the next two days, it could be a weekend of sweaty palms and nervous twitches for all the Quins fans as they try to work out who to support in each game.

Report courtesy of Sarah Butler, Quins Press Officer

G Duffy [C], F Vainikolo, K Tonetti, H Fa'afili, T O'Halloran, N O'Connor, P O'Donohoe, B Wilkinson (D Buckley 68), A Flavin (E Reynecke 58), R Loughney (D Rogers 77), M Swift, M McCarthy, J Muldoon, R Ofisa, G Naoupu

SCORERS P: O'Connor (3)

M Brown, U Monye, M Hopper, J Turner-Hall (T Casson 80), S Smith, N Evans, D Care, J Marler (M Lambert 72), C Brooker (J Gray 62), J Johnston, T Vallejos (O Kohn 48), G Robson, M Faasavalu (L Wallace 41), C Robshaw [C], N Easter

SCORERS T: Smith P: Evans

Match points: Connacht 4pts, Harlequins 1pt
Man of the Match: John Muldoon (Connacht Rugby)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

 

 GLOUCESTER RUGBY 34 - 24 TOULOUSE

KINGSHOLM - Friday 20 January 2012
KO: 20:00 HT: 14-17 Att: 13,077

TWO tries from Man of the Match Jonny May rounded off a thrilling encounter at Kingsholm as Gloucester clinched a 34-24 victory over Toulouse.

The hosts were already out of the running for a quarter-final spot whilst four-times Champions Toulouse arrived in England looking to progress into the knock-out stage for the 13th time.

The Cherry and Whites got off to the worst possible start losing prop Nick Wood to the sin-bin in the first minute, but the Kingsholm crowd were soon cheering as Jonny May grabbed the game's first try just 2 minutes later.

Fly-half Freddie Burns launched a huge up and under which Toulouse failed to deal with and Timoci Matanavou's attempted clearance from inside his own in-goal area was charged down by May who then pounced on the ball to score.

But the scores were soon level as Toulouse captain Thierry Dusautoir had the easiest of run-ins. Dusautoir, playing in his 50th Heineken Cup match, spotted acres of space around the edge of a ruck and darted clear to touch down.

9 minutes later and Toulouse had doubled their score, Matanavou running in down the right flank after Toulouse attack had confused the Gloucester midfield, creating room for the Fijian sevens star on the wing. As with the first try Lionel Beauxis added the extras with the conversion and he then kicked a 17th minute penalty to stretch his side's lead.

There was still time for a fourth first-half try at Kingsholm as May linked up with Charlie Sharples on the right wing to send Gloucester speeding into the Toulouse twenty-two and after coming close through Alasdair Strokosch, the ball was recycled wide to Akapusi Qera who touched down, and at half time the visitors lead 17-14.

It was again the combination of May and Sharples which fired Gloucester into the lead early in the second period. The Toulouse defence struggled to cope with the pace of the duo as they attacked down the flanks and a simple two on one saw Sharples sprint over for his second of the evening.

A stunning break from Beauxis carved Gloucester's defence apart and once in behind the Cherry and Whites a try looked inevitable. Simple quick ball and slight of hand created the room for Matanavou to grab his second.

A Burns penalty pushed Gloucester back into the lead with 7 minutes remaining and Kingsholm then erupted as May clinched the victory 5 minutes before time with his second score.

J May, C Sharples, M Tindall (R Mills 66), E Fuimaono-Sapolu (H Trinder 58), J Simpson-Daniel, F Burns, R Lawson (D Lewis 73), N Wood (D Murphy 71), S Lawson (D Dawiduik 57), R Harden (S Knight 63), J Hamilton, A Brown (W James 71), A Strokosch, A Qera (M Cox 70), L Narraway [C]

SCORERS T: May (2), Qera, Sharples C: Burns (4) P: Burns (2) Wood

C Poitrenaud (Y Donguy 71), T Matanavou, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, M Medard, L Beauxis, L Burgess (J Doussain 63), G Steenkamp (D Human 48), W Servat, C Johnston (J Poux 56), Y Maestri (G Lamboley 48), P Albacete, Y Nyanga (J Bouilhou 60), T Dusautoir [C], L Picamoles (S Sowerby 59)

SCORERS T: Dusautoir, Matanavou C: Beauxis (2) P: Beauxis

Match points: Gloucester 4pts, Toulouse 0pts
Man of the Match: Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland) 

 

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POOL 1

MUNSTER 26 - 10 CASTRES OLYMPIQUE

THOMOND PARK - Saturday 14th January 2012
KO: 15:40 HT: 16-7 Att: 25,600

MUNSTER kept their unbeaten record in this season's Heineken Cup and secured their place in the quarter-finals with this hard fought victory over French side Castres at Thomond Park

Ronan O'Gara, who became the most capped player in the Heineken Cup with his 102nd appearance and scored in his 85th consecutive game in the tournament, proved his side's talisman once again. The Ireland fly-half's reliable boot proved the difference with his personal haul of 16 points against a Castres side which had nothing to play for but pride and refused to lie down.

The home side couldn't have asked for a better start when wing Johne Murphy crashed over after only eight minutes to calm the nerves of a sell-out and expectant home crowd in Limerick.

But they were soon stunned into silence when Castres, completely against the run of play, managed a try of their own from a quick tap penalty when blindside flanker Yannick Caballero slipped over from short-range.

O'Gara settled his side's nerves with two quick penalties to make it 16-7 midway through the first half to give them the lead at half-time but the French side made them work hard for every point.

Outside half Pierre Bernard landed an outrageous penalty on the halfway line to claw Castres back to within six points just after the break before O'Gara replied with his fourth penalty to make it 19-10.

Castres then went down 14-men when they had scrum-half Thierry Lacrampe sin-binned for a professional foul but the home side failed to take advantage and didn't manage a point during their spell with an extra-man.

But when Munster's second try came, it was after a break by centre Lifemi Mafi which led to prop Wian Du Preez burrowing his way over the line to make it five wins out of five in this season's tournament.

D Hurley, J Murphy, K Earls, L Mafi (D Barnes 77), S Zebo, R O'Gara (I Keatley 73), C Murray (T O'Leary 65), W du Preez (M Horan 72), D Varley (D Fogarty 72), B Botha (S Archer 73), D Ryan, P O'Connell [C], P O'Mahony (B Holland 77), N Ronan (D O'Callaghan 1), J Coughlan

SCORERS T: J Murphy, W du Preez C: R O'Gara (2) P: R O'Gara (4)

R Martial, V Inigo (M Nicolas 72), P Bonnefond, P Garcia, P Lakafia, P Bernard, T Lacrampe, S Taumoepeau (M Coetzee 55), M Rallier (M Bonello 65), A Peikrishvili (K Wihongi 55), M Rolland [C], R Capo Ortega, Y Caballero, I Diarra (P Roussel 75), J Bornman

SCORERS T: Y Caballero C: P Bernard P: P Bernard T Lacrampe (54)

Match points: Munster 4pts, Castres Olympique 0pts
Man of the Match: Donnacha Ryan (Munster)
Referee: Andrew Small (England) 

SCARLETS 17 - 29 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

PARC Y SCARLETS - Saturday 14th January 2012
KO: 13:30 HT: 14-6 Att: 9,869

THE Scarlets lost the chance of a first Heineken Cup quarter-final place in four years as they were beaten by Northampton Saints in Pool at Parc y Scarlets.

The Welsh region went into the contest with genuine ambitions of a place in the knockout stages, but it was last season's beaten finalists who shone, grabbing a vital away win to keep their hopes of progressing in either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Challenge Cup alive.

Northampton's indiscipline cost them dearly in the opening exchanges when they lost wing Tom May to a yellow card after only 2 minutes for petulance and the Saints were down to 14-men.

Rhys Priestland and Steve Myler swapped penalties in a scrappy first half before the Tongan wing Viliame Iongi crossed for the home side's first try of the game after period of sustained pressure.

The Scarlets flyer latched onto a Priestland crosskick to give the Scarlets a 11 point lead before Myler landed a second penalty just before half-time to make it 14-6 to the Welsh side.

The Saints hit straight back after the break when prop Soane Tonga'uiha barged his way over from short-range to claw the Premiership outfit back to within a point of their hosts 14-13.

Myler and Priestland swapped penalties again, but Northampton's pressure on the home side gave them a 22-17 lead midway through the second half. The Scarlets threw the kitchen sink at the former champions in the dying moments of the game but couldn't breach Northampton's defence.

To add salt to the home side's wounds, they saw England full-back, Ben Foden run the length of the field for an interception try to seal an impressive rearguard action by last season's beaten finalists to clinch victory.

L Williams, G North, S Williams (G Maule 73), J Davies, V Iongi, R Priestland, G Davies (R Williams 73), I Thomas (P John 59), M Rees [C] (K Owens 59), D Manu (R Jones 73), L Reed, D Day (J Edwards 65), A Shingler, R McCusker (J Turnbull 73), B Morgan

SCORERS T: V Iongi P: R Priestland (4)

B Foden, C Ashton, G Pisi, T May (S Armstrong 73), V Artemyev, S Myler (R Lamb 73), M Roberts (L Dickson 59), S Tonga'uiha (A Waller 70), D Hartley [C] (M Haywood 70), B Mujati (P Doran-Jones 59), S Manoa, M Sorenson (C Day 63), C Clark (B Nutley 73), P Dowson, R Wilson

SCORERS T: B Foden, S Tonga'uiha C: R Lamb, S Myler P: S Myler (5) T May (2)

Match points: Scarlets 0pts, Northampton Saints 4pts
Man of the Match: Steve Myler (Northampton Saints)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland) 

 

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POOL 2

RACING MÉTRO 92 24 - 27 EDINBURGH RUGBY

STADE YVES DU MANOIR - 13th January 2012
KO: 21:00 HT: 7-14 Att: 6,113

PHIL GODMAN kicked a last minute drop-goal for Edinburgh to clinch victory over Racing Métro and keep them at the helm of Pool 2 in the Heineken Cup.

The visitors had led for the majority of the game only to be pegged back after each time of taking the advantage. And just as the game looked destined for a draw, three tries apiece, Godman struck to clinch only their second victory on French soil.

Both sides battled for early dominance but neither could find their early rhythm and Juan Martin Hernandez and Greg Laidlaw's early missed shots at goal kept the game scoreless.

Chabal's powerful early breaks provided some spark but the game really kicked into gear when Ross Rennie crossed for the opening score.

But Fabrice Estebanez created a hole in midfield and offloaded to Francois Steyn who dived over. Hernandez had no problems with his second shot at goal, leveling the scores with the conversion.

A quick attack down the blindside set up field position and then Edinburgh bided their time before Netani Talei broke through and the stretched over the line to grab a second try for Scots. Captain Laidlaw added the conversion to give his side a healthy advantage at the break.

In the second half, Juan Imhoff made a mockery of the covering defence, firstly out sprinting them down the blindside before rounding Chris Paterson with ease to level the score. But rather than consolidate after scoring, Racing immediately started looking for their next score and switched off in defence. This allowed David Denton to sprint clear, galloping to the line for the game's fifth try.

Antoine Battut touchdown after an attack that always looked destined to end with try. Hernandez again levelled the score, this time from the touchline before making way for Jonathan Wisniewski.

Wisniewski missed the chance to edge his side in front just minutes after coming on with a long range kick drifting wide, but the fly-half had no problem with his second effort sailing over.

Laidlaw responded with three points of his own two minutes later and then Godman struck just before the final whistle dropping Edinburgh to victory.

J Imhoff, V Vakatawa (R Vaquiin 74), F Steyn, F Estebanez, J Saubade, J Hernandez, S Descons (M Loree 71), A Lo Cicero, G Arganese (T Bianchin 66), J Orlandi (B Sa 49), L Nallet [C], F van der Merwe, J Leo'o, A Batut, S Chabal (B Le Roux 66)

SCORERS T: F Steyn, A Batut, J Imhoff C: J Hernandez (3) P: J Wisniewski

C Paterson, L Jones, N De Luca, M Scott, T Visser, G Laidlaw [C], M Blair (P Godman 67), A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross (J Gilding 67), G Gilchrist, S Cox, D Denton, R Rennie (R Grant 48), N Talei

SCORERS T: R Rennie, N Talei, D Denton C: G Laidlaw (3) P: G Laidlaw, DG: P Godman

Match points: Racing Métro 92 1pts, Edinburgh Rugby 4pts
Man of the Match: Netani Talei (Edinburgh Rugby)
Referee: Dave Pearson (England) 

LONDON IRISH 15 - 22 CARDIFF BLUES

MADEJSKI STADIUM - Saturday 14th January 2012
KO: 15:40 HT: 9-6 Att: 9,923

CARDIFF BLUES kept Heineken Cup quarter-final qualification in their own hands with a crucial win at London Irish on Saturday afternoon.

A Sam Warburton try and 17 points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny saw the Blues run out 22-15 winners at the Madejski Stadium in a nail-biting counter.

With so much at stake for both sides - Irish knew a win would keep their own European hopes alive - this was always going to be a tight affair and it proved that way with defences dominating in Reading.

Irish led 9-6 at the break as Adrian Jarvis outscored Halfpenny by three kicks to two but Warburton's try following Casey Laulala's fine break just a minute after the interval swung things in the visitor's favour.

Halfpenny converted and, although the Exiles never let go of their coat tails, the Blues were always a score ahead from there on in.

The match remained in the balance until the very last but a 75th-minute strike from the Blues full back left Irish chasing a converted score to tie things up late on.

They came close as they pressed repeatedly in a final flurry but the Blues defence held firm under serious pressure.

D Armitage, T Ojo, J Spratt, S Hape (S Shingler 71), A Thompstone (T Homer 71), A Jarvis, D Allinson, C Dermody [C] (A Corbisiero 57), D Paice (J Buckland 35), F Rautenbach (P Ion 49), N Kennedy (B Casey 76), M Garvey, B Evans, D Sisi, A Gray

SCORERS P: D Armitage, A Jarvis (4)

L Halfpenny, A Cuthbert, C Laulala, G Henson, C Czekaj (R Mustoe 57), D Parks, L Williams (R Rees 57), G Jenkins, T Thomas (R Tyrrell 63), T Filise (S Andrews 49), B Davies, P Tito [C] (M Molitika 71), M Paterson, S Warburton, X Rush

SCORERS T: S Warburton C: L Halfpenny P: L Halfpenny (5) B Davies (79)

Match points: London Irish 1pts, Cardiff Blues 4pts
Man of the Match: Casey Laulala (Cardiff Blues)
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland) 

 

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POOL 3

MONTPELLIER 24 - 22 BATH RUGBY

STADE YVES DU MANOIR - Saturday 14th January 2012
KO: 14:00 HT: 7-10 Att: 10,106

MONTPELLIER clinched their first ever Heineken Cup victory, scoring the winning try in the final play of the match to beat Bath 24-22 at Stade Yves du Manoir.

The hosts got off to a flying start with wing Pierre Berard touching down with the game just a minute old. Beneoit Paillaugue slotted the conversion to round off the perfect opening.

Olly Barkley responded with a penalty for Bath after 9 minutes and the former England star also added the extras to Ryan Caldwell's late first half try to take the visitors into the break 10-7 ahead.

Paillaugue levelled things up early in the second period with his first penalty before second-row Caldwell grabbed his and Bath's second try to give the English side the lead.

A converted Alex Tulou try for Montpellier levelled the scores but England wing, Matt Banahan looked to have won the game for Bath with his 71st minute try. Tom Heathcote could not convert as he had done with Caldwell's second score.

But the game had one final twist with wing Timoci Nagusa crossing in the game's final move to level the scores.

The responsibility of the conversion fell to replacement Martin Bustos Moyana who made no mistake in ensuring he grabbed a first ever Heineken Cup victory for Montpellier.

J Peyras Loustalet (M Bustos Moyano 68), T Nagusa, G Doumayrou (Y Audrin 63), T Combezou, P Bérard, S Fernandez, B Paillaugue (J Tomas 68), M Nariashvili (N Leleimalefaga 58), M Ladhuie (J Caudullo 57), M Bustos, M Demarco, J Tuineau (D Hancke 65), V Bost (A Tulou 58), R Martin [C] (V Bost 78), M Matadigo (J Tuineau 78)

SCORERS T: T Nagusa, A Tulou, P Bérard C: B Paillaugue (2), M Bustos Moyano P: B Paillaugue T Nagusa (38)

N Abendanon, O Woodburn, O Barkley (A Perenise 48), M Banahan, T Biggs, T Heathcote, M Claassens, C Beech (D Flatman 60), R Batty (P Dixon 60), D Wilson (A Perenise 72), D Attwood, R Caldwell, B Skirving (G Mercer 72), F Louw [C], S Taylor

SCORERS T: R Caldwell (2), M Banahan C: O Barkley, T Heathcote P: O Barkley D Wilson (47)

Match points: Montpellier 4pts, Bath Rugby 1pts
Man of the Match: R Caldwell (Bath Rugby)
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland) 

GLASGOW WARRIORS 16 - 23 LEINSTER

FIRHILL - Sunday 15th January 2012
KO: 12:45 HT: 6-6 Att: 6,479

REIGNING champions Leinster made it a perfect  weekend for Irish rugby as they followed Munster's example by booking their ticket for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a game to spare as they came from behind to beat Glasgow Warriors.

The home side, who were battling to keep alive their hopes of reaching the last eight for the first time in their history, led 6-3 in the first half before Fergus McFadden levelled the scores with the last kick of the opening 40 minutes.

McFadden took over the kicking duties when Jonny Sexton, who landed one monster penalty from a metre inside his own half, picked up a strain and the centre ended with 10 vital points.

Leinster, who had won three and drawn one of their four pool matches in 2011, found the Warriors defensive line in combative mood and could find no way through until a cruel bounce of the ball paved the way for Rob Kearney to notch the opening try three minutes after the break.

A neat cross kick from left to right into the home 22 gave Kearney something to chase and the ball bounced up to give him the chance to snatch it from the arms of Stuart Hogg. McFadden added the extras and Leinster were in front for the first time.

But Aly Kellock's men were in no mood to surrender and came storming back into the game after Duncan Weir and McFadden had exchanged penalties. They spurned another penalty shot and instead kicked for a close range line-out.

The forwards drove ever closer to the line and then replacement scrum half Colin Gregor crossed in the left corner. Up stepped Weir to take the touchline conversion and over went the kick to level the scores with 17 minutes to play.

Now it was anyone's game and the champions had to dig deep to book their safe-passage into the last eight. They worked their way up to the home line and their own replacement scrum half, Isaac Boss, twisted through a tackle to reach the line at the posts and claim and try that was eventually confirmed by the TMO.

McFadden added the simple conversion and now it was the Warriors' who had their backs to the wall. They piled on the pressure, reached the Leinster 22, but couldn't find the score they needed level the scores again.

R Lamont, T Seymour, S Hogg, G Morrison, C Shaw (T Nathan 68), D Weir (S Wight 74), C Cusiter (C Gregor 58), J Welsh, P MacArthur (D Hall 56), E Kalman (G Reid 70), R Gray (T Ryder 61), A Kellock [C] (T Ryder 32), R Harley, C Fusaro, J Barclay (J Beattie 61)

SCORERS T: Gregor C: Weir P: Weir (3) Sean O’Brien

R Kearney, D Kearney (E O'Malley 64), F McFadden, G D'Arcy, I Nacewa, J Sexton, E Reddan (I Boss 58), C Healy (H Van der Merwe 64), S Cronin, M Ross (N White 66), L Cullen [C] (D Browne 74), D Toner, S O'Brien, S Jennings (R Ruddock 58), J Heaslip

SCORERS T: R Kearney, Boss C: McFadden (2) P: Sexton, McFadden

Match Points: Glasgow 1pt, Leinster 4pts
Man of the match: Sean Cronin (Leinster)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

 

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POOL 4

ULSTER RUGBY 41 -7  LEICESTER TIGERS

RAVENHILL - 13th January 2012
KO: 20:00 HT: 18-7 Att: 11,900

ULSTER kept control of Pool 4 after they hammered former Heineken Cup winners Leicester Tigers 41-7 on Friday night.

Brian McLaughlin's men produced a sensational performance to inflict Leicester's worst Heineken Cup defeat in 17 seasons of Europe's premier competition and put one foot in the quarter finals for a second successive year.

Ravenhill was buzzing throughout an enthralling encounter in which Ulster started as narrow favourites but always looked like clear winners.

A brace of first-half scores from Andrew Trimble and an impressive kicking display from Ruan Pienaar set the Northern Irish province on their way to fourth a win in five European games this term.

Further tries from Craig Gilroy and Paul Marshall capped an incredible showing that sees Ulster jump to 19 points with one round of group games left to play.

Ireland wing Trimble crossed at either ends of the opening 40 minutes to hand Ulster an 18-7 lead at the break, with skipper Geordan Murphy grabbing Leicester's solitary try on 13 minutes.

Springbok star Pienaar added a total of 21 points with the boot to effectively end Leicester's chances of a first Heineken Cup crown in a decade and Gilroy and Marshall added an even greater gloss to the scoreline on 69 and 72 minutes respectively.

S Terblanche, A Trimble, D Cave (I Whitten 57), P Wallace, C Gilroy, I Humphreys (P Marshall 65), R Pienaar, T Court, R Best (N Brady 76), J Afoa, J Muller [C], D Tuohy, S Ferris (L Stevenson 73), C Henry, P Wannenburg

SCORERS T: A Trimble (2), P Marshall, C Gilroy C: R Pienaar (3) P: R Pienaar (5)

G Murphy [C], H Agulla, M Smith (J Staunton 59), A Allen, A Tuilagi, B Twelvetrees, B Youngs (S Harrison 76), M Ayerza, R Hawkins (G Chuter 65), M Castrogiovanni (D Cole 55), S Mafi (E Slater 56), G Parling, T Croft, J Salvi, T Waldrom

SCORERS T: G Murphy C: B Twelvetrees D Cole (64)

Match points: Ulster Rugby 5pts, Leicester Tigers 0pts
Man of the Match: Pedrie Wannenburg (Ulster Rugby)
Referee: Romain Poite (France) 

AIRONI RUGBY 0 - 82 CLERMONT AUVERGNE

STADIO BRIANTEO - Saturday 14th January 2012
KO: 14:30 HT: 0-47 Att: 4,921

CLERMONT AUVERGNE ran in 12 tries as they stormed to victory over Aironi and kept their hopes of a place in this season's Heineken Cup quarter-finals alive.

The French side turned on the style against the Italian new boys and returned home with a much-needed bonus point to keep them in the hunt in Pool 4 to set up a winner takes all clash with Ulster in France next weekend.

Wings Sitiveni Sivivatu and Julien Malzieu both scored try hat-tricks, with full back Lee Byrne crossing for a brace of tries and Alexandre Lapandry, Brock James, Elvis Vermeulen all scored against the Italians.

Aironi, who are in only their second season of European rugby and haven't won a game in the Pool this season, suffered their heaviest defeat in the tournament at the hands of the Top 14 outfit.

Clermont raced to a 47-0 lead at half-time and simply overwhelmed their Italian hosts with their pace and power in a devastating display of what the French side are capable on their day.

A Masi (M Pratichetti 27), G Toniolatti, R Quartaroli, A Benettin (T Keats 52), S Sinoti, N Olivier (G Pavan 60), T Tebaldi, S Perugini (A de Marchi 46), T D'Apice (R Santamaria 46), L Romano (F Staibano 55), Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami [C], N Cattina (F Ferrarini 18), M Bergamasco, J Sole

L Byrne (A Rougerie 52), S Sivivatu, R King, G Canale (W Fofana 67), J Malzieu, B James, M Parra (K Senio 27), V Debaty, T Paulo (B Kayser 78), D Kotze (C Ric 69), J Cudmore (N Hines 41), L Jacquet, A Lapandry (J Bonnaire 58), J Bardy, E Vermeulen [C]

SCORERS T: E Vermeulen, J Malzieu (3), L Byrne (2), B James, S Sivivatu (3), A Lapandry (2) C: M Parra (4), B James (7)

Match points: Aironi Rugby 0pts, ASM Clermont Auvergne 5pts
Man of the Match: Siti Sivivatu (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales) 

 

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POOL 5

OSPREYS 44 - 17 BENETTON TREVISO

LIBERTY STADIUM - Friday 13th January 2012
KO: 20:00 HT: 25-10 Att: 5,411

THE Ospreys six try romp started with a third minute interception try from Tommy Bowe 60m out to edge him ever closer to the ERC Elite Award target of 25 Heineken Cup tries. That score took his tally to 22 and he should have got another in the second half when he carried two Benetton Treviso defenders with him over the line only to see hear the TMO rule out a score.

The Ospreys were in fluent mode and stretched their lead to 10-3 with a Dan Biggar penalty. Then Bowe broke through again to set up a charge for the visitors' line that ended 10 metres out when the ball squirted out of the side of a ruck.

Up popped Treviso scrum half Edoardo Gori and he outdid Bowe by racing 80 metres to the left corner for a spectacular try. Kris Burton's touchline conversion made it 10-10 in only the 11th minute and the home side knew they were in a fight.

But Beck's two strikes before half-time gave his side a handy 25-10 interval lead and, after Bowe had been denied a second score four minutes after the break, the Ospreys pack flexed their muscles to pick up the first of two penalty tries awarded by English referee JP Doyle.

That score, with a Biggar conversion, stretched the lead to 22 points and also earned the Ospreys a much needed bonus point. But still Treviso refused to be shaken off and a try from close range by lock Gonzalo Padro, improved by Tobie Botes, cut the gap.

But the home side ended with a flourish and it was a break from rising young star Matthew Morgan that paved away for his replacement half-back partner Khan Fotuali’i to cross for try number five. The final blow came from another power packed scrum when Mr Doyle ran to the posts for a second penalty try just as Ospreys back row man Tom Smith was about to pick up a dive over.

B Davies, T Bowe (T Isaacs 70), A Bishop, A Beck, S Williams, D Biggar (M Morgan 61), R Webb (K Fotualii 61), P James (R Bevington 47), R Hibbard (H Bennett 47), A Jones (A Jarvis 55), I Gough (C O'Toole 70), I Evans, T Smith, J Tipuric [C], J Bearman (J Thomas 52)

SCORERS T: T Bowe, A Beck (2), K Fotualii, Penalty Try (2) C: D Biggar (3), M Morgan P: D Biggar (2)

B Williams, L Nitoglia, A Sgarbi, A Pratichetti (F Semenzato 54), T Iannone, K Burton (T Botes 44), E Gori (C van Zyl 77), M Rizzo [C] (A Allori 44), F Sbaraglini, L Cittadini (I Fernandez Rouyet 44), G Padrò, V Bernabo, P Derbyshire (B Vermaak 17), A Zanni, M Filippucci (S Picone 64)

SCORERS T: G Padrò, E Gori C: T Botes, K Burton P: K Burton

Match points: Ospreys 5pts, Benetton Treviso 0pts
Man of the Match: Ashley Beck (Ospreys)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)

SARACENS 20 - 16 BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE

VICARAGE ROAD - Sunday 15th January 2012
KO: 15:00 HT: 14-6 Att: 6,789

SARACENS stayed in control of Pool 5 but will have to wait another week to book their quarter-final place after a nail-biting 20-16 win over Biarritz Olympique.

The English Champions now need just a point from next week's trip to Benetton Treviso after a Ben Spencer try and five Owen Farrell penalties saw them edge past the twice beaten finalists at Vicarage Road.

Saracens dominated territory and possession but Dimitri Yachvilli ensured it was an uncomfortable last 20 minutes for Mark McCall's men as his boot, and his own converted try kept the game in the balance until the death.

Sarries led 14-6 at the break thanks to a trio of three pointers from new England squad member Farrell and Spencer's well-taken 18th-minute score. The young scrum-half added to his growing reputation by darting over from 10 metres out after Farrell's hack ahead in midfield. David Strettle and Ernst Joubert combined to take Sarries to within 10m of the line before Spencer snuck through three tackles for a fine score.

Yachvili followed Diego Dominguez, Ronan O'Gara and Stephen Jones in passing 600 Heineken Cup points with his first penalty on 9 minutes but he could only add one more before half-time and missed a relatively straightforward effort that would have narrowed the gap to four just before the interval.

The third quarter then looked set to end scoreless before an error from Sarries replacement Peter Stringer gifted the visitors 7 points.

The veteran Irish international - who scored Munster's winning try in the 2006 Heineken Cup Final against Biarritz - saw his box kick charged down by Yachvili just minutes after coming on for Spencer.

Biarritz' long-standing talisman converted and suddenly the gap was just a single point at 14-13 on the hour mark.

Farrell kicked Sarries four points clear 2 minutes later but Yachvili struck again on 68 minutes to ensure a nervous ending in North London.

It was Sarries and man of the moment Farrell who had the last laugh, however, as the 20-year-old kept his cool to land a 40m penalty that left Biarritz chasing a try with five minutes remaining.

A Goode, D Strettle, O Farrell, B Barritt, C Wyles, C Hodgson, B Spencer (P Stringer 54), R Gill, J Smit, C Nieto (M Stevens 66), S Borthwick [C], M Botha (G Kruis 58), K Brown, A Saull, E Joubert (J Wray 67)

SCORERS T: B Spencer P: O Farrell (5)

I Balshaw, T Ngwenya, C Gimenez, D Traille [C], I Bolakoro (B Baby 67), M Bosch (J Peyrelongue 55), D Yachvili, F Barcella (S Marconnet 47), R Terrain (A Heguy 41), F Gomez Kodela, J Thion, P Taele (M Carizza 55), W Lauret, B Guyot, F Faure

SCORERS T: D Yachvili C: D Yachvili P: D Yachvili (3)

Match points: Saracens 4pts, Biarritz 1pt
Man of the match: Alex Goode (Saracens)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland) 

 

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POOL 6

TOULOUSE 24 - 3 CONNACHT RUGBY

LE STADIUM - Saturday 14th January 2012
KO: 16:40 HT: 10-3 Att: 18,508

TOULOUSE managed to get the bonus point victory over Connacht to put their Heineken Cup campaign back on track but they had to work hard against the Irish province at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.

The four times Heineken Cup champions crossed for four tries to keep them at the top of Pool 6 ahead of their final Pool game away to Gloucester next weekend.

But the aristocrats of European rugby did manage to put their shock defeat to Harlequins in the last round of the Pool behind them and are in pole position to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Wing Timoci Matanavou grabbed a brace of tries for the former champions, with full-back Maxime Medard and No 8 Louis Picamoles adding the other scores but the French side went in only 10-3 ahead at half-time.

Connacht's fly-half Niall O'Connor gave the Irish province, who are in the first season of Heineken Cup rugby and who have yet to win a game in the tournament, the dream start when he scored the game's first points after 15 minutes.

But the home side, who dominated at the scrum, soon found their rhythm when Matanavou gathered Medard's up and under to score the game's first try midway through the first half.

Medard was then the beneficiary of a pinpoint crosskick by All Black fly-half Luke McAlister to stretch the home side's lead just before the break. Picamoles crashed over from short-range after a quick tap penalty after Connacht's scrum buckled repeatedly on their own line.

Medard, who was named man of the match, then completed his own impressive performance when he took a quick penalty to put wing Matanavou over for his second try to secure the victory.

M Medard, V Clerc, Y David (C Poitrenaud 60), F Fritz (L Beauxis 41), T Matanavou, L McAlister, L Burgess (J Doussain 70), G Steenkamp (D Human 64), W Servat (C Tolofua 66), C Johnston, Y Maestri (G Lamboley 60), P Albacete, J Bouilhou (S Sowerby 68), T Dusautoir [C], L Picamoles

SCORERS T: M Medard, L Picamoles, T Matanavou (2) C: L Beauxis (2)

G Duffy [C], F Vainikolo, K Tonetti, D McSharry (H Fa'afili 61), T O'Halloran, N O'Connor (M Nikora 68), P O'Donohoe (D Moore 68), B Wilkinson (D Buckley 75), A Flavin (E Reynecke 61), D Rogers (S Maguire 49), M Swift, M McCarthy, J Muldoon (M Kearney 70), R Ofisa, G Naoupu (E McKeon 75)

SCORERS P: N O'Connor

Match points: Toulouse 5pts, Connacht Rugby 0pts
Man of the Match: Maxine Medard (Toulouse)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

HARLEQUINS 20 - 14 GLOUCESTER RUGBY

THE STOOP - Saturday 14th January 2012
KO: 18:00 HT: 10-11 Att: 12,772

MIKE BROWN celebrated his England call-up by saving Harlequins Heineken Cup ambitions with a perfect try 6 minutes from time.

Faithfully chasing a Danny Care grub kick through to the Gloucester line, he made the most of Charlie Sharples misfortune as the ball bounced on its end, eluded the visiting wing, bounced off Brown's knee and gave him the simplest task of falling on the ball over the line to seal victory.

That was the fifth change of lead in a battle-royal between the two English rivals and keeps Quins in touch with Toulouse at the top of Pool 6. They will still have to win in Connacht, and hope Gloucester can do them a favour by beating the French Top 14 leaders to win the Pool, but the Heineken Cup teaches you than nothing is certain and anything is possible.

Nick Evans, who had earlier missed with three kicks, nailed the wide angled conversion to make it 20-14 and even though Gloucester threw everything into a pulsating final few minutes they couldn't bridge the gap.

Gloucester drew first blood when outside half Freddie Burns landed the first of his three penalties and even though they conceded a try to centre Matt Hopper after 10 minutes they were back ahead just before the break thanks to a slashing try by James Simpson-Daniel - his 21st in the Heineken Cup.

Evans and Burns swapped penalties early in the second half and gritty Gloucester led for 20 minutes before Sharples' fatal mistake. No thanks to the referee who really needed to paying far more attention, completely ignored the Gloucester dive over the ruck right under his nose which would have given Quins the penalty earlier than the final one resulting from a knock on, Brown was crowned the hero with his clever try which had to be confirmed by the TMO, even though everyone in the ground never doubted its voracity on scoring.

M Brown, T Williams, M Hopper, J Turner-Hall, U Monye, N Evans, D Care, M Lambert ( J Marler 60), J Gray (C Brooker 50), J Johnston, O Kohn, C Matthews T Vallejos 56), M Faasavalu, C Robshaw [C], N Easter

SCORERS T: M Hopper, M Brown C: N Evans (2) P: N Evans (2)

J May, C Sharples, M Tindall, E Fuimaono-Sapolu, J Simpson-Daniel, F Burns, R Lawson (D Lewis 71), N Wood (D Murphy 79), S Lawson (D Dawidiuk 67), D Chistolini R Harden 49), J Hamilton, A Brown (W James 69), A Strokosch, A Qera (D Murphy 69-79), L Narraway [C] (M Cox 75)

SCORERS T: J Simpson-Daniel P: F Burns (3) N Wood (69)

Match points: Harlequins 4pts, Gloucester Rugby 1pt
Man of the Match: James Johnston (Harlequins)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)

 

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POOL 1

NORTHAMPTON 45 - 0 CASTRES OLYMPIQUE

FRANKLIN’S GARDENS - Sunday 18 December, 2011
KO: 15.00HT: 3-0 Att: 11,670

A sensational second half display saw Northampton Saints secure a first Heineken Cup success of the year on Saturday afternoon. Last season's beaten finalists hammered Castres Olympique 45-0 at Franklin's Gardens despite leading by just 3 points at the break.

An incredible five try-showing in the last 18 minutes meant Saints bagged maximum points following previous defeats to Munster and the Scarlets and a 41-22 reverse in France last weekend.

Full back Ben Foden claimed two of those scores, with Russian wing Vasily Artemyev, and replacements Mike Haywood and Greig Tonks the other scorers as Northampton turned on the style in the closing stages.

Foden's first was also Saints' 62nd-minute opener while his second was a sublime individual run that began fully 15 metres inside his own half with the final play of the match.

The three tries that split Foden's double were all well-worked team scores that gave the East Midlands faithful a remainder of the kind of vibrant rugby Saints produced on the way to a second Heineken Cup Final last time out.

Stephen Myler finished with a personal tally of 20 points after kicking four penalties and the same number of conversions, while No8 Samu Manoa picked up the Heineken Man of the Match award in just his second tournament start.

Victory sees Saints leapfrog Castres in the Pool 1 but Jim Mallinder's men are still three points behind second-place Scarlets and eight adrift of runaway leaders Munster.

B Foden, V Artemyev, J Clarke (G Tonks 68), J Downey (S Armstrong 61), J Elliott, S Myler, M Roberts (L Dickson 61), A Waller (S Tonga'uiha 56), D Hartley [C] (M Haywood 63), P Doran-Jones (T Mercey 56), C Lawes (J Craig 51), M Sorenson, T Wood, B Nutley (J Ingle 63), S Manoa

SCORERS T: B Foden (2), M Haywood, G Tonks, V Artemyev C: S Myler (4) P: S Myler (4)

F Denos, M Nicolas (V Inigo 70), P Bonnefond, P Garcia, P Lakafia, P Bernard, T Lacrampe (R Kockott 61), A Peikrishvili (L Ducalcon 52), M Bonello (M Rallier 52), R Kruger (M Coetzee 45), M Rolland [C] (R Capo Ortega 70), S Murray, P Roussel, S Malonga, J Bornman (Y Caballero 43)

P Roussel (21)

Match points: Northampton Saints 5pts, Castres Olympique 0pts
Man of the Match: Samu Manoa (Northampton Saints)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

 

MUNSTER 19 - 13 SCARLETS

THOMOND PARK - Sunday 18 December, 2011
KO: 12.45 HT: 6-3 Att: 25,600

MUNSTER took firm control of Pool 1 with their fourth successive victory, 19-13, to extend their lead at the top over the Scarlets to 5 points.

10 points in the space of as many minutes at the start of the second half eased Munster ahead after the Scarlets had matched them for the first 40. There was just a single Ronan O'Gara penalty between the two teams at the break and the Welsh region had been the more creative side without ever getting the points they needed.

The Scarlets had not beaten Munster in 14 straight games coming into the match, but their free flowing back line caused plenty of problems to the home defence. Even so, the red shirts held firm and the Scarlets had to wait 67 minutes before they reached the home line.

Two O'Gara penalties to one from old rival Stephen Jones were the only points in the first half before the 10 point blitz early in the second. The Coughlan try came from a driving line-out moments after Jonathan Edwards had picked up a yellow card.

Rhys Priestland and O'Gara then swapped penalties to create a 13 point gap once again. But the Scarlets rallied and scored a try from close range from replacement hooker Ken Owens that Priestland converted to put the visitors into losing bonus point territory.

Rhys Thomas picked up a second yellow card in the final throes to end any chances of a match winning score. Now the Scarlets must hope one of the other teams can beat Munster to give them any chance of bridging the gap.

D Hurley, J Murphy, K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo, R O'Gara, C Murray (T O'Leary 63), W du Preez (M Horan 71), D Varley, B Botha, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell [C], D Leamy, N Ronan, J Coughlan (T O'Donnell 76)

SCORERS T: J Coughlan, C: R O'Gara, P: R O'Gara (4)

R Priestland, L Williams (G Maule 63), S Williams, J Davies, S Lamont, S Jones (V Iongi 41), G Davies (T Knoyle 66), R Jones (P John 66), M Rees [C] (K Owens 63), R Thomas, L Reed, D Welch (S Timani 66), R McCusker, J Edwards (K Murphy 71), B Morgan

SCORERS T: K Owens, C: R Priestland, P: S Jones, R Priestland J Edwards (51), R Thomas (80)

Match points: Munster 4pts, Scarlets 1pts
Man of the Match: Conor Murray (Munster)
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

 

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POOL 2

EDINBURGH RUGBY 19 - 12 CARDIFF BLUES

MURRAYFIELD - Friday 16 December, 2011
KO: 20.00 HT: 19-3 Att: 4,384

GREIG LAIDLAW inspired his Edinburgh Rugby team to turn the tables on Cardiff Blues and make amends for their defeat in the Welsh capital a week earlier to move back to the top of Pool 2.

The skipper switched to outside half for the return match at Murrayfield and notched 14 points as he helped his team boss the first half to such an extent, they took a 16 point lead into the dressing room.

The Blues, who were 25-8 winners at home, could not get their hands on the ball in the opening 40 minutes, and were lucky that the home side butchered a number of scoring chances.

While Laidlaw was kicking the points, his back line were prising huge holes in the Blues defence and the only surprise was that only one try fell to flying wing Tim Visser. Laidlaw converted off the touchline and also added three penalties and a drop goal.

Dan Parks, who had scored 20 points with his boot in the first fixture, picked up one penalty in the first half and then cut the deficit as the Blues forwards came more and more into the game after the break.

Xavier Rush led the fightback and two more Parks penalties put the visitors within range of a losing bonus point at least. Then a tiring Edinburgh conceded another penalty 45 metres out and up stepped Leigh Halfpenny to hammer home a massive kick with 2 minutes left to play.

The Blues settled for that, even though Edinburgh's superior try count (10-5) took them back to the top of the Pool with both teams locked on 13 points.

C Paterson, L Jones, N De Luca, J King (M Scott 74), T Visser (T Brown 74), G Laidlaw [C], M Blair, A Jacobsen (K Traynor 79), R Ford (S Lawrie 74), G Cross (J Gilding 64), G Gilchrist (E Lozada 79), S Cox, D Denton, R Grant, N Talei (R Rennie 70)

SCORERS T: T Visser C: G Laidlaw P: G Laidlaw (3) DG: G Laidlaw

L Halfpenny, G Evans, C Laulala, J Roberts, C Czekaj (D Hewitt 41), D Parks, L Williams (R Rees 67), G Jenkins, T Thomas, T Filise (S Andrews 70), B Davies, P Tito [C], M Paterson (M Molitika 48), S Warburton, X Rush

SCORERS P: D Parks (3), L Halfpenny

Match points: Edinburgh Rugby 4pts, Cardiff Blues 1pts
Man of the Match: Netani Talei (Edinburgh Rugby)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)

 

LONDON IRISH 19 - 25 RACING MÉTRO 92

MADEJSKI STADIUM - Saturday 17 December, 2011
KO: 15.00 HT: 12-15 Att: 7,011

JONATHAN WISNIEWSKI slotted a hat-trick of drop goals to guide Racing Métro 92 to their first win in Pool 2. The outside half ended with 20 points as the French side overturned their defeat in Paris last weekend

But an 80th minute try by hooker David Paice took a bit of the shine off the victory as it gave the home side a bonus point at the death to move them onto 8 points and keep them in the hunt for an unlikely route into the last eight.

With Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues tied on 13 points, Irish would need to beat them both in the New Year and hope Racing can do the same. As for Racing's chances, they are even slimmer despite a win that moved them onto 7 points.

The game developed into a battle of the boots of Tom Homer and Jonathan Wisniewski and by half-time, it was the Frenchman who had edged his side in front 15-12 courtesy of two drop goals and three penalties.

Homer, however, made a big impact with his kicking, the first of his four penalties going over from 55 metres - and clearing the dead ball line as well. The former England U20 star then added the conversion to Paice's last gasp try to end with a match haul of 14 points.

Racing were the more dominant team in the third quarter and no sooner had Wisniewski completed his hat-trick of drop goals than Fijian wing Sireli Bobo pounced on a loose ball, hacked over halfway and picked up a kind bounce before showing enough pace to steer clear of the covering Homer.

That gave Racing clear daylight on the scoreboard, and their defence held firm until the dying moments when Matt Garvey slipped a pass out of a tackle to give Paice his dash for the line.

D Armitage, T Homer, J Ansbro, J Spratt (S Hape 63), A Thompstone (T Ojo 70), A Jarvis, D Allinson (P Hodgson 73), C Dermody [C] (M Lahiff 63), D Paice, P Ion (F Rautenbach 63), B Evans (B Casey 68), M Garvey, D Danaher, J Gibson, O Treviranus (R Thorpe 53)

SCORERS T: D Paice C: T Homer P: T Homer (4)

G Germain, J Saubade, V Vakatawa, J Matavesi, S Bobo, J Wisniewski, N Durand [C] (S Descons 63), J Brugnaut (J Coetzee 72), T Bianchin (B Noirot 53), J Orlandi (M Tuugahala 53), S Dellape (J Nailiko 53), F van der Merwe (K Ghezal 48), R Vaquiin, A Galindo (B Le Roux 41), S Chabal

SCORERS T: S Bobo C: J Wisniewski P: J Wisniewski (3) DG: J Wisniewski (3) J Wisniewski (59)

Match points: London Irish 1pts, Racing Métro 92 4pts
Man of the Match: Jonathan Wisniewski (Racing Métro 92)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

 

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POOL 3

MONTPELLIER 13 - 13 GLASGOW

STADE YVES DU MANOIR, MONTPELLIER - Saturday 17 December, 2011
KO: 16.40 HT: 7-0 Att: 7,917

RORY LAMONT marked his return to France with a try as Glasgow clinched a draw against Montpellier at Stade Yves du Manoir.

The Scottish international crossed for a crucial try, in just his second appearance for Glasgow after making the switch from Toulon, to keep his side's slim hopes of a Heineken Cup quarter-final place alive.

Glasgow had recorded an impressive 20-15 home victory over the French side last weekend to go second in Pool Three behind reigning champions Leinster. Meanwhile, winless Montpellier already had no chance of advancing from the group stages.

The visitors survived an early onslaught and both Ruaridh Jackson and Lilian Perraux missed penalties to go in front. But it was home side who finally got the scoreboard ticking when wing Yoan Audrin finished off a sweeping attack with a try, converted by Perraux.

Glasgow finally got their first points thanks to the boot of Jackson, but Perraux hit back immediately with a penalty to restore their 7 point lead.

The teenage fly-half, starting ahead of Francois Trinh-Duc, then added his second and third penalties to stretch the home side's lead.

With replacement prop Maximiliano in the sin-bin, Glasgow made the one-man advantage count when Chris Cusiter and Weir worked the blindside to put Lamont in at the left corner for the Warriors first try. Weir converted to bring the Scottish side to within 3 points of their hosts and added another penalty to draw level.

Replacement scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue had the opportunity to snatch a win at the death, after taking up the kicking duties ahead of France star Trinh-Duc, but skewed the straight-forward penalty as Glasgow hung-on.

J Peyras Loustalet (G Doumayrou 60), P Bérard, P Bosch, T Combezou, Y Audrin, I Perraux (F Trinh-Duc 70), E Escande (B Paillaugue 67), G Shvelidze (M Nariashvili 51), M Ladhuie (J Caudullo 51), K Kervarec (M Gorgodze 71), J Tuineau, D Hancke, V Bost (K Galletier 8), R Martin [C], M Matadigo

SCORERS T: Y Audrin C: I Perraux P: I Perraux (2) M Bustos (60)

S Hogg (R Dewey 41), F Aramburu, P Murchie, T Nathan, R Lamont, R Jackson (D Weir 58), C Cusiter, R Grant (J Welsh 60), P MacArthur (D Hall 53), M Cusack (M Low 53), R Gray (T Ryder 58), A Kellock [C], J Barclay, C Fusaro (R Wilson 31), J Beattie

SCORERS T: R Lamont C: D Weir P: R Jackson, D Weir

Match points: Montpellier 2pts, Glasgow Warriors 2pts
Man of the Match: Yoan Audrin
Referee: Andrew Small (England)

 

LEINSTER 52 - 27 BATH RUGBY

AVIVA STADIUM- Saturday 17 December, 2011
KO: KO: 20:00 HT: 24-6 Att: 46,365

LEINSTER demonstrated why they are the reigning Heineken Cup champions after dismantling Bath with seven tries to put one foot in the knockout stages.

The Dubliners surged into a 24-6 half-time lead following scores from Ireland trio Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald and Jonny Sexton.

And they opened the floodgates in the second-half with four more thanks to Fitzgerald, Eoin Reddan, Rhys Ruddock and Ian Madigan as Bath found themselves severely out of depth.

The English club did manage second-half tries through Stephen Donald, David Attwood and Ben Williams but it was not enough as they European hopes came crashing down.

The victory sees Leinster go 6 points clear at the top of Pool Three ahead of the final two rounds of group stage action next month.

Having already lost two out of their previous three matches in the Heineken Cup, Bath knew the result at the Aviva Stadium would make-or-break their European campaign

But it was Leinster, playing in front of a 46,365 Aviva Stadium crowd, that surged into the lead.

Sexton's penalty rebounded off the uprights but Leinster quickly regathered possession and it was Eoin Reddan's reverse pass that released Kearney for the try on four minutes.

Olly Barkley chipped away at the hosts' lead with penalties either side of a monster Sexton drop-goal and Leinster were dealt a blow after captain Leo Cullen was sent to the sin-bin.

But the Irish province grabbed a scintillating second try thanks to Luke Fitzgerald after World Cup winner Stephen Donald's loose pass was plucked from the reach of David Flatman by Devin Toner. The lock beat two men before releasing Kearney who sliced through and slipped the try-scoring pass to Fitzgerald. Sexton converted and then grabbed a breathtaking try of his own, tearing down the left wing after combining with Fitzgerald to hand his side a commanding lead at the interval.

It did not take long for Leinster to get the scoreboard ticking over again following the restart - 30 seconds to be precise. As the ball was spread to Fitzgerald, who went outside lumbering cover defence and stepped Nick Abendanon to scorch clear for his second try.

Matters were made worse for Bath as Sam Vesty was sent to the sin-bin before Eoin Reddan got in on the act for Leinster with a trademark scrum-half's snipe at the base of a ruck to dot down.

Chris Biller quickly joined Vesty in the sin-bin as Bath were reduced to 13-men before replacement back-row forward Rhys Ruddock crashed over for a try of his own.

Bath eventually got back of the scoreboard as Donald barged through Eoin O'Malley to crash into the corner. They continued their mini-revival when David Attwood barged his way over for Bath's second try but it was too little too late for the English side.

Ian Madigan thought he had the last word with Leinster's seventh try on 78 minutes, but Ben Williams touched down at the death to salvage some pride for the wounded visitors.

R Kearney, I Nacewa, E O'Malley, F McFadden (G D'Arcy 52), L Fitzgerald, J Sexton (I Madigan 60), E Reddan, H Van Der Merwe (C Healy 41), R Strauss (S Cronin 52), M Ross (N White 65), L Cullen [C] (K McLaughlin 58), D Toner, S O'Brien (R Ruddock 52), S Jennings (I Boss 72), J Heaslip

SCORERS T: E Reddan, R Kearney, J Sexton, L Fitzgerald (2), R Ruddock, I Madigan C: J Sexton (6), I Nacewa DG: J Sexton L Cullen (23)

S Vesty, J Cuthbert (B Williams 55), M Banahan, O Barkley, N Abendanon, S Donald (T Heathcote 68), M Claassens (C Cook 55), D Flatman (N Catt 66), C Biller, D Wilson (A Perenise 66), D Attwood, R Caldwell, F Louw [C], G Mercer (W Spencer 75), S Taylor (A Beattie 53)

SCORERS T: D Attwood, B Williams, S Donald C: O Barkley (3) P: O Barkley (2) S Vesty (49), C Biller (55)

Match points: Leinster 5pts, Bath Rugby 0pts
Man of the Match: Jonny Sexton (Leinster)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

 

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POOL 4

AIRONI RUGBY 20 - 46 ULSTER RUGBY

STADIO BRIANTEO, MONZA - Saturday 17 December, 2011
KO: 14.30 HT: 3-27 ATT: tbc

ULSTER held off a spirited fight-back from Aironi to complete the Heineken Cup double and cruise to the top of Pool Four.

Andrew Trimble and Tom Court touched down either side of a penalty try in a dominant first-half performance which saw them lead 27-3 at the interval.

Aironi came fighting back with tries from Sinoti Sinoti and Roberto Quarteroli, before Ulster put the Italians to the sword and wrapped up the bonus-point thanks to further scores from Craig Gilroy, Robbie Diack and Adam Macklin.

The victory in Italy sees Brian McLaughlin's men climb to the top of their group two-points ahead of Leicester Tigers in second and three above of ASM Clermont Auvergne in third.

Ulster welcome Leicester to Ravenhill in round five before finishing against Clermont Auvergne.

The Irish province got off to a flying start in Monza and Trimble should have scored the game's first try on 3 minutes. The ball was spread wide and the Ireland wing raced over in the corner but embarrassingly dropped the ball in the process of touching down. But Trimble quickly saved his blushes with a try beneath the posts two-minutes later after bursting on to a Ian Humphreys short ball.

Humphreys added the extras and extended Ulster's lead to 10-0 with a penalty on the 15 minute mark before Luciano Orquera hit-back.

English referee Greg Garner awarded Ulster a penalty try on 22 minutes as their pack rumbled towards the whitewash. Again Humphreys slotted the conversion and a penalty before Court rumbled over for the Ravenhill outfit's third converted try to finish the half leading 27-3.

Ulster made hard work of the second-half and Aironi came fighting back with two quick-fire tries.

First Samoan flyer Sinoti scampered over in the corner as Aironi worked the overlap following a sustained period of pressure. Then Quarteroli intercepted Ruan Pienaar's pass at the back of a ruck to sprint clear and bring Aironi back to 27-15.

But Ulster weathered the storm and Gilroy scored the all-important bonus-point try on 69 minutes with Pienaar converting from the touchline.

That did not stop the spirited Italians and Biagi squeezed into the corner to keep alive Aironi's slim hopes at 34-20.

But knowing the importance of tries scored in a tight group, Ulster went for the jugular and grabbed late tries through Diack and Macklin.

R Trevisan (R Quartaroli 48), S Sinoti, A Masi, G Pizarro, G Venditti, L Orquera (N Olivier 59), T Keats (T Tebaldi 59), S Perugini (A de Marchi 41), F Ongaro (T D'Apice 46), L Romano (F Staibano 46), Q Geldenhuys (M Bortolami 54), M Bortolami [C] (Q Geldenhuys 50), N Cattina, S Favaro, J Sole

SCORERS T: R Quartaroli, S Sinoti, G Biagi C: L Orquera P: L Orquera

A D'Arcy, A Trimble (S Terblanche 49), D Cave, N Spence (P Jackson 46), C Gilroy (A Macklin 76), I Humphreys (P Marshall 65), R Pienaar, T Court (P McAllister 49), R Best, J Afoa, J Muller [C], D Tuohy (T Barker 59), S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg (R Diack 65)

SCORERS T: A Trimble, T Court, R Diack, A Macklin, C Gilroy, Penalty Try (1) C: I Humphreys (3), R Pienaar (2) P: I Humphreys (2)

Match points: Aironi Rugby 0pts, Ulster Rugby 5pts
Man of the Match: John Afoa (Ulster Rugby)
Referee: Greg Garner (England)

 

LEICESTER TIGERS 23 - 19 CLERMONT

WELFORD ROAD - Saturday 17 December, 2011
KO: 13.30 HT: 7-16 Att: 20,202

A battling second-half showing from former champions Leicester Tigers secured a vital victory over ASM Clermont Auvergne and ensured Pool 4 remains a three-horse race.

Tigers trailed by 9 points at the break but won the second period by 13 to claim a 23-19 success at Welford Road.

Having lost the reverse encounter 30-12 in France last week, the 2001 and 2002 Heineken Cup winners knew anything but a third victory of the pool stages would leave their European hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads.

And when a 39th minute converted try from Sitiveni Sivivatu gave the French giants a 16-7 lead, one of the tournament's most accomplished sides were staring down the barrel of an early Heineken Cup exit.

But a Julian Salvi riposte early in the second period brought Tigers right back into the game, with the boot of Toby Flood doing the remainder of the damage to gain immediate revenge on Vern Cotter's men.

Clermont opened up an initial 6 point lead thanks to a drop goal apiece from David Skrela and Morgan Parra, but it was Leicester who crossed for the game's opening try.

Tigers centre Manu Tuilagi, who was one of two Leicester players to be sin binned at the Stade Marcel Michelin last weekend, powered through some weak Clermont tackling after taking Flood's inside ball following clean lineout ball on the edge of the 22. Flood converted from directly underneath the posts to hand the hosts a 7-6 advantage with 16 minutes gone, but the remainder of the half belonged to Clermont.

A penalty from Parra saw the visitors regain the lead as the game reached the 20 minute mark. A second missed 3-pointer from Flood then allowed Clermont to stay ahead before they extended their lead on the stroke of half-time.

Superb foraging work from openside Alexandre Lapandry put Clermont on the front foot, with Lee Byrne supplying the scoring pass to Sivivatu 25 metres out. The former All Black wing cantered home almost unopposed to give the half-time team talks an altogether different feel as Parra's conversion saw Clermont hold a 16-7 lead at the break.

Leicester responded brilliantly, however, as they collected a quick-fire 10 points in the first eight minutes after the interval. A well-struck penalty from Flood wide on the left brought Tigers to back within a single score before Salvi powered through from 20 metres out after Ben Youngs' half break had caught Clermont napping.

Parra gave Clermont the lead for a final time on 55 minutes but two further successful penalties saw Tigers home in front of a crowd of more than 20,000.

But while it was Leicester who won today's battle, Clermont arguably won the war as they picked up 5 points compared to Tigers' 4 over the back-to-back fixtures in Round 3 and 4.

G Murphy [C], H Agulla (S Hamilton 48), M Smith, M Tuilagi, A Tuilagi, T Flood, B Youngs, B Stankovich (M Castrogiovanni 67), G Chuter, M Castrogiovanni (D Cole 49), L Deacon, G Skivington, T Croft, J Salvi, T Waldrom

SCORERS T: J Salvi, M Tuilagi C: T Flood (2) P: T Flood (3)

L Byrne, S Sivivatu, R King (G Williams 60), W Fofana, J Malzieu, D Skrela (B James 28), M Parra, L Faure (V Debaty 48), T Paulo (B Kayser 59), C Ric (D Kotze 55), J Cudmore, J White (N Hines 23), G Vosloo, A Lapandry, J Bonnaire [C]

SCORERS T: S Sivivatu C: M Parra P: M Parra (2) DG: D Skrela, M Parra

Match points: Leicester Tigers 4pts, ASM Clermont Auvergne 1pts
Man of the Match: Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

 

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POOL 5

OSPREYS 13 - 16 SARACENS

LIBERTY STADIUM - Friday 16 December, 2011
KO: 20.00 HT: 6-16 Att: 7,098

SARACENS ended the Ospreys' 6 year unbeaten record in the Heineken Cup to seize the initiative in Pool 5 with victory at the Liberty Stadium.

Ernst Joubert's opportunist first-half try and 11 points from the boot of Owen Farrell proved enough to claim victory for the English Champions.

Farrell and Dan Biggar traded early penalties in a tight opening before Ospreys fly-half Biggar saw his clearance kick charged down by Charlie Hodgson, setting up Joubert for the game's opening try. Farrell had no problems with the conversion and he then kicked a further penalty for Saracens before the break.

Ashley Beck twice went close as Ospreys rallied early in the second half before former Wales lock Ian Gough touched down for his first European try.

Biggar converted to narrow the lead the 3points with 15 minutes remaining but Heineken Cup winner Peter Stringer used all his experience from countless campaigns with Munster to help Saracens close out the game, and with it a crucial win.

R Fussell (H Dirksen 56), T Bowe, A Bishop, A Beck, S Williams, D Biggar (M Morgan 76), R Webb (K Fotualii 51), P James (D Jones 57), R Hibbard, A Jones, I Gough, I Evans (J Bearman 71), R Jones, J Tipuric [C] (G Stowers 76), J Thomas

SCORERS T: I Gough C: D Biggar P: D Biggar (2) P James (39)

A Goode, D Strettle, O Farrell, B Barritt, C Wyles (J Short 51), C Hodgson (A Powell 72), B Spencer (P Stringer 62), R Gill, S Brits (J Smit 72), M Stevens (C Nieto 62), S Borthwick [C] (G Kruis 71), M Botha, K Brown, J Burger (A Saull 71), E Joubert (J Smit 55)

SCORERS T: E Joubert C: O Farrell P: O Farrell (3) S Brits (51), K Brown (64)

Match points: Ospreys 1pts, Saracens 4pts
Man of the Match: Jacques Burger (Saracens)
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)

 

BIARRITZ 29 - 12 BENETTON TREVISO

PARC DES SPORTS AGUILERA - Friday 16 December, 2011
KO: 21.00HT: 3-12 Att: 7,513

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE survived another scare against a 14-man Benetton Treviso to avenge their defeat in Italy to keep their Heineken Cup quarter-final hopes alive with a much-needed victory at the Stade Aguilera.

The French side crossed for four tries to get a bonus try, but the Top 14 side made hard work of things against a Treviso side which played nearly 60 minutes with Francesco Minto shown a red card in the first half.

The Italians started where they left off from last weekend and adapted to the awful wind and rain by using their impressive forward pack to dominated the opening exchanges, with fly-half Kris Burton slotting over the first penalty of the game after seven minutes.

Burton did exactly the same five minutes later to stretch Treviso's lead to 6-0 but the Italian's were soon down to 14-men after flanker Minto was shown the red card for violent play at a ruck by Irish referee Peter Fitzgibbon on the 26th minute.

Despite Biarritz dominating most of the opening exchanges and being camped in the visitors half , the Italian side stretched their lead with another two Burton penalties before his opposite number Julien Peyrelongue made it 12-3 at half-time to Treviso.

After the break, Biarittz, playing with the wind, scored the game's first try when full back Iain Balshaw gathered a kick by centre Damien Traille to cross in the left corner to claw the home side back into the contest. Peyrelongue added the extras to make it 12-10 to Treviso before the French side started to make their one-man advantage pay and took the lead with a try by replacement scrum half Dane Haylett-Petty only minutes later.

The French side blew a number of try-scoring chances in the last quarter of the contest until flanker Wenceslas Lauret crashed over to stretch the home side's lead with their third try converted by Peyrelongue.

Hooker Arnaud Heguy then crossed for the Basques fourth try for the all-important bonus point on the 80th minute to keep the French side in the mix for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.

I Balshaw, T Ngwenya, M Bosch, D Traille, I Bolakoro, J Peyrelongue, Y Lesgourgues (D Haylett-Petty 41), Y Watremez (S Marconnet 55), A Heguy, F Gomez Kodela, M Carizza (J Roidot 75), P Taele (J Thion 69), B Guyot, W Lauret, I Harinordoquy [C] (F Faure 24)

SCORERS T: I Balshaw, A Heguy, W Lauret, D Haylett-Petty C: J Peyrelongue (3) P: J Peyrelongue

L McLean, L Nitoglia (W de Waal 14), A Sgarbi, A Pratichetti (E Gori 75), T Benvenuti, K Burton, T Botes, M Rizzo (I Fernandez Rouyet 60), E Ceccato (D Vidal 59), L Cittadini (P di Santo 60), A Pavanello [C] (G Padrò 62), C van Zyl (B Vermaak 70), F Minto, A Zanni, R Barbieri (M Filippucci 60)

SCORERS P: K Burton (4) F Minto (24)

Match points: Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque 5pts, Benetton Treviso 0pts
Man of the Match: Damien Traille (Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque)
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

 

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POOL 6

GLOUCESTER RUGBY 23 - 19 CONNACHT

KINGSHOLM - Saturday 17 December, 2011
KO: 15.40 HT: 10-13 Att: 10,786

JOHNNY MAY scored a try 4 minutes from time to hand Gloucester victory and deny Connacht what looked to have been their first victory in the Heineken Cup.

The Irish Province held the lead from mid-way inside the first period and looked in control as the game drew to a close, but May –on as a replacement– scored a stunning solo effort to the delight of the Kingsholm faithful.

Gloucester fly-half Tim Taylor opened the scoring with a 7th minute penalty but the hosts did not hold the lead for long.

The Cherry and Whites tried to play from deep and were caught out as Connacht intercepted and raced clear. Gloucester scrambled back in defence, but the support play from Connacht was on hand and Tiernan O'Halloran divided over and Niall O'Connor added the extras.

Taylor then scored an impressive individual try, twisting and turning his way to the line to snatch the lead back for Gloucester.

But 6 more points from the boot of O'Connor before the break gave Connacht a 13-10 lead.

Whilst Gloucester came out looking to step up a gear in the second period, Connacht continued from where they left off in the first-half, causing the hosts plenty of problems.

And it was Connacht, through fly-half O'Connor who got the first score, who kicked another penalty for the Irish province.

It took Gloucester until 58th minute to secure their next points as replacement Freddie Burns kicked them back to within 3 with his first penalty.

The hosts began to throw everything at their visitors and finally got back on level terms with 12 minutes to go as Burns kicked his second penalty.

O'Connor kicked a further penalty and looked to have won the game for Connacht until May struck, handing off the defence and then sprinting into the corner.

O Morgan, C Sharples (J May 67), M Tindall, E Fuimaono-Sapolu, J Simpson-Daniel, T Taylor (F Burns 41), N Runciman (R Lawson 48), D Murphy (N Wood 55), S Lawson (M Cortese 76), R Harden (S Knight 64), P Buxton (W James 67), J Hamilton, B Deacon, A Hazell (A Qera 48), L Narraway [C]

SCORERS T: T Taylor, J May C: T Taylor, F Burns P: T Taylor, F Burns (2)

G Duffy [C], M McCrea (K Tonetti 25), E Griffin, D McSharry, T O'Halloran, N O'Connor, F Murphy (P O'Donohoe 58), B Wilkinson (D Rogers 78), E Reynecke (A Flavin 55), R Loughney (R Ah You 58), G Naoupu, M McCarthy, D Gannon (E McKeon 52), J O'Connor, J Muldoon (M Kearney 67)

SCORERS T: T O'Halloran C: N O'Connor P: N O'Connor (4)

Match points: Gloucester Rugby 4pts, Connacht Rugby 1pts
Man of the Match: Olly Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)

 

TOULOUSE 24 - 31 HARLEQUINS

LE STADIUM - Sunday 18 December, 2011
KO: 16.00 HT: 10-15 Att: 32,000

HARLEQUINS claimed a thrilling 31-24 victory over Toulouse at Le Stadium in a stunning game of rugby on Sunday afternoon.

The Amlin Challenge Cup Champions overturned last week's convincing defeat at the hands of the French side to throw Pool 6 wide open with two rounds of action remaining.

Nick Evans starred at fly-half controlling his side who outscored their hosts three tries to two, with Mike Brown touching down twice and Joe Gray grabbing the other.

Quins did not have it all their own way; Toulouse contributed on their part but the visitors thoroughly deserved the victory.

Toulouse stunned Harlequins last weekend at the Stoop with a sublime performance but it was the visitors who came out of the blocks the quickest at Le Stadium, shocking the hosts in the opening 40 minutes.

Kiwi fly-halves Luke McAlister and Nick Evans exchanged penalties in the opening 5 minutes but it was Quins who deservedly got their noses in front with the first try. After sustained pressure, Evans put though a delightfully weighted grubber kick into the corner and full-back Mike Brown raced through and collected, touching down in the corner.

Both sides threw everything at each other in attack and defence, and Toulouse should have regained the lead but McAlister was off target with three penalties in quick succession.

Instead of Toulouse scoring next it was Quins who grabbed their second try to stun the home support. In a spectacular move, Evans spotted space behind the Toulouse first line of defence and his up and under bounced well for the chasing support; four quick interchanges saw Joe Gray receive the ball and the hooker touched down for a converted score.

That score sparked life back into Toulouse and from the restart they bombarded Quins with attack after attack. The introduction of Florian Fritz to the midfield added a new direction but their opening try came from the pack. After another quick attack McAlister fed Romain Millo-Chluski in the midfield and the second row darted through the gap, drew the covering defence to second Yoann Maestri under the posts. But Quins held the lead 15-10 going into the break.

Toulouse came out after the interval in the same frame of mind that they ended the first and dominated the opening 15 minutes for the second period. Scrum-half Jean-Marc Doussain, who took over the kicking duties at the end of the first-half, slotted three early penalties to hand the lead back to the hosts for the first time since the 5th minute.

But the game then took another swing as Quins forced their way on top. Directly from the restart, replacement wing Tom Williams chased the kick and forced a turnover for the visitors. The ball was recycled right and Brown had an easy run in to score his second. Evans converted and then kicked another penalty to stretch his side's advantage to 25-19.

Toulouse responded in typical fashion with Doussain grabbing a try of his own as he snuck round the side of a ruck. He was off target with his conversion, leaving his side a point behind.

It was the cool Evans though who had the final say, kicking two more penalties as the clock ran down to secure the victory.

M Medard, V Clerc, Y David (F Fritz 23), Y Jauzion, T Matanavou, L McAlister, J Doussain, Y Montes (D Human 41), W Servat (G Botha 61), C Johnston (J Poux 61), R Millo-Chluski, Y Maestri (G Lamboley 68), J Bouilhou (Y Nyanga 49), T Dusautoir [C], S Sowerby (L Picamoles 61)

SCORERS T: Y Maestri, J Doussain, C: J Doussain, P: L McAlister, J Doussain (3)

M Brown, S Stegmann (T Williams 61), M Hopper, T Casson, U Monye, N Evans, D Care, M Lambert, J Gray (C Brooker 53), J Johnston, T Vallejos, G Robson, C Robshaw [C], W Skinner (L Wallace 46), N Easter

SCORERS T: M Brown (2), J Gray, C: N Evans (2), P: N Evans (4) N Easter (68), W Skinner (79)

Match points: Toulouse 1pts, Harlequins 4pts
Man of the Match: Jean-Marc Doussain (Toulouse)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

 

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POOL 1

CASTRES OLYMPIQUE 41 - 22 NORTHAMPTON

STADE PIERRE-ANTOINE  - 10 December 2011
KO: 14:30 HT: 23-12 Att: 5,000

CASTRES OLYMPIQUE claimed their first victory in this year's Heineken Cup, with a convincing 41-22 win over last season's Heineken Cup finalists Northampton Saints.

In an end-to-end game on entertaining rugby both sides scored four tries but the boot of Romain Teulet proved the difference between the teams.

The visitors couldn't have made a worse start to this contest, when Castres scored their first try in four games after only three minutes when impressive openside flanker, Steve Malonga, finished off a sweeping attacking move.

Northampton replied with a trademark forward surge from short-range when lock Mark Sorenson burrowed his way over and fly-half Steve Myler added the extras to level the scores.

The metronomic boot of Castres cult-figure, Teulet, put the French side back ahead, with two penalties, before the English Premiership side rallied with a well taken try by wing Jamie Elliott.

Myler was then sin-binned for a second high-tackle just before half-time and 14-man Saints conceded a second try almost immediately, after a delightful chip to the corner by No 8 Chris Masoe put wing Romain Martial in at the corner, to make it 23-12 to Castres at half-time.

It was the Saints, though, who scored next, when they were under pressure again. Wing Elliott's second try saw the teenager run in from inside his own half after he intercepted Martial's pass.

American No 8 Samu Manoa, who impressed with his power and athleticism, then clawed the Saints back to within four points when he scored his side's fourth try for a bonus point midway through the second half.

But Tom Woods' yellow card proved costly for the Saints and they couldn't cope going down to 14-men for a second time and wing Martial and flanker Ibrahim Diarra took full advantage and crossed for tries to record a bonus point and an emphatic victory.

R Teulet, R Martial, T Sanchou (P Bonnefond 74), S Bai, M Evans, R Tales (P Bernard 28), R Kockott (T Lacrampe 66), M Coetzee (A Peikrishvili 61), M Rallier (M Bonello 57), L Ducalcon (R Kruger 78), S Murray, R Capo Ortega (M Rolland 69), I Diarra, S Malonga (Y Caballero 66) C Masoe [C]

SCORERS T: S Malonga, I Diarra, R Martial (2) C: R Teulet (3) P: R Teulet (5)

B Foden, V Artemyev, G Pisi, T May (J Clarke 68), J Elliott, S Myler (R Lamb 57), L Dickson (M Roberts 68), S Tonga'uiha (A Waller 62), D Hartley [C], (M Haywood 67), P Doran-Jones (T Mercey 73) C Lawes (J Craig 67), M Sorenson, T Wood (J Ingle 79), B Nutley, S Manoa

SCORERS T: M Sorenson, J Elliott (2), S Manoa C: S Myler S Myler (38), T Wood (62)

Match points: Castres Olympique 5pts, Northampton Saints 1pts
Man of the Match: Romain Martial (Biarritz Olympique)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

 

SCARLETS 14 - 17 MUNSTER

PARC Y SCARLETS - 10 December 2011
KO: 15:40 HT: 8-11 Att: 13,183

RONAN O'GARA celebrated his 100th Heineken Cup appearance with a 12 point contribution that allowed Munster to march to the top of Pool 1 with a 17-14 victory over the hitherto unbeaten Scarlets.

The home side had a record Heineken Cup crowd to celebrate, 13,183, but after taking an early 8-0 lead they were outmuscled by Paul O'Connell's pack and failed to take their chances.

The Scarlets may have lost Wales wing George North before kick-off, but they still felt they had enough behind the scrum to maintain their winning sequence in the Pool and end a run of 12 successive defeats to Munster.

It was as long ago as the Heineken Cup quarter-final of April, 2007, that the Scarlets last beat Munster and this made it an uncomfortable 13th straight defeat. A 14th at Thomond Park next week could be terminal for their chances of emerging from their Pool in the New Year

Even though they had to weather a pretty torrid opening storm, which saw the home side race into that 8-0 lead and miss another five points with the boot, Munster never panicked and slowly, but surely, worked out how to frustrate their hosts.

Starved of any real quality possession after their blistering start it became harder and harder for the home side to add to their fifth minute try from back row man Aaron Shingler.

The quick thinking Shingler popped up in the Munster 22 after Jonathan Davies had hacked on a loose ball near half-way. That score gave the home side real heart, although the conversion rebound off the upright by Rhys Priestland went alongside an earlier penalty miss.

Those crucial lost points could have made all the difference in the final analysis. O'Gara, on the other hand, kicked two penalties in the first half either side of a Niall Ronan try down the right touchline and that was enough to give Munster an 11-8 interval lead.

With their scrum taking charge, and the back row trio of Peter O'Mahony, Ronan and Priestland levelled the scores 10 minutes into the second half as the Scarlets rallied once more, but they were guilty of too many handling errors and conceding too many penalties. O'Gara kept hitting the spot and the lead returned to Munster at 14-11 and then rose to six points.

Stephen Jones set up a grandstand finish with a 67th minute penalty, but Munster's legendary composure under pressure came to the fore and they held their defensive line superbly against wave after wave of attacks.

Their reward was a third straight Pool victory, and a second on the road, and they now lead by two points from the Scarlets.

D Newton (S Jones 58), L Williams (V Iongi 76), S Williams, J Davies, S Lamont, R Priestland, G Davies (T Knoyle 58), I Thomas (P John 63), M Rees [C] (K Owens 63), R Thomas (D Manu 76), S Timani (K Murphy 63), D Welch, A Shingler (J Edwards 46), R McCusker, B Morgan

SCORERS T: A Shingler P: S Jones, R Priestland (2)

D Hurley, J Murphy, W Chambers (D Barnes 56), L Mafi, S Zebo, R O'Gara C Murray (T O'Leary 63), W du Preez (M Horan 76), D Varley, B Botha (J Hayes 77), D Ryan (D O'Callaghan 56), P O'Connell [C], P O'Mahony (D Leamy 41), N Ronan, J Coughlan

SCORERS T: N Ronan P: R O'Gara (4)

Match points: Scarlets 1pts, Munster 4pts
Man of the Match: Paul O'Connell (Munster)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

 

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POOL 2

CARDIFF BLUES 25 - 8 EDINBURGH

CARDIFF CITY STADIUM - 09 December 2011
KO: 20:00 HT: 6-3  Att: 6,102

EDINBURGH have lost their grip on top spot in Pool 2 after going down 25-8 against Cardiff Blues and will have to reverse the current trend against their Welsh rivals if they are to get back on course for only a second visit to the quarter-finals

This defeat made it six in a row against the Blues and Michael Bradley's men can't afford a seventh in the return leg at Murrayfield next week. As for the Blues, they relied on the boot of Dan Parks to steer them to a third successive win and maintain the unbeaten record of the Welsh regions in this season's tournament.

If it wasn't pretty, it was still effective for the home side as they leapfrogged their main rivals for a spot in the last eight and put themselves on course for a return to the top flight.

A drop goal and penalty from Parks edged the Blues ahead 6-3 at the break and then three more penalties in the opening 15 minutes of the second period moved the home side into the box seat.

But, as they proved in their 48-47 thriller over Racing Métro in the last round, Edinburgh are capable of opening up even the tightest of defences and when Tim Visser popped a ball out of a tackle to send fellow wing Lee Jones over for the first try it was anyone's game.

Until, that is, 'Dan the Man' added a second drop goal and ended the night with a match winning tally of 20 points with a touchline conversion of new Wales wing Alex Cuthbert's 74th minute try.

The Blues are now three points clear at the top of the table and one big performance away from putting themselves in the clear.

L Halfpenny (G Evans 75), A Cuthbert, C Laulala, J Roberts, C Czekaj, D Parks, L Williams, G Jenkins (J Yapp 75), T Thomas (R Tyrrell 68), T Filise (S Andrews 63), B Davies, P Tito [C] (M Molitika 75), M Paterson, S Warburton [C] (J Navidi 75), X Rush

SCORERS T:  A Cuthbert, C:  D Parks, P:  D Parks (4), DG: D Parks (2)

C Paterson (T Brown 69), L Jones, N De Luca, J King, T Visser, H Leonard (M Blair 36), G Laidlaw [C], A Jacobsen, R Ford (S Lawrie 75), G Cross (J Gilding 15), S Cox, E Lozada (S Turnbull 68), D Denton, R Grant, S McInally (R Rennie 52)

SCORERS T:  L Jones, P:  G Laidlaw

Match points: Cardiff Blues 4pts, Edinburgh Rugby 0pts
Man of the Match: Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

 

RACING MÉTRO 92 14 - 34 LONDON IRISH

STADE YVES DU MANOIR, PARIS - 10 December 2011
KO: 16:40 HT: 14-10 Att: 8,112

LONDON IRISH remain very much alive in Pool 2 after a superb bonus-point win over Racing Métro 92 in Colombes.

The Exiles ran out 34-14 victors at the Stade Yves Dun Manoir to register their first success of the competition.

Previous defeats to Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues looked to have all but ended Irish's hopes of qualification for the quarter-finals but a maximum five-point tally means they are now just two points behind second-placed Edinburgh and five shy of leaders the Blues.

Jonathan Spratt, Joe Ansbro and Adam Thompstone were the try scorers for Toby Booth's men, with left-wing Thompstone grabbing a clinical brace.

Irish trailed 14-10 at the interval after Spratt had matched former Biarritz Olympique star Sereli Bobo's early effort but there was only one side in it after the half-time break.
The game swung swiftly in Irish's favour in an incredible four-minute spell approaching the hour-mark as the visiting backs showed their class with two incisive finishes after the forwards had done the hard graft.

Ansbro, who had a 12th-minute effort ruled out by the TMO, powered through two weak tackles having taking replacement fly-half Adrian Jarvis' miss pass just outside the 22 before Thompstone cut a delightful inside line from an attacking scrum on 58 minutes.

With Jarvis converting both scores, Irish found themselves 27-14 in front approaching the final quarter.

And while Racing enjoyed a sustained period of pressure that only ended 10 minutes after Thompstone's first score, Irish produced a magnificent defensive display, eventually forcing Racing skipper Lionel Nallett to hang on to the ball in the tackle.

Thompstone put the result beyond doubt on 73 minutes as he picked off Bobo's floated pass just inside Racing territory to race home unopposed and hand his side a huge Heineken Cup boost.

G Germain, S Bobo, V Vakatawa, J Matavesi, J Imhoff, J Hernandez (J Wisniewski 37), M Loree (S Descons 70), J Brugnaut (E Ben Arous 58), T Bianchin (G Arganese 67), J Orlandi (J Coetzee 70), L Nallet [C], J Nailiko (F van der Merwe 45), A Batut (J Leo'o 70), B Le Roux (S Chabal 45), J Cronje

SCORERS T: S Bobo P: G Germain (2), DG: J Wisniewski

D Armitage, T Ojo, J Ansbro, J Spratt, A Thompstone, D Bowden (A Jarvis 14), D Allinson (P Hodgson 79) C Dermody [C] (M Lahiff 65), D Paice (B Blaney 79) P Ion (F Rautenbach 70), B Evans, M Garvey, D Danaher, O Treviranus (B Casey 70), C Hala'ufia (J Gibson 28)

SCORERS T: J Spratt, A Thompstone (2), J Ansbro C: A Jarvis (4) P: D Armitage, A Jarvis

Match points: Racing Métro 92 0pts, London Irish 5pts
Man of the Match: Matt Garvey (London Irish)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales) 

 

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POOL 3

BATH RUGBY 13 - 18 LEINSTER

THE REC - 11 December 2011
KO: 12:45 HT: 13-18 Att: 12,200

THE boot of Jonny Sexton allowed reigning champions Leinster Rugby to maintain their unbeaten record in Pool 3 as they twice come from behind to win 18-13 at Bath Rugby.

The home side scored the only try of the game through England wing Matt Banahan, but six penalties from the Irish outside half were enough to guide Leinster to a win that put them three points clear of Glasgow Warriors at the top of the table.

A win over Bath at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, next weekend, where more than 40,000 tickets have already been sold, will end the English club's hopes of making the last eight and set Leinster on the way to a seventh successive quarter-final.

Leinster bombed a few early chances and then found themselves playing second fiddle for much of the first-half as Bath produced some of their best rugby of the season. Two penalties from Olly Barkley gave the home side a 6-0 lead and it wasn't until the last minute of the half, and after an earlier miss, Jonny Sexton cut the gap to three points.

Sexton then levelled the scores shortly after the re-start and eventually kicked the champions into the lead after 54 minutes with his third penalty and doubled the lead with a fourth goal on the hour.

But between those two successes Leinster could and should have scored at least one try. A wonderful piece of chasing and regathering by Isa Nacewa put Leinster on the charge in the home 22, but Sean O'Brien ignored the three men unmarked outside him and put his head down in search of the try.

The Irish flanker, last season's European Player of the Year, was caught and then saw insult added to injury when bath turned over the ball and cleared their lines. There was another close shave for the home defence when Nacewa produced another piece of individual brilliance on the right wing to race past three defenders.

Gordon D'Arcy, Fergus McFadden, Isaac Boss, Jamie Heaslip and then Mike Ross were all held a metre short, but the penalty eventually came and Sexton had no problems from in front of the posts to make it 12-6.

But Bath rallied and two pieces of great skill from their South African back row man Francois Louw, firstly in stealing the ball at a ruck and then making the final pass in the back line to free Jack Cuthbert, helped set up a try for Banahan with 15 minutes left to go.

That left Barkley with the chance to regain the lead with his wide angled conversion and he didn't make any mistake as he sent his kick straight down the middle to make it 13-12.

Louw then went from hero to zero as he dived over the top of a ruck five metres out from his line to concede a penalty that Sexton easily goaled and a few moments later the Springbok picked up a yellow card.

All that was left was for Leinster to put a stranglehold on proceedings up front and for Sexton to end the game by bisecting the posts for a sixth time with his latest penalty that helped him to pick up the man of the match award.

N Abendanon, J Cuthbert, D Hipkiss (S Vesty 63), O Barkley, M Banahan, S Donald, M Claassens (C Cook 66), D Flatman (N Catt 74), C Biller, D Wilson (A Perenise 74), D Attwood, R Caldwell, F Louw, G Mercer, S Taylor [C]

SCORERS T: M Banahan C: O Barkley P: O Barkley (2) F Louw (74)

R Kearney, I Nacewa, F McFadden, G D'Arcy (E O'Malley 70), L Fitzgerald, J Sexton, I Boss (E Reddan 62), H Van Der Merwe (C Healy 41), R Strauss (S Cronin 62), M Ross (N White 62), L Cullen [C], D Browne (D Toner 51), K McLaughlin (S Jennings 51), S O'Brien, J Heaslip

SCORERS P: J Sexton (6)

Match points: Bath Rugby 1pts, Leinster 4pts
Man of the Match: Jonny Sexton (Leinster)
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)

 

GLASGOW WARRIORS 20 - 15 MONTPELLIER

FIRHILL ARENA - 11 December 2011
KO: 12:45 HT: 12-10 Att: 5,287

GLASGOW WARRIORS moved into second place in Pool 3 of the Heineken Cup with an impressive 20-15 victory over Montpellier at Firhill.

Duncan Weir opened the scoring with a penalty after 12 minutes for the hosts but Montpellier’s response was swift with Martin Bustos Moyana kicking three points for his side five minutes later.

Weir added his second just before Eric Escande crossed for the first try for Montpellier. Bustos Moyana's conversion gave the visitors a 10-6 advantage.

But it was Weir with two penalties before the break that pushed Glasgow back into the lead at the interval.

Replacement Ruaridh Jackson stretched that advantage after the break and wing Federico Aramburu's touch down five minutes from time to clinch the victory for the Scottish side.

Masi Matadigo grabbed a late try for Montpellier which gifted the visitors a losing bonus-point.

S Hogg, F Aramburu, P Murchie, G Morrison, R Lamont, D Weir (R Jackson 57), C Cusiter, J Welsh (R Grant 52), P MacArthur (D Hall 65), M Cusack (E Kalman 65), R Gray, A Kellock [C], R Harley, J Barclay, R Wilson (C Fusaro 58)

SCORERS T: F Aramburu P: R Jackson, D Weir (4) J Welsh (28)

J Peyras Loustalet, P Bérard (L Amorosino 65), P Bosch, T Combezou, M Bustos Moyano, S Fernandez (I Perraux 76), E Escande (B Paillaugue 65), G Shvelidze (M Nariashvili 65), M Ladhuie (J Caudullo 68), G Jgenti (K Kervarec 76), J Tuineau, D Hancke, V Bost (K Galletier 76), R Martin [C], A Tulou (M Matadigo 65)

SCORERS T: M Matadigo, E Escande C: M Bustos Moyano P: M Bustos Moyano P Bérard (7), V Bost (36)

Match points: Glasgow Warriors 4pts, Montpellier 1pts
Man of the Match: Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors)
Referee: Greg Garner (England)

 

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POOL 4

ULSTER RUGBY 31 - 10 AIRONI RUGBY

RAVENHILL - 09 December 2011
KO: 19:30 HT: 12-3  Att: 7,494

ULSTER stretched their unbeaten run in the Heineken Cup at Ravenhill to nine games and kept themselves in the hunt in Pool 4 with this bonus point victory over Italian outfit Aironi.

Stephen Ferris, Adam D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble, Paul Marshall and Paddy Jackson all crossed for tries for the home side but they found it tough going against their fellow Pro12 side.

Lions flanker Ferris started the ball rolling with a try in the corner to get his side on the scoreboard and fly-half Ian Humphreys landed the difficult touchline conversion to put the home side 7-0 midway through the first half.

The Italian side replied with a well taken penalty by outside half Tito Tebaldi but he and Humphreys and both missed penalties before Aironi found themselves down to 14-men, when full-back Giulio Toniolatti was shown the yellow card.

The home side took full advantage of their extra man when full-back D’Arcy crossed for Ulster's second try just before half-time to stretch their lead to 12-3 at the break.

Ireland wing Trimble crossed for Belfast's third try straight after half-time and Ulster finally got the much-needed bonus point win when replacement scrum-half Marshall crossed for a fourth try midway through the second half.

Replacement Jackson rubbed salt in the Italian side's wounds with Ulster's fifth try but Aironi did manage a consolation try by replacement hooker Tommaso D'Apice in the dying moments of the contest. Ulster 31 Aironi 10

Ulster stretched their unbeaten run in the Heineken Cup at Ravenhill to nine games and kept themselves in the hunt in Pool 4 with this bonus point victory over Italian outfit Aironi.

The Belfast-based side, who famously lift European rugby's prize back in 1999, kept themselves in the hunt for a quarter-finals spot in this tournament with this win over the Italian new boys.

Ulster now will watch with interest the other Pool clash between Clermont Auvergne, who they beat at Ravenhill, and Leicester, who they lost to in Welford Road, in France on Sunday afternoon.

Stephen Ferris, Adam D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble, Paul Marshall and Paddy Jackson all crossed for tries for the home side but they found it tough going against their fellow Pro12 side.

Lions flanker Ferris started the ball rolling with a try in the corner to get his side on the scoreboard and fly-half Ian Humphreys landed the difficult touchline conversion to put the home side 7-0 midway through the first half.

The Italian side replied with a well taken penalty by outside half Tito Tebaldi but he and Humphreys and both missed penalties before Aironi found themselves down to 14-men, when full-back Giulio Toniolatti was shown the yellow card.

The home side took full advantage of their extra man when full-back D’Arcy crossed for Ulster's second try just before half-time to stretch their lead to 12-3 at the break.

Ireland wing Trimble crossed for Belfast's third try straight after half-time and Ulster finally got the much-needed bonus point win when replacement scrum-half Marshall crossed for a fourth try midway through the second half.

Replacement Jackson rubbed salt in the Italian side's wounds with Ulster's fifth try but Aironi did manage a consolation try by replacement hooker Tommaso D'Apice in the dying moments of the contest.

A D'Arcy, A Trimble (S Terblanche 51), D Cave, N Spence (P Jackson 52), C Gilroy, I Humphreys, R Pienaar (P Marshall 51), P McAllister (T Court 51), R Best (A Kyriacou 70), J Afoa (A Macklin 70), J Muller [C], D Tuohy (L Stevenson 65), S Ferris (R Diack 65), C Henry, P Wannenburg

SCORERS T:  S Ferris, A Trimble, P Marshall, A D'Arcy, P Jackson, C:  I Humphreys (3)

G Toniolatti, S Sinoti, R Quartaroli, G Pavan (A Benettin 65), M Pratichetti, T Tebaldi (N Olivier 61), T Keats (G Bronzini 61), S Perugini (A de Marchi 54), F Ongaro (T D'Apice 61), L Romano (L Redolfini 57), C del Fava (F Ferrarini 73), M Bortolami [C], N Cattina (G Biagi 73), S Favaro, J Sole

SCORERS T:  T D'Apice, C:  N Olivier, P:  T Tebaldi G Toniolatti (36)

Match points: Ulster Rugby 5pts, Aironi Rugby 0pts
Man of the Match: Stephen Ferris (Ulster Rugby)
Referee: Andrew Small (England)

 

CLERMONT 30 - 12 LEICESTER TIGERS

STADE MARCEL MICHELIN - 11 December 2011
KO: 16:00 HT: 16-5 Att: 18,000

CLERMONT AUVERGNE ended Leicester Tigers' unbeaten record in the Heineken Cup this season with a commanding victory in Pool 4. Clermont recorded their 35th consecutive home victory in front of a partisan 18,000 crowd at the intimidating fortress Stade Marcel Michelin.

The Tigers dominated their hosts scrum in emphatic style and scrummaged Clermont off the park all afternoon but it wasn't enough against a more physical and abrasive French unit around the field.

The Tigers scored the first try of the game totally against the run of play when Clermont's fly-half Brock James had his grubber kick charged down while his side were on the attack.

Toby Flood's fly-hack deep into the home side's territory created confusion in the home side's defence and saw scrum half Ben Youngs run in at the corner to give the visitors an improbable 5-3 lead.

Scrum-half Morgan Parra, who played fly-half for France during the World Cup, then calmed the home side's nerves when he slotted over his second and third penalty to reclaim Clermont's lead midway through the first half.

The home side then stretched their lead when burly wing Julien Malzieu barged his way through some weak tackling and crashed over from short-range to put the French side 16-5 ahead at half-time.

After the break, the Tigers were under extreme pressure and then lost two players to yellow cards, hooker George Chuter and centre Manu Tuilagi - on the 50th minute for dangerous play.

The former England hooker and the England new boy were both sin-binned for high tackles on Clermont's Para and prop Vincent Debaty in the same attacking move and the Tigers never recovered.

Clermont took full-advantage of a 13-man Tigers and really turned the screw when impressive centre Wesley Fofana crossed for the French side's second try midway through the second half.

The centre was a constant thorn in the Tigers side with his quick feet and physical presence and it wasn't long before he made the hosts two-man advantage really tell midway through the second half.

Fofana rubbed salt into the wounds with his second try to add to the Tigers misery before the visitors were awarded a consolation penalty try after Clermont collapsed a scrum in the shadow of their own posts.

L Byrne, S Sivivatu, A Rougerie [C] (R King 78), W Fofana, J Malzieu, B James (D Skrela 75), M Parra, V Debaty (D Kotze 69), B Kayser (T Paulo 48), D Zirakashvili (C Ric 37), J Pierre (J Cudmore 72), N Hines (E Vermeulen 76), G Vosloo, A Lapandry, J Bonnaire

SCORERS T: J Malzieu, W Fofana (2) C: M Parra (3) P: M Parra (3) J Bonnaire (70)

G Murphy [C], H Agulla (S Hamilton 72), M Smith (B Twelvetrees 72), M Tuilagi, A Tuilagi, T Flood, B Youngs, M Ayerza (B Stankovich 52), G Chuter (R Hawkins 60), M Castrogiovanni (D Cole 61), L Deacon (E Slater 75), G Skivington, T Croft, J Salvi, S Mafi (T Waldrom 60)

SCORERS T: B Youngs, Penalty Try C: T Flood G Chuter (50), M Tuilagi (50)

Match points: ASM Clermont Auvergne 4pts, Leicester Tigers 0pts
Man of the Match: Wesley Fofana (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

 

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POOL 5

BENETTON TREVISO 30 - 26 BIARRITZ

STADIO COMUNALE DI MONIGO - 10 December 2011
KO: 14:30 HT: 24-12 Att: 4,000

BENETTON TREVISO clinched a famous 30-26 victory over Biarritz Olympique on Saturday afternoon, maintaining their unbeaten home record in the tournament this season.

Following up from their impressive draw against the Ospreys in Round 2, Kristopher Burton inspired Treviso to victory in northern Italy.

The Italian side raced into an early lead in Treviso with tries from Michele Rizzo and Robert Barbieri. Fly-half Kristopher Burton added both conversions to give his side a 14-0 advantage.

Pelu Taele grabbed a try back for the visitors but Cornelius van Zyl was soon adding his name to the scoresheet as the second-row touched down for Treviso's third try.

Biarritz, through Marcelo Bosch narrowed the deficit with a second try just before the break but Burton had the last word of the half kicking a penalty to give Treviso a 24-12 lead at the interval.

Burton kicked his second penalty at the start of the second period but after that point it was one way traffic from the visitors. Damien Traille went over after 58 minutes, followed by Yann Lesgourgues five minutes later. Replacement Julien Peyrelongue added four points with the boot to bring the scores to within a point with 15 minutes to play.

Burton though took his tally to 16 points with another penalty with two minutes from time clinch the famous victory.

L McLean, L Nitoglia (E Gori 60), T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi, B Williams, K Burton, T Botes (A Di Bernardo 69), M Rizzo (I Fernandez Rouyet 54), E Ceccato (D Vidal 54), L Cittadini (P di Santo 54), A Pavanello [C], C van Zyl, R Barbieri (M Filippucci 62), A Zanni, P Derbyshire (M Vosawai 59)

SCORERS T: M Rizzo, R Barbieri, C van Zyl C: K Burton (3) P: K Burton (3)

I Balshaw, T Ngwenya, B Baby (J Peyrelongue 46), D Traille [C], I Bolakoro, M Bosch, Y Lesgourgues, F Barcella (Y Watremez 55), B August (R Terrain 41), S Marconnet, J Thion, P Taele, W Lauret (B Guyot 41), T Gray, F Faure

SCORERS T: D Traille, M Bosch, P Taele, Y Lesgourgues C: J Peyrelongue (2), B Baby

Match points: Benetton Treviso 4pts, Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque 2pts
Man of the Match: Cornelius van Zyl (Benetton Treviso)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)

 

SARACENS 31 - 26 OSPREYS

WEMBLEY STADIUM - 10 December 2011
KO: 18:00 HT: 31-26 Att: 41,063

SARACENS moved back to the top of Pool 5 thanks to a hard fought victory over the Ospreys in a stunning game at Wembley.

Welsh prop Rhys Gill scrambled over for the opening score after two minutes and Owen Farrell had no problem adding the extras with the boot.

Dan Biggar and Farrell then exchanged penalties before Ospreys centre Ashley Beck grabbed his side's first try and Biggar's conversion levelled up the scores.

But the English Champions soon forced their way back in front courtesy of a try from Ernst Joubert

Biggar added his second penalty but six points from Farrell before the interval gave the hosts a commanding position going into the tunnel.

The Ospreys needed to score first at the start of the second period and they did exactly that with Biggar slotting home another penalty for the Welsh side.

Saracens wing Chris Wyles crossed for Saracens' third try and Beck then collected his second score for the Ospreys.

Farrell and Biggar exchanged further penalties but Saracens held on to take the victory.

A Goode, D Strettle, O Farrell, B Barritt, C Wyles, C Hodgson (J Short 58), B Spencer (P Stringer 65), R Gill (D Carstens 73), S Brits (J George 48), M Stevens (C Nieto 65), S Borthwick [C], M Botha (G Kruis 58), K Brown, J Burger (A Saull 65), E Joubert

SCORERS T: C Wyles, R Gill, E Joubert C: O Farrell (2) P: O Farrell (4) O Farrell (48)

R Fussell, T Bowe, A Bishop, A Beck, S Williams, D Biggar, R Webb, D Jones (R Bevington 46), R Hibbard (H Bennett 46), A Jones, R Jones, J Thomas, T Smith [C] (I Gough 52), J Tipuric, J Bearman (G Stowers 56)

SCORERS T: A Beck (2) C: D Biggar (2) P: D Biggar (4) T Smith (36)

Match points: Saracens 4pts, Ospreys 1pts
Man of the Match: E Joubert (Saracens)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)

 

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POOL 6

HARLEQUINS 10 - 21 TOULOUSE

THE TWICKENHAM STOOP - 09 December 2011
KO: 20:00 HT: 3-11  Att: 14,282

TIMOCI MATANAVOU scored two tries for Toulouse as they ended Harlequins' unbeaten run and claimed an impressive 21-10 victory at the Stoop on Friday evening.

Both sides came into the game level on points in Pool 6 but a powerful performance from the former Heineken Cup Champions sent a warning shot out to the rest of the teams in the tournament.

Toulouse controlled the pace and proceedings in a stunning first half of rugby which set the platform the visitors' victory.

Former New Zealand fly-half's Luke McAlister and Nick Evans exchanged penalties in the fifth and seventh minute respectively.

Toulouse struck with the first try after a neat chip forward from Luke Burgess. Quins failed to deal with the scrum-half's kick and number eight Louis Picamoles grabbed the loose ball to set-up field position. Toulouse stretched Quins left and right before Picamoles and Thierry Dusautoir combined to send Matanavou over in the corner for the first of his tries.

Toulouse should have doubled their advantage after they won a scrum against the head and broke through McAlister. With numbers wide to the left a score looked set but the visitors over complicated and Quins scrambled to cover.

McAlister kicked his second penalty to stretch Toulouse's lead but with countless first-half chances they would have hoped for more at the break.

It was roles reversed early in the second period as Quins came out of the changing rooms with the sort of performance that has seen them storm to victory in every game this season.

The hosts took the game to Toulouse and were rewarded for their early advantage with a Mike Brown try. Evans added the conversion to reduce the deficit to just a point.

But just as Quins look to be building another platform the power of Toulouse forced the four-times Champions back into the game.

Toulouse's second score was a simple break to the left and the ball was fed to Matanavou who sprinted into the corner. McAlister converted to seal the victory.

M Brown, S Stegmann, M Hopper, B Urdapilleta, S Smith (U Monye 41), N Evans, D Care, J Marler, C Brooker (J Gray 49), J Johnston, T Vallejos, G Robson, M Faasavalu (L Wallace 68), C Robshaw [C], N Easter

SCORERS T:  M Brown, C:  N Evans, P:  N Evans

M Medard, V Clerc, F Fritz (Y David 53), Y Jauzion, T Matanavou, L McAlister, L Burgess (J Doussain 63), J Poux (Y Montes 46), G Botha (W Servat 53), C Johnston, G Lamboley, Y Maestri, Y Nyanga, T Dusautoir [C], L Picamoles (S Sowerby 71)

SCORERS T:  T Matanavou (2), C:  L McAlister, P:  L McAlister (3)

Match points: Harlequins 0pts, Toulouse 4pts
Man of the Match: Louis Picamoles (Toulouse)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

 

CONNACHT 10 - 14 GLOUCESTER RUGBY

THE SPORTS GROUND - 10 December 2011
KO: 13:30 HT: 7-11 Att: 5,115

GLOUCESTER made it third time lucky in Europe as they edged Connacht out in Galway as the Irish Province's wait for a first Heineken Cup win goes on.

In a nail-biting encounter at the Galway Sportsground it was the boot of Freddie Burns that proved the difference. The fly-half slotted two penalties before James Simpson-Daniel grabbed the opening try.

Gavin Duffy hit-back for the hosts to close the gap to 11-7 at the interval.

Niall O'Connor cut the deficit to a point with a well-struck second-half penalty but that was nullified by Burns as Gloucester hung-on for their first Heineken Cup Pool Six win of the season.

Connacht started the clash with plenty of endeavour, but with a strong win at their backs Gloucester got the scoreboard ticking after just six minutes thanks to a Burns penalty.

O'Connor had the opportunity to level the scores on 14 minutes but was off-target with a relatively straight-forward penalty.
The Cherry & Whites fly-half stretched his team's lead with another penalty on 16 minutes, just moments after missing a previous shot at goal.

Gloucester then grabbed the game's first try to open up a commanding lead. Following several phases the ball was spread wide and Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu drew two men and offloaded to Simpson-Daniel for the try.

But the visitors shot themselves in the foot moments later as Duffy pounced for a crucial try. Burns and Narraway hesitated under a high-ball and the Connacht captain collected it on the bounce, before stepping passed Olly Morgan and racing clear. O'Connor added the simple conversion to cut Gloucester's lead to 11-7.

The English club almost snatched a second try just before the interval following a Henry Trinder chip but the ball beat Sharples over the dead-ball line.

O'Connor struck with a penalty within three minutes of the restart of play to cut the deficit to a single point.

A deadlock ensued for the next 28 minutes as both sides were let down by mistakes in the final-quarter. Mark McCrae thought he had snatched a crucial interception as he raced clear from his own twenty-two but Neil Paterson called play back for an earlier offside offence and Burns stretched Gloucester's lead to 14-10.

Both sides squandered opportunities in the closing stages but the Cherry & Whites had done enough in the first-half to clinch the victory.

G Duffy [C], M McCrea, K Tonetti, D McSharry (F Vainikolo 47), T O'Halloran (F Vainikolo 68), N O'Connor, F Murphy (P O'Donohoe 59), B Wilkinson, E Reynecke (A Flavin 66), R Loughney (R Ah You 41), D Gannon, M McCarthy (M Kearney 73), J Muldoon, R Ofisa (E McKeon 38), G Naoupu

SCORERS T: G Duffy C: N O'Connor P: N O'Connor

O Morgan, C Sharples, H Trinder (J May 66), E Fuimaono-Sapolu, J Simpson-Daniel, F Burns, R Lawson (N Runciman 47), N Wood, S Lawson (M Cortese 72), D Chistolini (R Harden 61), P Buxton (W James 72), J Hamilton, B Deacon, A Hazell (A Qera 55), L Narraway [C]

SCORERS T: J Simpson-Daniel P: F Burns (3)

Match points: Connacht Rugby 1pts, Gloucester Rugby 4pts
Man of the Match: Jim Hamilton (Gloucester Rugby)
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

 

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POOL 1

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 23 - 28 SCARLETS

FRANKLIN’S GARDENS - 18 November 2011
KO: 20:00 HT: 9-21 Att: 13,475

AFTER the heartbreak of their 84th minute defeat in Munster, Northampton Saints were given no respite as they returned to Franklin's Gardens to face a supercharged Scarlets side who took the lead in the second minute and never lost it.

Having opened their account with a good home win over Castres Olympique, Matthew Rees brought his side into England to try to find an antidote to the power of the Saints' scrum and driving line-out.

They must have done their homework because from the first scrum they fashioned a blindside try for full back Liam Williams and never looked back from there. Welsh World Cup hero Rhys Priestland added the conversion and the Scarlets were on their way to a famous win.

The Saints hadn't been beaten in a European game since Biarritz Olympique went away with the spoils way back in 2007 and, of course, had gone eight games unbeaten on their way to their second final last season.

The Saints' scrum grew in confidence, and power, as the first-half wore on, but the Scarlets dominated possession and looked the most dangerous of the two sides and likely to score.

Ryan Lamb landed a penalty after 18 minutes, but there was drama from the restart. Priestland kicked high and deep into the home 22 and Scottish wing Sean Lamont chased and jumped to tap down ahead of Courtney Lawes.

TV replays later showed that Lamont may have been in front of the kicker at the drop out, and both Chris Ashton and Lee Dickson thought the ball had gone forward from Lamont's leap, but play was allowed to go on and Aaron Shingler picked up and outpaced Ashton to score in the left corner.

Priestland's inch perfect, touchline conversion merely added insult to injury and there was worse to come before the half-time whistle. Two more Lamb penalties cut the deficit to five points and now more pressure was coming from the home side.

But a sky high bomb from Priestland was dropped by Samoan international George Pisi, who was drafted in at short notice to replace the injured Ben Foden, and George North and Jonathan Davies snapped up the loose ball to create a try for replacement back row man Matt Gilbert.

The conversion was no problem for Priestland and the Scarlets were flying at 21-9 at the break. It didn't help the home cause that Lamb missed a penalty shot from half-way on the stroke of half-time and it got worse when the outside half hit an upright from close range.

Even though the Saints regathered possession, there was yet another handling mishap on the Scarlets 22 as Chris Ashton dropped a vital pass. Priestland fly-hacked it downfield with his left foot, George North hared after it and beat Lamb to a second touch on the home 22 and Priestland won the race for the bonus point try.

The outside half added a fourth conversion and the Scarlets were in total control at 28-9. But there was a sting in the tail as Pisi made amends for his earlier defensive lapse with a try and then England flanker Tom Wood emerged from a driving maul to race clear from 40 metres.

Both tries were converted by Lamb, the latter cutting the gap to a mere five points. The clock showed 15 seconds left to play, but the referee allowed play to go on. It meant saints found themselves with one last play to try to do a Munster and win the game in the time red zone.

A knock on just outside their 22 ended their faint hopes and the Scarlets moved on to nine points to top Pool 1.

G Pisi (S Armstrong 71), C Ashton, J Clarke, J Downey, V Artemyev, R Lamb, L Dickson (M Roberts 65), S Tonga'uiha (A Waller 71), D Hartley [C] (M Haywood 74), B Mujati (P Doran-Jones 71), C Lawes, M Sorenson (S Manoa 64), C Clark (P Dowson 55), T Wood, R Wilson

SCORERS T: T Wood, G Pisi C: R Lamb (2) P: R Lamb (3)

L Williams, G North (D Evans 77), S Williams, J Davies, S Lamont, R Priestland (S Jones 65), G Davies (R Williams 75), I Thomas (P John 65), M Rees [C] (K Owens 65), R Thomas (R Jones 71), S Timani (L Reed 65), D Welch, A Shingler (M Gilbert 30), J Edwards, B Morgan

SCORERS T: R Priestland, A Shingler, M Gilbert, L Williams C: R Priestland (4) J Edwards (60)

Match Points: Northampton Saints 1pts, Scarlets 5pts
Heineken Man of the Match: Rhys Priestland (Scarlets)
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

 

CASTRES OLYMPIQUE 24 - 27 MUNSTER

STADE PIERRE-ANTOINE - 19 November 2011
KO: 19:40 HT: 18-Att: 13,500

RONAN O'GARA was Munster's hero for the second week running as once again the fly-half kicked a late drop-goal to earn his side a Heineken Cup victory.

O'Gara kicked Munster to glory over Northampton Saints last weekend at Thomond Park and after the Irish Province had battled their way back into contention against Castres this afternoon, he struck once again.

It was the hosts who took the early lead in Toulouse, Pierre Bernard kicking two penalties in the opening five minutes and that start was made even better when Brice Mach touched down after 11 minutes.

Dough Howlett responded with a try for Munster which O'Gara converted but it was Castres who struck next.

Pierre-Gilles Lakafia scored his side's second try which Bernard converted but Munster had the last say with an O'Gara penalty just before the break.

Peter O'Mahony went over for a try after just five second half minutes and O'Gara's form with the boot continued as he converted.

Bernard kicked a further penalty but another converted try from the visitors, courtesy of Will Chambers handed Munster the lead.

With nine minutes remaining Bernard levelled the scores with a penalty and that's have the match remained until O'Gara struck in the 80th minute to seal another classic victory.

F Denos (R Tales 63), M Evans, P Bonnefond, P Garcia, M Andreu (P Lakafia 5), P Bernard, T Lacrampe (R Teulet 69), A Peikrishvili (M Coetzee 56), B Mach (M Bonello 13), K Wihongi (L Ducalcon 45), S Murray (M Rolland 73), I Tekori, J Bornman, Y Caballero (R Capo Ortega 61), C Masoe [C]

SCORERS T: B Mach, P Lakafia C: P Bernard P: P Bernard (4)

J Murphy, D Howlett, D Barnes (W Chambers 42), L Mafi, D Hurley, R O'Gara, C Murray (T O'Leary 56), W du Preez, D Varley, B Botha, D Ryan (D O'Callaghan 49), P O'Connell [C], P O'Mahony (D Fogarty 69), N Ronan, J Coughlan (D Leamy 65)

SCORERS T: D Howlett, P O'Mahony, W Chambers C: R O'Gara (3) P: R O'Gara DG: R O'Gara

Match Points: Castres Olympique 1pts, Munster 4pts
Heineken Man of the Match: Chris Masoe (Castres Olympique)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

 

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POOL 2

CARDIFF BLUES 24 - 18 LONDON IRISH

CARDIFF CITY STADIUM - 18 November 2011
KO: 20:00 HT: 18-9 Att: 10,358

CARDIFF BLUES made it two wins from two this term with a hard-fought victory over London Irish on Friday night.

The Blues scored two tries to follow Edinburgh in staying unbeaten in Pool 2 following last week's impressive success at Racing Métro 92 but Irish secured a valuable losing-bonus-point.

T Rhys Thomas and Heineken Man of the Match Lloyd Williams touched down in the first half for the 2010 Amlin Challenge Cup winners against an Exiles side who had Steve Shingler sent off with less than a quarter of the game played.

Former Scarlets midfielder Shingler saw red for a tip tackle on Dafydd Hewitt but the Blues failed to truly capitalise after establishing a two-score advantage prior to his dismissal.

An impressive kicking display from visiting full back Tom Homer kept Irish in the hunt as the 21-year-old slotted six penalties from seven attempts to claim the full complement of his side's 18 points.

The Blues started superbly in the Welsh capital as they raced into a 10-point lead inside eight minutes. Dan Parks slotted a third-minute penalty to hand the Blues an early advantage before hooker Thomas crossed for the game's opening try.

The Exiles' hopes of hitting back following a slow start were dealt a major blow with the sending off of Shingler on 19 minutes. Having lifted fellow centre Hewitt from his feet and failed to support his return to the safety of level ground, Shingler and the vast majority of the 10,358-strong crowd knew what was coming next.

But despite the disappointment of losing a man so early in proceedings, Irish refused to drop their heads and enjoyed the lions' share of territory for the remainder of the half.

Homer slotted three penalties to a single strike from Parks in the second half of the opening 40 minutes as the visitors closed the gap to 13-9. But just as things seemed to be going Irish's way, Williams intervened with the final play before the break to hand the Blues a healthy half-time lead. Parks was off-target with the touchline conversion but the Blues had the boost they wanted prior to referee Jerome Garces' whistle.

Parks kicked the Blues further ahead on 50 minutes after Homer had produced a try-saving tackle on Cuthbert three minutes earlier. Homer then produced the goods at the other end of the field with a brace of penalties on 53 and 63 minutes to narrow the gap to 21-15 and keep Irish's hopes of an upset on the cards.

Parks looked to have settled matters by opening up an eight-point gap once again with just over 10 minutes to go but Homer's 74th-minute strike led to a nervy finish and ensured Toby Booth's men left with the least they deserved for a fully-committed display at the Cardiff City Stadium.

C Czekaj, A Cuthbert, C Laulala (G Evans 59), D Hewitt, T James, D Parks, L Williams (R Rees 59), G Jenkins, T Thomas (M Breeze 71), T Filise (S Andrews 60), B Davies, P Tito [C], M Paterson, S Warburton, X Rush (M Molitika 21)

SCORERS T: T Thomas, L Williams C: D Parks P: D Parks (4)

T Homer, T Ojo, J Ansbro, S Shingler, A Thompstone, D Bowden, R Samson (P Hodgson 60), C Dermody [C] (A Corbisiero 56), D Paice (J Buckland 54), F Rautenbach (P Ion 41), N Kennedy, M Garvey (J Sandford 61), D Danaher, R Thorpe (J Gibson 54), J Sinclair

SCORERS P: T Homer (6) RC: S Shingler (19)

Match Points: Cardiff Blues 4pts, London Irish 1pts
Heineken Man of the Match: Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues)
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)

 

EDINBURGH RUGBY 48 - 47 RACING MÉTRO 92

MURRAYFIELD - 18 November 2011
KO: 20:00 HT: 20-31 Att: 5,200

EDINBURGH stormed to a stunning 48-47 victory over Racing Métro in a pulsating game at Murrayfield.

Michael Bradley's side made it two wins from two in the Heineken Cup, collecting a try scoring bonus point in a classic European encounter.

Edinburgh raced into an early lead only to be dragged back and then passed by a clinical Racing Métro outfit. But a stunning second half fight-back from the hosts clinched the game which entertained the supporters with 11 tries.

Edinburgh's try scoring machine Tim Visser set the pace with a try for the hosts in the first minute, which Greig Laidlaw converted.

Jon Wisniewski and Laidlaw then exchanged penalties before the Edinburgh scrum-half touched down for a try of his own.

It was end to end rugby and Julien Saubade scored the game's third and his side's second try after 12 minutes, with Argentina star Juan Martin Hernandez adding the extras with the boot.

Juan Imhoff was next to score for the visitors with Wisniewski on form with the conversion once again.

Wisniewski then scored a try of his own as the visitors took the lead for the first time in the game. The French side then wrapped up the try-scoring bonus point before the break with a Henry Chavancy score.

Edinburgh had the last say of the half though with Laidlaw kicking a further three points just before interval.

The French side dominated the opening ten minutes of the second period, Wisniewski kicking his second penalty with the half just a minute old.

Centre Chavancy then grabbed his second try with Wisniewski converting and then kicking another penalty to give them a comfortable 44-20 cushion.

Edinburgh refused to lie down though and Netani Talei rounded off a powerful move for the home side to score.

Wisniewski kicked a penalty but the game was soon straight back at the other end with Tom Brown diving over in the corner for yet another score.

Racing Métro lost Juan Pablo Orlandi to the sin-bin and Edinburgh took full advantage again with Roddy Grant helping himself to a try to bring the scores 20 41-47.

The remarkable come-back was sealed with three minutes to go. Visser grabbed his second try and Laidlaw converted for a historic win.

J Thompson (T Brown 47), L Jones, N De Luca, M Scott (J King 21), T Visser, H Leonard (M Blair 47), G Laidlaw [C], A Jacobsen, R Ford (S Lawrie 59), G Cross, E Lozada, G Gilchrist (S Turnbull 59), N Talei, R Grant, S McInally

SCORERS T: G Laidlaw, T Visser (2), R Grant, N Talei, T Brown C: G Laidlaw (6) P: G Laidlaw (2)

J Wisniewski, J Saubade, H Chavancy, G Bousses (S Descons 78), J Imhoff (V Vakatawa 52), J Hernandez, M Loree, M Tuugahala (E Ben Arous 54), B Noirot (T Bianchin 38), J Coetzee (J Orlandi 65), K Ghezal, L Nallet [C], J Leo'o (R Vaquiin 59), B Le Roux (A Batut 68), S Chabal (J Nailiko 63)

SCORERS T: J Saubade, J Wisniewski, H Chavancy (2), J Imhoff C: J Wisniewski (5) P: J Wisniewski (4) J Nailiko (68)

Match Points: Edinburgh Rugby 5pts, Racing Métro 92 2pts
Heineken Man of the Match: Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

 

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POOL 3

LEINSTER 38 - 13 GLASGOW WARRIORS

RDS - 20 November 2011
KO:  12:45 HT: 31-6 Att: 17,924

A clinical first forty minutes from Heineken Cup Champions Leinster saw the Irish Province cruise to a 38-13 victory over Glasgow Warriors at the RDS.

The hosts were irresistible in the first period, running in four tries and wrapping up the bonus-point before the break. Glasgow, on the back of their opening victory against Bath last weekend came out fighting in the second half but it wasn't quite enough.

Rookie centre Eoin O'Malley, playing only his fourth game of Heineken Cup rugby, stepped up to the mark in the midfield scoring two first half tries.

Duncan Weir kicked the visitors ahead with a 1st minute penalty but Leinster soon struck with Ireland full-back Rob Kearney diving over in the corner after good work from Isa Nacewa.

Weir kicked his second penalty but the response was the same from Leinster with O'Malley touching down on this occasion and again the conversion was spot on from Johnny Sexton.

O'Malley then scored his second after lovely hands in the backline and the fourth was scored just before the break with Gordon D'Arcy touching down to record the bonus point.

The Scots stemmed the tide in the second half and managed a try by replacement scrum half Henry Pyrgos and the hosts replied with a try by Isaac Boss but the job had been done before half-time.

R Kearney, I Nacewa, E O'Malley, G D'Arcy (F Carr 56), L Fitzgerald, J Sexton (I Madigan 60), E Reddan (I Boss 60), H Van Der Merwe (C Healy 47), S Cronin (R Strauss 61), M Ross (N White 56), L Cullen [C], D Toner, K McLaughlin (R Ruddock 65), S O'Brien (S Jennings 53), J Heaslip

SCORERS T: G D'Arcy, I Boss, R Kearney, E O'Malley (2) C: J Sexton (4), I Madigan P: J Sexton D Toner (20)

S Hogg, T Seymour, P Murchie (T Nathan 66), G Morrison, C Shaw (F Aramburu 48), D Weir, C Cusiter (H Pyrgos 60), R Grant (J Welsh 65), P MacArthur (F Gillies 65), M Cusack (E Kalman 60), R Gray, A Kellock [C] (T Ryder 53), R Harley, J Barclay (C Fusaro 41), R Wilson

SCORERS T: H Pyrgos C: D Weir P: D Weir (2)

Match Points: Leinster 5pts, Glasgow Warriors 0pts
Man of the Match: Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)
Referee: Andrew Small (England)

 

BATH RUGBY 16 - 13 MONTPELLIER

THE REC - 20 November 2011
KO: 15:00 HT: 13-3 Att: 11,785

TRIES from Olly Woodburn and David Flatman, as well as six points from the boot of Stephen Donald secured a vital victory in front of a packed Recreation Ground.

Bath started well getting out the blocks fast and using the width of the pitch well, with Olly Woodburn running a great angle early on and breaking the gain line. The Bath pressure told on the visitors as the French outfit folded under the relentless Bath attack, giving away a penalty and allowing home debutant Stephen Donald to slot his first penalty at the Rec. 3-0.

The Blue, Black and Whites were soon again on the attack as Montpellier threw a defending line out in their own 22. A spilt ball landed in the hands of scrum half Michael Claassens, who whipped the ball quickly to Donald who lofted a pass wide and over the heads of the flat defence to Woodburn, who sprinted down the wing to score unopposed. Donald struck the conversion superbly, but the ball hit the upright. 8-0.

The home side were dominating the first 20 minutes of this contest and Man of the Match Donald was in the thick of it. Claassens recycled and span the ball left with the final receiver being prop David Flatman, who with the roar of the crowd, scored his first ever Bath try after 147 appearances. As well as Bath breaching the try line, Montpellier felt the sting of referee Alain Rolland as Trinh-Duc was sent to the bin following his professional foul in slowing down the ball.

Montpellier recovered slightly after Bath's brace of tries with a long range penalty effort from Martin Bustos Moyana, supplying the first points for Montpellier. 13-3.

As half time arrived, Bath were clearly the side in control and two missed Montpellier penalty opportunities kept the half time score 13-3.

Bath were again on the board first in the second half as the packs physicality at the breakdown earned a penalty just inside the visitors half. Donald stepped up and hit the ball perfectly sending it over the posts. 16-3.

Montpellier, who last week drew against last year's Heineken Cup winners, Leinster, came back with a determined attack. With Bath a man down as hooker Ross Batty lay injured, the French Top 14 side attacked allowing Moyana to cross over the line, and the wing added the conversion, taking the score to 16-10.

The French seemed to have found some cohesion and were now maintaining their possession and using it to great effect. Trinh-Duc showed his international calibre and slotted a wide penalty kick to claw his sides deficit back to within three points. 16-13.

The last five minutes was extremely tense as Montpellier piled on the pressure and sought the draw. Bath's defence was tested to the limit as Montpellier threw everything they had at the home try line, however, the patience and discipline of Bath prevailed and a knock on provided the opportunity to end the game. As the seconds ticked down, Bath held strong and Donald sealed the victory by sending the ball flying into the stands.

N Abendanon, O Woodburn, D Hipkiss, S Vesty (O Barkley 75), T Biggs, S Donald, M Claassens (M McMillan 72), D Flatman (C Beech 56), R Batty (M Lilley 48), D Wilson (A Perenise 56), S Hooper [C], R Caldwell (D Attwood 66), F Louw, L Moody (G Mercer 66), S Taylor

SCORERS T: D Flatman, O Woodburn P: S Donald (2)

L Amorosino, M Bustos Moyano (Y Audrin 63), G Doumayrou, P Bosch, J Peyras Loustalet, F Trinh-Duc, J Tomas (B Paillaugue 62), M Nariashvili (N Leleimalefaga 48), A Creevy (R van Vuuren 60), M Bustos (G Jgenti 60), J Tuineau (D Hancke 69), T Privat (M Matadigo 69), F Ouedraogo [C], R Martin, M Gorgodze

SCORERS T: M Bustos Moyano C: M Bustos Moyano P: M Bustos Moyano (2) F Trinh-Duc (19)

Match Points: Bath Rugby 4pts, Montpellier 1pts
Man of the Match: Stephen Donald (Bath Rugby)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

 

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POOL 4

CLERMONT AUVERGNE 54 - 3 AIRONI RUGBY

STADE MARCEL MICHELIN - 18 November 2011
KO: 21:00 HT: 21-3 Att: 17,589

CLERMONT AUVERGNE bounced back from defeat in Round 1 to comfortably beat Italian side Aironi 54-3 on Friday evening.

Lee Byrne opened the scoring, the Welsh full-back touching down after just ten minutes at the Stade Marcel Michelin. Scrum-half Morgan Parra added the conversion.

Luciano Orquera grabbed a penalty for the visitors after 13 minutes but the remaining first period was all about the hosts who scored two further tries through Gerhard Vosloo and Brock James.

Parra again was on form with the boot taking the scores to 21-3 at the break.

The hosts then wrapped up the crucial try-scoring bonus point with Julien Bonnaire touching down after 50minutes.

Flanker Julien Bardy was next on the score-sheet for Clermont's fifth try and Brock James added the conversion.

Jean-Marcel Buttin, Wesley Fofana and Julien Malzieu all scored further tries in a comfortable victory for Jean-Marc Lhermet's side.

L Byrne, N Nakaitaci (J Buttin 56), A Rougerie [C] (G Canale 53), W Fofana, J Malzieu, B James, M Parra (L Radoslavjevic 53), V Debaty (C Ric 72), T Paulo (B Kayser 59), D Kotze (D Zirakashvili 52), L Jacquet, N Hines (J White 56), G Vosloo (A Audebert 52), J Bardy, J Bonnaire

SCORERS T: J Bonnaire, J Malzieu, L Byrne, B James, G Vosloo, W Fofana, J Bardy, J Buttin C: M Parra (4), B James (3)

R Trevisan, S Sinoti (R Quartaroli 72), R Quartaroli (G Toniolatti 50), G Pavan, G Venditti, L Orquera (N Olivier 63), T Keats (G Bronzini 63), M Aguero (A de Marchi 53), T D'Apice (R Santamaria 50), F Staibano (L Romano 66), Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami [C] (G Biagi 50), J Furno (F Ferrarini 63), J Sole, F Viljoen

SCORERS P: L Orquera

Match Points: ASM Clermont Auvergne 5pts, Aironi Rugby 0pts
Man of the Match: Vincent Debaty (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
Referee: JP Doyle (England)

 

LEICESTER TIGERS 20 - 9 ULSTER RUGBY

WELFORD ROAD - 19 November 2011
KO: 18:00 HT: 9-9 Att: 21,473

THE Tigers hadn't been beaten at home in the Heineken Cup since the opening game of the 2006/7 campaign and this gritty triumph extended their unbeaten run at Welford Road to 17 matches.

The 20-9 win was just what the doctor ordered for a side that had struggled at home prior to this game, winning only one of their five games to date and that in the LV= Cup. But there was no denying their desire and once they took the lead of the first time five minutes after the break they never looked back.

Ulster came into the game on the back of a big home win over crack French outfit ASM Clermont Auvergne and really took the game to their hosts in a first-half that ended as it started, all square. There were three penalties apiece to the respective outside halves, Tigers old boy Ian Humphreys and home hero Toby Flood. Two of the strikes from Humphreys were from inside his own half, while Flood missed one from that range.

Ulster used their big forwards to try to create holes in the home defence and Irish back row man Stephen Ferries managed to make a few dents. On the other side it was Alesana Tuilagi who made the most headway with his battering ram runs.

Flood picked up where he left off in the first-half by landing a penalty from inches inside his own territory and that gave Tigers a real confidence boost. So, too, did the introduction on 57 minutes of England scrum half Ben Youngs.

He injected real urgency into the proceedings and had a hand in the game-breaking try in the right corner after 67 minutes through his quick service. The wave of pressure created in the Ulster 22 eventually got converted into a score for Matt Smith as he raced onto a neat grub kick over the line by Flood to bag the points that finally created some breathing space.

Ulster tried to increase the tempo of their game, but the home defence stayed strong and in the final minute Flood closed out the game with his fifth penalty. That stretched the Tigers' lead at the top of the Pool to two points and the Smith try was vital in denying Ulster a point for their efforts.

G Murphy [C], H Agulla, M Smith, A Forsyth (N Morris 17), A Tuilagi, T Flood, S Harrison (B Youngs 57), M Ayerza (B Stankovich 75), G Chuter, D Cole (M Castrogiovanni 57), L Deacon, G Parling (G Skivington 52), T Croft (S Mafi 74), J Salvi, T Waldrom

SCORERS T: M Smith P: T Flood (5)

S Danielli (A D'Arcy 68), A Trimble, D Cave, N Spence, C Gilroy, I Humphreys (P Jackson 74), P Marshall, T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick (A Macklin 68), J Muller [C], D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg

SCORERS P: I Humphreys (3)

Match Points: Leicester Tigers 4pts, Ulster Rugby 0pts
Man of the Match: Tom Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

 

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POOL 5

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE 15 - 10 SARACENS

PARC DES SPORTS AGUILERA - 19 November 2011
KO: 14:30 HT: 0-0 Att: 9,782

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE's Taku Ngwenya scored a stunning solo try to earn his side a 15-10 victory in the Heineken Cup over English Champions Saracens.

In a tight affair at Stade Aguilera all the points came in the second period but Saracens did manage a late score through Alex Goode to earn themselves a losing bonus point.

It was the visitors through centre Owen Farrell who opened the scoring with a penalty after 51 minutes.

But it was Biarritz, five minutes later who struck with the first try. The inspirational Imanol Harinordoquy crossed for his side's first score.

Julien Peyrelongue kicked a penalty to stretch his side's lead then Ngwenya scored his solo effort to give the hosts a commanding position.

Goode crossed with the final play of the game and Farrell's nerveless conversion delivered the bonus-point.

D Haylett-Petty, T Ngwenya, B Baby (J Peyrelongue 52), D Traille, I Balshaw, M Bosch (I Bolakoro 73), L Roussarie (Y Lesgourgues 57), F Barcella (Y Watremez 71), B August (A Heguy 71), S Marconnet (F Gomez Kodela 71), J Thion, E Lund, B Guyot, I Harinordoquy [C] (P Taele 78), R Lakafia (F Faure 73)

SCORERS T: I Harinordoquy, T Ngwenya C: J Peyrelongue P: J Peyrelongue

C Wyles, D Strettle (A Powell 67), O Farrell, B Barritt, J Short, C Hodgson (A Goode 41), B Spencer, R Gill (D Carstens 69), J Smit (J George 57), M Stevens, S Borthwick [C], H Smith (M Botha 48), K Brown, J Burger (A Saull 65), E Joubert

SCORERS T: A Goode C: O Farrell P: O Farrell

Match Points: Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque 4pts, Saracens 1pts
Man of the Match: Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz Olympique)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

 

BENETTON TREVISO 26 - 26 OSPREYS

Stadio Comunale di Monigo - 19 November 2011
KO: 14:30 HT: 9-Att: 4,500

THE Ospreys kept their unbeaten record on Italian soil but they surrendered their 11-match winning run when they salvaged a draw against a well organized and well drilled Benetton Treviso side.

Replacement fly-half Matthew Morgan, making his Heineken Cup debut for the Ospreys, saved his side's blushes when he landed a long-range penalty in the dying moments to clinch a draw for the Welsh side.

Tommy Bowe, who overtook Shane Williams to become the Ospreys leading try-scorer in the Heineken Cup, scored one of his side's two tries but the Italian side will be frustrated they didn't win a game they led for most of the second half.

The Ospreys lost Wales and Lions prop Adam Jones to injury before kick and Aaron Jarvis, the former Bath tighthead, was drafted into the starting line-up but the visitors soon found themselves 3-0 behind to a Kris Burton penalty.

The Welsh region then took the lead midway through the first half when Ireland and Bowe wing showed impressive strength and strength to crash over for the game's first try.

Biggar added the conversion but his opposite number Burton kept the hosts in the contest when he slotted over two penalties to claw his side back to within a point to make it 10-9 at half-time.

But the home side came out all guns blazing at the start of the second half and soon crossed for two early tries by prop Michele Rizzo and wing Benjamin De Jager to go back ahead.

The Ospreys replied with another Biggar penalty before second row Ryan Jones latched onto a loose ball at a Treviso lineout to score and claw his side back to within a point at 21-20.

Scrum-half Tobias Botes then crossed for Treviso's third try to stretch his side's lead before Biggar, who crossed the 200-point mark for the Ospreys in the Heineken Cup, and Morgan rescued a game the visitors looked like losing.

L Nitoglia (F Semenzato 51), B de Jager, T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi, B Williams, K Burton, T Botes, M Rizzo (I Fernandez Rouyet 69), E Ceccato (F Sbaraglini 56), L Cittadini (P di Santo 53), A Pavanello [C], C van Zyl, B Vermaak (M Vosawai 53), A Zanni, R Barbieri (G Padrò 71)

SCORERS T: M Rizzo, B de Jager, T Botes C: K Burton P: K Burton (3) T Benvenuti (62)

R Fussell (M Morgan 70), T Bowe, A Bishop, A Beck, S Williams, D Biggar (T Isaacs 71), K Fotualii (R Webb 41), D Jones (R Bevington 44), R Hibbard, A Jarvis (C Griffiths 71), R Jones, I Evans (J Bearman 49), G Stowers (I Gough 74), J Tipuric [C], J Thomas

SCORERS T: R Jones, T Bowe C: D Biggar (2) P: D Biggar (3), M Morgan

Match Points: Benetton Treviso 2pts, Ospreys 2pts
Man of the Match: Michele Rizzo (Benetton Treviso)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)

 

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POOL 6

GLOUCESTER RUGBY 9 - 28 HARLEQUINS

KINGSHOLM - 19 November 2011
KO: 15:40 HT: 6-15 Att: 12,320

HARLEQUINS' incredible start to the season continued on Saturday night as they secured a convincing win over Gloucester in Pool 6.

Quins have now won all 12 games this term and are two from two in their first season back in the Heineken Cup.

The reigning Amlin Challenge Cup Champions made light work of Gloucester's impressive home record as they finished 28-9 winners on Saturday night.

The English Premiership leaders outscored their hosts by three tries to nil despite Gloucester enjoying the Lions' share of possession and territory.

Quins led 15-6 at the break thanks to tries at either ends of the first-half with Heineken Man of the Match Mike Brown crossing inside the first five minutes and centre Matt Hopper following suit 90 seconds before the interval.

Brown's effort was the result of a well-worked overlap wide on the right after Quins won lineout ball on the opposite side of the field, while Hooper burrowed under two tackles following a patient build up as the visitors displayed their clinical nature.

Gloucester were impressive for large parts of the opening half but only had two Freddie Burns penalties to show for their efforts. Lesley Vainikolo and Akapusi Qera created plenty of excitement with a series of stunning runs but the Quins defence held firm despite a mountain of pressure from the home side.

Vainikolo came closest to a Gloucester score on seven minutes but the giant centre was brought down just short having made a mockery of four attempted tackles.

The second period was an equally lively affair, with Quins blindside Maurie Fa'asavalu seeing yellow for a dangerous tackle on 47 minutes. But Gloucester failed to capitalise on their one-man advantage as they scored just a single penalty in the Samoan's absence.

And with Nick Evans having slotted a penalty of his own moments after the second half kicked off, Quins were always more than a converted try ahead of a Gloucester side who made too many errors to work themselves back into the game.

Nick Easter then put the result beyond doubt with a breakaway try with seven minutes remaining as Quins marched onwards and upwards towards a December double header with French giants Toulouse.

J May, C Sharples, H Trinder, M Tindall, L Vainikolo (T Voyce 41), F Burns (T Taylor 62), R Lawson (D Lewis 57), N Wood (D Murphy 71), S Lawson (D Dawiduik 60), R Harden (D Chistolini 71), W James (T Savage 60), J Hamilton, P Buxton [C] (L Narraway 71), A Qera, A Strokosch

SCORERS P: F Burns (3)

M Brown, S Stegmann, M Hopper (T Casson 74), J Turner-Hall, S Smith, N Evans, K Dickson (D Care 47), J Marler (N Mayhew 72), J Gray (C Brooker 57), J Johnston (T Fairbrother 51), T Vallejos (C Matthews 74), G Robson, M Faasavalu (L Wallace 76), C Robshaw [C], N Easter

SCORERS T: N Easter, M Brown, M Hopper C: N Evans (2) P: N Evans (3) M Faasavalu (47)

Match Points: Gloucester Rugby 0pts, Harlequins 4pts
Man of the Match: Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

 

CONNACHT RUGBY 10 - 36 TOULOUSE

THE SPORTS GROUND - 19 November 2011
KO: 18:00 HT: 3-22 Att: 9,120

CONNACHT put on a great reception for the biggest game in Galway in recent years but four-times Heineken Cup winners, Toulouse, proved too strong for the tournament newcomers.

The French side, winners in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010, proved more than able to deal with the partisan crowd and positively revelled in it to record their second victory in Pool 6.

Connacht, who celebrated their 100th game in European competition but their first home game in the Heineken Cup, welcomed a star-studded line up from the aristocrats of the tournament.

The home side, playing in front of a record sell-out 9,120 crowd at the Sportsground, struggled to get their hands on the ball and to contain their illustrious visitors in the opening exchanges and soon found themselves 9-0 down midway through the first half.

Fly-half Lionel Beauxis proved deadly with the boot landing three penalties and a drop goal and converted Toulouse's first try by flanker Jean Bouilhou before the home side had flanker Mike McCarthy sin-binned for a high-tackle on Vincent Clerc.

The Irish province struggled with 14-men for the rest of the first half but No 10 Miah Nikora landed a penalty before his opposite number Beauxis landed a third penalty to put the French giants comfortably ahead 22-3 at half-time.

After the break, Toulouse turned the screw and dominated territory and possession and were awarded a penalty try after they demolished a Connacht scrum in the shadow of the home side's posts.

Connacht did manage a consolation score of their own when they were awarded a penalty try but the former champions just proved too strong for their hosts, and replacement flanker Yannick Nyanga sealed the win with his side's third try.

G Duffy [C], B Tuohy, E Griffin (H Fa'afili 67), D McSharry, T O'Halloran, M Nikora, P O'Donohoe (F Murphy 51), B Wilkinson (R Loughney 64), A Flavin (E Reynecke 48), R Ah You (D Rogers 48), M Swift, D Gannon (R Ofisa 49), M McCarthy, J Muldoon (T Anderson 64), G Naoupu

SCORERS T: Penalty Try (1) C: M Nikora P: M Nikora M McCarthy (29), E Reynecke (76)

C Poitrenaud (L McAlister 49), M Medard, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, V Clerc, L Beauxis, L Burgess (N Vergallo 61), Y Montes (J Poux 69), W Servat (G Botha 50), C Johnston (J Falefa 49), G Lamboley, Y Maestri (R Millo-Chluski 54), J Bouilhou [C], T Dusautoir, L Picamoles (G Galan 59)

SCORERS T: J Bouilhou, Y Nyanga, Penalty Try (1) C: L Beauxis (3) P: L Beauxis (4) DG: L Beauxis

Match Points: Connacht Rugby 0pts, Toulouse 4pts
Man of the Match: Lionel Beauxis (Toulouse)
Referee: Greg Garner (England)

 

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POOL 1

 

SCARLETS 31 - 23 CASTRES OLYMPIQUE

PARC Y SCARLETS - 12 November 2011
KO: 15:00 HT: 9-6 Att: 7,860

WELSH wing George North inspired the Scarlets to a winning start in the Heineken Cup this afternoon with a man of the match performance against Castres.

A clinical second-half performance from the Scarlets was enough to claim the win, built on the back of a string of impressive displays from their International contingent.

The first period was all about the boot, Stephen Jones kicking three penalties to Romain Teulet's two as the Welsh region went into the break 9-6 ahead.

The second period was a much different story at Parc y Scarlets and the Scarlets signalled their intentions early on with a Sean Lamont try.

Teulet grabbed a penalty back for Castres before North powered upfield setting up his side's second try as number eight Ben Morgan touched down.

Marc Andreu grabbed a try back for Castres and Teulet's conversion reduced the scores to 23-16.

The Scarlets though were soon back on form, Scott Williams racing clear before feeding Jonathan Davies to score.

Castres captain Chris Masoe set up a tense finish with his late try but Rhys Priestland came off the bench for the hosts to land a crucial late penalty which also denied Castres a losing bonus point.

L Williams, G North (D Evans 74), S Williams, J Davies, S Lamont, S Jones (R Priestland 54), T Knoyle (R Williams 54), I Thomas (P John 61), M Rees [C] (K Owens 61), R Thomas (R Jones 66), D Day (S Timani 16), D Welch, A Shingler, J Edwards, B Morgan

SCORERS T: S Lamont, J Davies, B Morgan C: S Jones (2) P: S Jones (3), R Priestland

R Teulet, M Nicolas, P Bonnefond, R Cabannes (P Garcia 43), M Andreu, R Tales (P Bernard 71), T Lacrampe (T Sanchou 63), A Peikrishvili (M Coetzee 55), M Rallier (B Mach 46), L Ducalcon (K Wihongi 55), M Rolland (S Murray 71), R Capo Ortega, C Masoe [C], S Malonga (J Bornman 52), I Tekori

SCORERS T: M Andreu, C Masoe C: R Teulet (2) P: R Teulet (3) I Tekori (33)

Match Points: Scarlets 4pts, Castres Olympique 0pts
Referee: Greg Garner (England)

 

MUNSTER 23 - 21 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

THOMOND PARK - 12 November 2011
KO: 18:00 HT: 17-13 Att: 26,500

RONAN O'GARA broke Northampton hearts as the Ireland fly-half kicked a late drop-goal to hand Munster a 23-21 victory over the Saints at Thomond Park.

The English Premiership side, and last season's beaten finalists Northampton looked set to record a famous victory in Limerick until O'Gara, who was playing in his 98th Heineken Cup game struck with a last minute drop-goal.

It was the hosts who got the ideal start in the evening kick-off with prop Damien Varley barging his way over the line after just 3 minutes, signalling Munster's intent.

Saints though responded immediately, England winger Chris Ashton diving over for a try of his own six minutes later.

Fly-half Ryan Lamb converted and then kept the scoreboard ticking over for the visitors with two further first half penalties.

And just as it looked as the Saints would go into the break ahead, Munster scored ten points in the final two minutes. First O'Gara slotted a penalty and then a minute later he was lining up a conversion under the posts after Doug Howlett had touched down.

It was O'Gara who drew first blood in the second period with a second penalty and Lamb responded with one of his own three minutes later.

Northampton's dominance upfront gave them a platform and they scored their second try with James Downey touching down.

Lamb missed the conversion but the Saints did have the lead and that's how the game stayed until the final few seconds.

Munster used all their European experience and threw everything at Northampton as the game drew to a conclusion.

And in true Munster style they put together an epic 40 phases to put O'Gara in position to strike and strike he did. His drop-goal was met with delight at Thomond Park as Munster kicked off their 2011/12 campaign with victory.

J Murphy, D Howlett, D Barnes (W Chambers 66), L Mafi, D Hurley, R O'Gara, C Murray (T O'Leary 61), W du Preez, D Varley, B Botha (J Hayes 70), D Ryan (D O'Callaghan 54), P O'Connell [C], P O'Mahony, N Ronan, J Coughlan (D Leamy 65)

SCORERS T: D Howlett, D Varley C: R O'Gara (2) P: R O'Gara (2) DG: R O'Gara

B Foden (G Pisi 72), C Ashton, J Clarke, J Downey, V Artemyev, R Lamb, L Dickson, S Tonga'uiha (A Waller 68), D Hartley [C], B Mujati (P Doran-Jones 70), C Lawes (S Manoa 65), M Sorenson, C Clark (P Dowson 65), T Wood, R Wilson

SCORERS T: J Downey, C Ashton C: R Lamb P: R Lamb (3)

Match Points: Munster 4pts, Northampton Saints 1pts
Man of the Match: P O'Mahony (Munster)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

 

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POOL 2

 

RACING MÉTRO 92 20 - 26 CARDIFF BLUES

STADE YVES DU MANOIR, PARIS - 11 November 2011
KO: 21:00 HT: 14-17 Att: 9,125

CARDIFF BLUES kicked off their Heineken Cup campaign in style, beating Racing Métro 26-20 in Colombes on Friday evening.

Led by the return of a host of Welsh Internationals the Blues controlled the game for long periods as Racing Métro struggled for a foothold.

The game was marred by an early injury in the second minute to lock James Down who picked up a serious leg injury at the tackle area and was stretchered from the field before he was replaced by Paul Tito.

It took Cardiff a while to recover from the shock of Down's injury and they found themselves 6-0 down to a penalty by full back Gaeten Germain and a drop goal by fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez.

But when the visitors did strike, it led to the game's first try. Tito was tackled into touch just short of the Racing line after a slick handling move but from the lineout, Tongan prop Tau Filise picked up the loose ball for an easy try.

Fly half Dan Parks added the conversion to put the visitors a point ahead before the Scot and Germain swapped penalties to give the Cardiff Blues a 10-7 lead midway through the first half.

Racing Métro restored their lead with Argentine Juan Imhoff touching down but just before the break the Blues grabbed their second try with rookie wing Alex Cuthbert scoring in the corner to give the Blues a 17-14 half-time lead.

Parks and Germain swapped penalties during the second period, Parks kicking three to Germain's two as the Welsh region hung on for a deserved victory. Cardiff Blues kicked off their Heineken Cup campaign in style, beating Racing Métro 26-20 in Colombes on Friday evening.

Led by the return of a host of Welsh Internationals the Blues controlled the game for long periods as Racing Métro struggled for a foothold.
The game was marred by an early injury in the second minute to lock James Down who picked up a serious leg injury at the tackle area and was stretchered from the field before he was replaced by Paul Tito.

It took Cardiff a while to recover from the shock of Down's injury and they found themselves 6-0 down to a penalty by full back Gaeten Germain and a drop goal by fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez.

But when the visitors did strike, it led to the game's first try. Tito was tackled into touch just short of the Racing line after a slick handling move but from the lineout, Tongan prop Tau Filise picked up the loose ball for an easy try.

Fly half Dan Parks added the conversion to put the visitors a point ahead before the Scot and Germain swapped penalties to give the Cardiff Blues a 10-7 lead midway through the first half.

Racing Métro restored their lead with Argentine Juan Imhoff touching down but just before the break the Blues grabbed their second try with rookie wing Alex Cuthbert scoring in the corner to give the Blues a 17-14 half-time lead.

Parks and Germain swapped penalties during the second period, Parks kicking three to Germain's two as the Welsh region hung on for a deserved victory.

G Germain, S Bobo, H Chavancy (V Vakatawa 64), F Estebanez (J Wisniewski 45), J Imhoff, J Hernandez, M Loree (N Durand 55), A Lo Cicero (E Ben Arous 69), B Noirot, J Orlandi (J Coetzee 55), K Ghezal (L Nallet 45), J Nailiko, J Leo'o (R Vaquiin 70), A Batut, J Cronje [C]

SCORERS T: J Imhoff P: G Germain (4) DG: J Hernandez

C Czekaj, A Cuthbert, C Laulala (C Sweeney 72), J Roberts (G Evans 14), T James, D Parks, L Williams, G Jenkins, T Thomas [C], T Filise (S Andrews 73), B Davies, J Down (P Tito 3), M Paterson, S Warburton, X Rush (A Pretorius 70)

SCORERS T: T Filise, A Cuthbert C: D Parks (2) P: D Parks (4)

Match Points: Racing Métro 92 1pts, Cardiff Blues 4pts
Man of the Match: D Parks (Cardiff Blues)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

 

LONDON IRISH 19 - 20 EDINBURGH

MADEJSKI STADIUM - 12 November 2011
KO: 13:30 HT: 16-10 Att: 6,712

EDINBURGH produced a stunning second-half display to claim an opening away victory against London Irish in Reading this afternoon.

The visitors found themselves 19-10 down just after the break but fought their way back to take the victory.

The Exiles raced into an early 6-0 lead thanks to two penalties from full-back Tom Homer but it was the visitors that grabbed the first try through wing Lee Jones. Harry Leonard who missed an early penalty for the Scots, added the conversion to give his side the lead.

Homer kicked over his third penalty then converted Ross Samson try after 29 minutes.

Edinburgh had the last say of the first period, Leonard kicking another three points to narrow the deficit to 16-10.

Homer added another penalty after 46 minutes but it was Edinburgh who crucially got the next score, Stuart McInally touching down for his side's second try. Greig Laidlaw converted and then kicked the winning points on 68 minutes.

Irish threw everything at their visitors in the closing stages but a drop-goal and penalty attempt from Bowden and Homer respectively couldn't snatch the lead back.

T Homer, J Ansbro, S Shingler, S Hape, A Thompstone, D Bowden [C], R Samson (P Hodgson 67), A Corbisiero (M Lahiff 54), J Buckland (B Blaney 70), P Ion (F Rautenbach 54), N Kennedy, M Garvey (J Sandford 61), B Evans, J Gibson (R Thorpe 61), J Sinclair

SCORERS T: R Samson C: T Homer P: T Homer (4) S Hape (69)

J Thompson, L Jones, N De Luca, M Scott, T Visser, H Leonard, M Blair (G Laidlaw 47), A Jacobsen, R Ford [C], G Cross (L Niven 21), E Lozada, G Gilchrist, D Denton (S Cox 28), R Rennie (R Grant 47), S McInally

SCORERS T: S McInally, L Jones C: G Laidlaw, H Leonard P: G Laidlaw, H Leonard

Match Points: London Irish 1pts, Edinburgh Rugby 4pts
Man of the Match: S McInally (Edinburgh Rugby)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

 

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POOL 3

MONTPELLIER 16 - 16 LEINSTER

STADE DE LA MOSSON - 12 November 2011
KO: 14:30 HT: 13-6 Att: 20,182

LEINSTER fly-half Johnny Sexton kicked a last gasp penalty to earn Heineken Cup Champions Leinster a draw against debutants Montpellier at the Stade de la Mosson as the sides shared the points in a titanic battle.

The hosts battled ferociously and looked set to record a famous opening victory until the Irish province showed their European experience to force their way back into the game and level the scores with the final kick of the game.
Montpellier have struggled in the TOP14 this season but were boosted by the return of their International stars and they dominated the game for large periods.

Scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue opened Montpellier's Heineken Cup account with a penalty after two minutes but that was soon cancelled out by last season's Heineken Cup Final man of the match Sexton who kicked his first points of the 2011/12 campaign.

The Irish fly-half then kicked the Champions in front with his second penalty from 47-metres.

Powered on from their fanatical support Montpellier crossed for the opening try in fantastic fashion. The hosts broke from deep and as they won the footrace to a chip through, captain Fulgence Ouedraogo was fed the ball for the easiest of scores. Paillaugue added the extras and then another penalty before the interval to round-up a dominant first forty minutes.

The titanic battle continued at a furious pace in the second period and it again was Montpellier that struck first. With Paillaugue off the field, kicking duties fell to Trinh-Duc, and the French fly-half who starred throughout the clash, had no problem extending his side's lead to ten points.

Leinster, famed for their fight-back ability then began edging their way back into the game. Using all their European experience they started pushing Montpellier back and controlling proceedings.

Replacement hooker Sean Cronin showed great pace and power to gab Leinster's only try and Sexton's conversion brought the scores to within three.

With the clock showing red, Sexton then coolly slotted his final penalty to earn his side a famous draw.

L Amorosino, T Nagusa (M Bustos Moyano 66), G Doumayrou, S Fernandez, Y Audrin, F Trinh-Duc, B Paillaugue (J Tomas 51), N Leleimalefaga (M Nariashvili 78), A Creevy (r van vuuren 62), M Bustos (G Jgenti 61), M Demarco, T Privat (D Hancke 57), F Ouedraogo [C] (r van vuuren 72), M Gorgodze, M Matadigo (R Martin 41)

SCORERS T: F Ouedraogo C: B Paillaugue P: F Trinh-Duc, B Paillaugue (2)

R Kearney, I Nacewa, F McFadden, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald, J Sexton, I Boss (E Reddan 50), H Van Der Merwe, R Strauss (S Cronin 57), M Ross (N White 59), L Cullen [C], D Browne (D Toner 57), K McLaughlin (S O'Brien 62), S O'Brien (K McLaughlin 57), J Heaslip

SCORERS T: S Cronin C: J Sexton P: J Sexton (3)

Match Points: Montpellier 2pts, Leinster 2pts
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

 

GLASGOW WARRIORS 26 - 21 BATH RUGBY

FIRHILL ARENA - 13 November 2011
KO: 12:45 HT: 9-6 Att: 4,208

GLASGOW WARRIORS snatched a late win over Bath at Firhill with second-row Richie Gray scoring a try with the last play of the game to give his side a 26-21 victory.

The script looked set for Bath to come away with the win after debutant and World Cup winner Stephen Donald came off the bench to kick them ahead with four minutes remaining.

But Gray and the Warriors had the last word. Duncan Weir launched a drop-goal attempt with the clock showing red but his kick was way short and Bath failed to deal with the bouncing ball and Gray took his opportunity and divided under the posts to win the game.

The visitors had plenty of possession and territory but couldn't muster much with the ball and had to settle for seven kicks at goal.

The first period was all about the boot, with Heineken Cup debutant Tom Heathcote kicking the visitors ahead twice, only for the scores to be levelled by his opposite number Weir on each occasion.

Weir then slotted his third penalty just before the break to take his side into the interval 9-6 ahead.

Directly after the break Weir had the chance to add another three points to his tally but missed with his first shot of the day. Heathcote though had no such trouble as he levelled the scores with a penalty of his own two minutes later.

Heathcote then landed a fourth attempt to give his side a lead.

Where Bath failed to convert their chances, Glasgow had limited opportunities. But in a rare visit and attack they burst through the midfield and then spread the ball wide and found Stuart Hogg who spotted the space to score, with Weir adding the extras.

Heathcote though kept up his immaculate record with the boot to narrow the deficit to a point just minutes later.

The 19-year-old then kicked Bath back in front with his sixth penalty, his last act of the game before making way for Donald who made his Bath debut.

Weir then kicked his side ahead with 7 minutes remaining before Donald's late strike which looked to have won the English side the game.

That was until Gray struck with the final play to the delight of the Firhill crowd.

S Hogg, T Seymour, R Dewey, G Morrison, C Shaw, D Weir, C Cusiter, R Grant, P MacArthur, M Cusack, R Gray, A Kellock [C], R Harley, J Barclay, R Wilson BENCH: D Hall, G Reid, E Kalman, T Ryder, C Fusaro, H Pyrgos, T Nathan, F Aramburu

SCORERS T: Hogg, Gray C: Weir (2) P: Weir (4)

N Abendanon, O Woodburn, D Hipkiss, M Banahan, T Biggs, T Heathcote, M Claassens, D Flatman, R Batty, D Wilson, S Hooper [C], R Caldwell, F Louw, G Mercer, S Taylor BENCH: K Palma Newport, C Beech, A Perenise, D Attwood, W Spencer, M McMillan, S Donald, S Vesty

SCORERS P: Heathcote (6), Donald

Match Points: Glasgow 4 points, Bath 1 point
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

 

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POOL 4

AIRONI RUGBY 12 - 28 LEICESTER TIGERS

STADIO BRIANTEO, MONZA - 12 November 2011
KO: 14:30 HT: 6-20 Att: 8,151

LEICESTER TIGERS kicked off their Heineken Cup campaign with a well-earned victory over Aironi in Monza this afternoon.

The former Champions raced into an early lead but Aironi forced their way back into the fixture, denying the visitors a bonus-point.

The Tigers have struggled for form in English Premiership, having been bit by injuries and International call-ups but they got off to a flyer in northern Italy, surging into a 13-0 lead thanks to a pair of quick-fire penalties from the boot of Toby Flood and a try from Tom Croft.

Richard Cockerill's men continued to threaten in attack and they clinched a second try shortly before the 25-minutes after Alesana Tuilagi took a short-ball off Flood and crashed over. The England fly-half dissected the posts to bring the scores to 20-0 but Aironi quickly hit-back with a penalty.

They continued their resurgence with a second Luciano Orquera penalty on 33 minutes to bring the scores to 20-6 at the break.

Flood struck the uprights within two minutes of the restart but he made no mistake three minutes later to stretch Leicester's lead to 23-6.

Orquera quickly struck-back with his third penalty and following a sustained period of pressure he slotted another on 68 minutes to make it 23-12.

That appeared to stir the Tigers life but they could not break Aironi's unforgiving defence until it was too late.

Following some strong carrying by Thomas Waldrom, the visitors worked the overlap and Leicester captain Geordan Murphy threw a pin-point miss pass to fellow Irishman Niall Morris for a touchdown in the corner.

R Trevisan (G Pavan 63), S Sinoti, A Masi, M Pratichetti, G Venditti, L Orquera, T Keats, S Perugini (M Aguero 46), F Ongaro (R Santamaria 64), F Staibano (L Romano 78), Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami [C], N Cattina, S Favaro (J Sole 41), F Viljoen (F Ferrarini 64)

SCORERS P: L Orquera (4) S Sinoti (8)

G Murphy [C], N Morris, M Smith, A Forsyth, A Tuilagi, T Flood, S Harrison, M Ayerza, G Chuter (T Youngs 52), D Cole (M Castrogiovanni 52), L Deacon, G Parling, T Croft, J Salvi, T Waldrom

SCORERS T: A Tuilagi, T Croft, N Morris C: T Flood (2) P: T Flood (3)

Match Points: Aironi Rugby 0pts, Leicester Tigers 4pts
Man of the Match: T Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

 

ULSTER RUGBY 16 - 11 CLERMONT AUVERGNE

RAVENHILL - 12 November 2011
KO: 15:40 HT: 6-11 Att: 9,385

ULSTER dug deep to defeat ASM Clermont Auvergne at Ravenhill on Saturday afternoon with Ian Humphreys claiming all 16 points in a crucial triumph in Pool 4.

Humphreys kicked three penalties and converted his own try with 11 minutes remaining as Ulster edged a fast and furious encounter 16-11 in south-east Belfast.

The crucial score came as a result of replacement full back Adam D'Arcy's brilliant break from deep in his own territory as Clermont committed their one major defensive error of the encounter.

D'Arcy spilt the onrushing defensive line to take play to the edge of the Clermont 22 before supplying the scoring pass to his fly-half, with Humphreys having covered a huge amount of ground to remain in support.

Humphreys stayed cool to add the testing conversion from wide on the left and, despite a frantic finish, Ulster held on to boost their hopes of matching last season's qualification for the quarter finals.

Clermont will argue that they were hard done by having led for all bar the final few moments and it was they who opened the scoring with the game just seven minutes old.
The first half proved to be a scrappy affair, with neither side managing to hold on to possession for long enough to cause the opposition continued difficulties, but the visitors deserved their 11-6 lead at the break.

Clermont, who sit second in the Top 14 just a point behind Toulouse, claimed the half's solitary try through Fijian U20 wing Noa Nakaitaci after the youngster saw off Paul Marshall's desperate tackle.

But while it was Nakaitaci left celebrating the score on his Heineken Cup debut, the real inspiration was Wales and Lions star Lee Byrne. The ex Osprey ghosted through on the edge of the 22 to give his new side's Heineken hopes an early boost.

With the normally reliable boot of Morgan Parra failing to add the extras and an earlier penalty attempt, David Skrela took over the duties from the tee and landed a 17th-minute effort that cancelled out Humphreys' first successful strike of the afternoon.

Skrela slotted a second shot at goal to hand Clermont an eight-point advantage just two minutes before the break but Humphreys cut the gap to five on the stroke of half-time.

The game came alive in the second period although the scoreboard was rarely troubled. Humphreys reduced the deficit even further 10 minutes in before his most high-profile intervention late on.

Brock James could have kept Clermont on track for a vital victory but he twice missed the target after replacing Skrela and Clermont were left to ponder what might have been.

S Danielli (A D'Arcy 55), A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy, I Humphreys, P Marshall, T Court (P McAllister 68), R Best, J Afoa (D Fitzpatrick 68), J Muller [C], D Tuohy, S Ferris (W Faloon 77), C Henry, P Wannenburg

SCORERS T: I Humphreys C: I Humphreys P: I Humphreys (3)

L Byrne (R King 79), W Fofana, A Rougerie [C], R King (J Buttin 72), N Nakaitaci, D Skrela (B James 51), M Parra (K Senio 67), L Faure (C Ric 61), B Kayser, D Zirakashvili (M Kotze 51), N Hines, J Pierre (J White 72), J Bonnaire, G Vosloo, E Vermeulen (J Bardy 65) Buttin, R King

SCORERS T: N Nakaitaci P: D Skrela (2)

Match Points: Ulster Rugby 4pts, ASM Clermont Auvergne 1pts
Man of the Match: S Ferris (Ulster Rugby)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England) 

 

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POOL 5

OSPREYS 28 - 21 BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE

LIBERTY STADIUM - 12 November 2011
KO: 15:40 HT: 6-3 Att: 7,732

DAN BIGGAR's golden boot made it 13 straight wins at the Liberty Stadium in Heineken Cup Pool matches for the Ospreys as they opened their account in one of this season's 'Pools of Death' with a vital win.

Battling Biarritz managed to hit back after being 14 points adrift late on in the second half and almost snatched a draw at the death when England wing Ian Balshaw popped up on the opposite side to take a pass and race clear in the 22.

But English referee Andrew Small spotted a forward pass and the chance was lost. Biarritz were adamant after the game that an Ospreys hand had deflected the ball, but they could still be content leaving with a point.

You had to go back to the Leicester Tigers win in 2005 for the last time the Ospreys had been beaten at home in Europe and thanks to Biggar's mighty boot - he landed a magnificent seven penalties and a conversion for a man of the match winning haul of 23 points - their successful run continued.

Damien Traille gave Biarritz the lead with a drop goal and it was still very tight at the break with Biggar replying with two penalties to make it 6-3. He then added five more after the break, as well as a conversion of Tommy Bowe's try, and it was too much for the visitor's to claw back.

Balshaw's two tries brought Biarritz back to within striking distance and that all important losing bonus point could yet prove vital in the final analysis in January when the quarter-final places are determined.

R Fussell, T Bowe, A Bishop, A Beck, S Williams, D Biggar, K Fotualii, D Jones (R Bevington 58), H Bennett (R Hibbard 48), A Jones (A Jarvis 63), A Jones [C], I Evans (R Jones 61), G Stowers, J Tipuric (J Bearman 41), J Thomas

SCORERS T: T Bowe C: D Biggar P: D Biggar (7)

D Haylett-Petty, T Ngwenya, M Bosch, D Traille, I Balshaw, J Peyrelongue (B Baby 51), D Yachvili, F Barcella (Y Watremez 75), B August (A Heguy 54), S Marconnet (F Gomez Kodela 61), J Thion, E Lund (P Taele 73), B Guyot, I Harinordoquy [C], R Lakafia

SCORERS T: I Balshaw (2) C: M Bosch P: M Bosch (2) DG: D Traille

Match Points: Ospreys 4pts, Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque 1pts
Man of the Match: D Biggar (Ospreys)
Referee: Andrew Small (England)

 

SARACENS 42 - 17 BENETTON TREVISO

VICARAGE ROAD - 13 November 2011
KO: 15:00 HT: 16-3

JOHN SMIT marked his Saracens debut with his first Heineken Cup try as he helped English champions Saracens notch a comfortable, bonus point start to their Pool 5 campaign at Vicarage Road.

The 2007 South African World Cup skipper had tasted European action before during a short stay at ASM Clermont Auvergne and he made a return to the tournament in the 58th minute as a replacement for fellow countryman Schalk Brits.
And it didn't take long for him to make an impact as he drove over for his side's fifth and final try in the 77th minute to round off a good day's work by the home pack.

But while Smit grabbed the headlines late in the day it was England prospect Owen Farrell who enhanced his growing reputation with a 22 point contribution with a try, four conversion and three penalties.

In fact, it was 16-3 to Farrell at the break and it wasn't until Brits put Dave Strettle over for a try six minutes into the second half with a delightful inside pass that Farrell's stranglehold o the scoreboard was broken.

Franco Smith's Benetton Treviso had won on the road in their domestic league at both Ulster and Glasgow this season, but found themselves outgunned upfront and outpaced behind. Even so, their defence never leaked and they hit back to score two tries in the final six minutes.

Replacement hooker Franco Sbaraglini got the first and then replacement lock Gonzalo Padro ensured a good ending with his 80th minute touchdown.

The bonus point victory took Saracens to the top of Pool 5 and they will travel to face Biarritz Olympique next weekend, while Benetton Treviso's second round assignment is at home against the Ospreys.

C Wyles, D Strettle, O Farrell, B Barritt, J Short, C Hodgson, N de Kock, R Gill, S Brits, M Stevens, S Borthwick [C], H Smith, K Brown, A Saull, E Joubert BENCH: J Smit, D Carstens, C Nieto, G Kruis, J Melck, B Spencer, A Powell, A Goode

SCORERS T: Farrell, Strettle, Wyles, Joubert, Smit C: Farrell (4) P: Farrell (3) Schalk Brits

L Nitoglia, B de Jager, T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi, B Williams, W de Waal, F Semenzato, M Rizzo, D Vidal, L Cittadini, A Pavanello [C], C van Zyl, B Vermaak , A Zanni, R Barbieri BENCH: F Sbaraglini, I Fernandez Rouyet, P di Santo, V Bernabo, G Padrò, M Vosawai, K Burton, T Botes

SCORERS T: Sbaraglini, Padro C: de Waal (2) P: de Waal Diego Vidal

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

 

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POOL 6

HARLEQUINS 25 - 17 CONNACHT RUGBY

THE TWICKENHAM STOOP - 11 November 2011
KO: 20:00 HT: 19-10 Att: 11,856

HARLEQUINS took their impressive domestic form on to the European stage as they began their Heineken Cup campaign with yet another win, although this one was in the balance until the final whistle.

The English premiership leaders made it 11 victories from 11 attempts this season to spoil Connacht's Heineken Cup debut at the Twickenham Stoop.

The Irish province gave a hugely positive account of themselves after stepping up to the big time following 15 years in the Amlin Challenge Cup but Quins did just enough to secure a hard-fought 25-17 triumph in Pool 6.

The reigning Amlin Challenge Cup Champions needed two late penalties from the reliable boot of Nick Evans to finally end Connacht's dogged defiance in south west London.

Evans struck his sixth and seventh successful kicks at goal in the 77th and 79th minutes to hand Quins a valuable four match points after Conor O'Shea's side had been outscored by two tries to one.

Evans kicked Quins into a 6-3 led before the game was 10 minutes old but it was Connacht who struck first as far as tries were concerned.

Eoin Griffith's inside step on the edge of the 22 created a two-on-one for the visitors, with Tiernan O'Halloran on hand to claim Connacht's opening Heineken Cup try.

Miah Nikora added the conversion to his seventh-minute penalty and Connacht were 10-6 to the good as the game reached the quarter-of-an-hour mark.

Eric Elwood's men enjoyed plenty of possession and a fair share of territory for the remainder of the half but Quins were the only team to add to their tally before the break.

A third penalty from Evans was followed by a well-taken try from halfback partner Karl Dickson with 31 minutes gone. The former Bedford Blues No9 burrowed over from close range after Jordan Turner Hall had twice been involved in a patient build up.

Evans completed the seven-point score from wide on the left as he made amends for a penalty miss 10 minutes earlier.

The Kiwi fly-half then ensured the hosts finished the half two scores clear as Connacht were punished for a high tackle on the ever-industrious Chris Robshaw.

If the Quins faithful expected their side to run away with things in the second period, they were left disappointed, with Connacht ensuring the final 40 minutes were an even tighter affair as they worked their way back to within touching distance of a famous success.

Quins prop and Heineken Man of the Match Joe Marler saw a try ruled out for a truck and trailer offence on 49 minutes before Gavin Duffy narrowed the gap with a fine score for Connacht. The Ireland full back marked another return to his old stomping ground with a 25-metre sprint to the line following a superb cut-out pass from replacement fly-half Niall O'Connor.

O'Connor calmly slotted the extras to make it a two-point ball game and create an unwanted nervy final quarter as far as the Quins faithful were concerned, but just as the smell of an upset began to surround the Stoop, Evans produced his usual heroics to mark his team's 50th Heineken Cup appearance with what could prove to their most important win of the term so far.

M Brown, S Stegmann, G Lowe (B Urdapilleta 34), J Turner-Hall, S Smith, N Evans, K Dickson (D Care 50), J Marler, C Brooker (J Gray 59), J Johnston, O Kohn (T Vallejos 14), G Robson, M Faasavalu (L Wallace 72), C Robshaw [C], N Easter

SCORERS T: K Dickson C: N Evans P: N Evans (6)

G Duffy [C], B Tuohy, E Griffin, D McSharry (H Fa'afili 65), T O'Halloran, M Nikora (N O'Connor 46), P O'Donohoe (F Murphy 54), B Wilkinson, A Flavin (E Reynecke 54), R Ah You (D Rogers 54), M Swift, M McCarthy, J Muldoon, R Ofisa (T Anderson 27), G Naoupu

SCORERS T: G Duffy, T O'Halloran C: N O'Connor, M Nikora P: M Nikora

Match Points: Harlequins 4pts, Connacht Rugby 0pts
Man of the Match: J Marler (Harlequins)
Referee: Jerome Garces (France)

 

TOULOUSE 21 - 17 GLOUCESTER RUGBY

STADE ERNEST WALLON - 13 November 2011
KO: 16:00 HT: 9-6

FORMER Heineken Cup Champions Toulouse were made to work hard for an opening victory in this year's tournament, having to come from behind twice to beat a passionate Gloucester side.

The Cherry and Whites held the lead for long periods of the game, but clinical finishing from the hosts saw them claim a tight 21-17 victory.

Freddie Burns kicked Gloucester ahead with a penalty after 12 minutes and the English side then silenced the crowd in the south of France by extending that lead with a try from Charlie Sharples which Burns also converted.

It looked like Gloucester would head into the break with a ten point lead but eight points in five minutes from Toulouse dragged them back into contention.

First Luke McAlister kicked over a penalty and then Timoci Matanavou touched down right before the interval.

Gloucester lost Scotland back-row Alasdair Strokosch to the sin-bin on 50minutes and in his absence Toulouse took the lead with a second McAlister penalty.

Replacement Lionel Beauxis kicked them further ahead before Gloucester again forced their way back in front with a stunning try from speedster Henry Trinder.

Just when a famous victory looked on the cards for the visitors, Toulouse dug deep and Clement Poitrenaud saved the day with a try six minutes from time.

C Poitrenaud, T Matanavou, Y David , F Fritz, Y Donguy, L McAlister, L Burgess, J Poux, G Botha, C Johnston, Y Maestri, R Millo-Chluski, Y Nyanga [C], S Nicolas, S Sowerby BENCH: W Servat, Y Montes, J Falefa, G Lamboley, N Vergallo, Y Jauzion, L Beauxis, G Galan

SCORERS T: Matanavou, Poitrenaud C: Beauxis P: McAlister (2), Beauxis

O Morgan, C Sharples, H Trinder, M Tindall, T Voyce, F Burns, R Lawson, N Wood, D Dawiduik, R Harden, W James, J Hamilton, P Buxton [C], A Qera, A Strokosch BENCH: S Lawson, D Murphy, D Chistolini, T Savage, L Narraway, D Lewis, T Taylor, J May

SCORERS T: Sharples, Trinder C: Burns (2) P: Burns Alasdair Strokosch

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland) 

 

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HEINEKEN CUP 2011/12 DATES

ROUND 1
FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2011
Pool 2 Pool 6	Racing Métro 92 v Cardiff Blues Harlequins v Connacht Rugby	21.00 20.00
SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2011
Pool 1 Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3 Pool 4 Pool 4 Pool 5	Scarlets v Castres Olympique Munster v Northampton Saints London Irish v Edinburgh Montpellier v Leinster (Stade de la Mosson) Aironi Rugby v Leicester Tigers Ulster Rugby v ASM Clermont Auvergne           Ospreys v Biarritz Olympique	15.00 18.00 13.30 14.30 14.30 15.40 15.40
SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2011
Pool 3 Pool 5 Pool 6	Glasgow Warriors v Bath Rugby Saracens v Benetton Treviso Toulouse v Gloucester Rugby	12.45 15.00 16.00
ROUND 2
FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2011
Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 2 Pool 4	Northampton Saints v Scarlets Cardiff Blues v London Irish Edinburgh v Racing Métro 92 ASM Clermont Auvergne v Aironi Rugby	20.00 20.00 20.00 21.00
SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2011
Pool 1 Pool 4 Pool 5 Pool 5 Pool 6 Pool 6	Castres Olympique v Munster Leicester Tigers v Ulster Rugby Biarritz Olympique v Saracens Benetton Treviso v Ospreys Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins Connacht Rugby v Toulouse	16.40 18.00 14.30 14.30 15.40 18.00
SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2011
Pool 3 Pool 3	Leinster v Glasgow Warriors Bath Rugby v Montpellier	12.45 15.00
ROUND 3
FRIDAY 9 DECEMBER 2011
Pool 2 Pool 4 Pool 6	Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh Ulster Rugby v Aironi Rugby Harlequins v Toulouse	20.00 19.30 20.00
SATURDAY 10 DECEMBER 2011
Pool 1 Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 5 Pool 5 Pool 6	Scarlets v Munster Castres Olympique v Northampton Saints Racing Métro 92 v London Irish Benetton Treviso v Biarritz Olympique Saracens v Ospreys (Wembley Stadium) Connacht Rugby v Gloucester Rugby	15.40 14.30 16.40 14.30 18.00 13.30
SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER 2011
Pool 3 Pool 3 Pool 4	Glasgow Warriors v Montpellier Bath Rugby v Leinster ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leicester Tigers	12.45 12.45 16.00
ROUND 4
FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER 2011
Pool 2 Pool 5 Pool 5	Edinburgh v Cardiff Blues Ospreys v Saracens Biarritz Olympique v Benetton Treviso	20.00 20.00 21.00
SATURDAY 17 DECEMBER 2011
Pool 2 Pool 3 Pool 3 Pool 4 Pool 4 Pool 6	London Irish v Racing Métro 92 Montpellier v Glasgow Warriors Leinster v Bath Rugby (Aviva Stadium) Leicester Tigers v ASM Clermont Auvergne Aironi Rugby v Ulster Rugby Gloucester Rugby v Connacht Rugby	15.00 16.40 18.00 13.30 14.30 15.40
SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER 2011
Pool 1 Pool 1 Pool 6	Munster v Scarlets Northampton Saints v Castres Olympique Toulouse v Harlequins (Le Stadium)	12.45 15.00 16.00
ROUND 5
FRIDAY 13 JANUARY 2012
Pool 4 Pool 5 Pool 2	Ulster Rugby vs Leicester Tigers Ospreys vs Benetton Treviso Racing Métro 92 vs Edinburgh	20:00 20:00 21:00
SATURDAY 14 JANUARY 2012
Pool 1 Pool 4 Pool 3 Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 6 Pool 6	Scarlets vs Northampton Saints Aironi Rugby vs Clermont Auvergne Montpellier vs Bath Rugby Munster vs Castres Olympique London Irish vs Cardiff Blues Toulouse vs Connacht Rugby Harlequins vs Gloucester Rugby	13:30 13:30 14:00 15:40 15:40 16:40 18:00
SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2012
Pool 3 Pool 5	Glasgow Warriors vs Leinster Saracens vs Biarritz Olympique	12:45 15:00
ROUND 6
FRIDAY 20 JANUARY 2012
Pool 6 Pool 6	Connacht Rugby vs Harlequins Gloucester Rugby vs Toulouse	20:00 20:00

SATURDAY 21 JANUARY 2012
Pool 3 Pool 3 Pool 4 Pool 4 Pool 1 Pool 1	Bath Rugby vs Glasgow Warriors Leinster vs Montpellier Leicester Tigers vs Aironi Rugby Clermont Auvergne vs Ulster Rugby Northampton Saints vs Munster Castres Olympique vs Scarlets	13:30 13:30 15:40 16:40 18:00 19:00

SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2012
Pool 5 Pool 5 Pool 2 Pool 2	Benetton Treviso vs Saracens Biarritz Olympique vs Ospreys Cardiff Blues vs Racing Métro 92 Edinburgh vs London Irish	14:00 14:00 15:15 15:15

QUARTER FINAL 6/7/8 April 2012

SEMI FINALS 27/28/29 April 2012

17th Heineken Cup Final | Twickenham Stadium | Saturday 19th May 2012 KO 5PM BST

 

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NEWS

Monday 31st October 2011

IT’S BACK – AND ALL EYES ON THE HEINEKEN CUP

THE rugby season is set to explode into life across Europe as the 17th Heineken Cup takes centre stage.

Europe’s finest will go into battle on the weekend of 11/12/13 November chasing the biggest prize in world club rugby, with all roads leading to the final at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, 19 May, 2012.

Leinster Rugby will be chasing a third title in the space of four seasons when the race to reach Twickenham kicks-off with the reigning champions travelling to face tournament new boys Montpellier in Pool 2.

The Irish provinces have scooped five titles in 16 years, and reached two other finals, and their numbers will be swelled to four for the first time this season with Connacht Rugby joining the champions, Munster Rugby and Ulster Rugby among the 24 elite teams.

But while the Irish will be seeking to continue their Heineken Cup success story, history shows that Twickenham finals produce English winners.

No pressure, therefore, on Bath Rugby, Gloucester Rugby, Harlequins, Leicester Tigers, London Irish, Northampton Saints and Saracens to maintain a sequence that began with the Saints’ victory over Munster at the 2000 Heineken Cup final.

That was the first of three finals at Twickenham Stadium, with London Wasps winning the next two in 2004 and 2007. The Wasps stung Toulouse in 2004 and then beat Leicester Tigers in the first all-England Heineken Cup final three years later.

But while all roads in Europe will lead to the home of English rugby next May, the route will take in a few extra miles as reigning Premiership champions Saracens break new ground by taking their Round 5 clash with Biarritz Olympique in Pool 5 in January to Cape Town.

"The Heineken Cup is really important to us," said Director of Rugby, Mark McCall. "We want to do better than we did in Europe last season. We had an incredibly difficult group but it was a very important experience for us."

 

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Wednesday 20th July 2011

LEINSTER will launch the defence of their Heineken Cup crown with an away trip to Montpellier in Round 1 on Saturday, 12 November, with the French tournament debutants taking the match to Stade de la Mosson, the 32,900-capacity home of League 1 football club Montpellier HSC.

Leinster will also play a fourth tournament match at the Aviva Stadium when they meet Bath Rugby in Round 4 on Saturday, 17 December. The champions have won all three previous games staged at the home of Irish rugby beating ASM Clermont Auvergne in a Pool match and Leicester Tigers and Toulouse in the knock-out stages last season on the way to their second Heineken Cup crown in three seasons.

ERC, the tournament organisers, today announced the fixtures, dates, kick-off times and host broadcasters for the opening four rounds of the 2011/2012 tournament.

English champions Saracens – who will welcome South Africa’s 2007 World Cup winning captain John Smit to the club in the autumn – will take their Round 3 clash with the Ospreys on Saturday, 10 December to London’s Wembley Stadium.

Connacht Rugby, who join Montpellier in making their Heineken Cup debut this season, will meet Amlin Challenge Cup holders Harlequins in Pool 6 on Friday, 11 November - the opening night of the 17th season of elite European club rugby action - before welcoming four-time champions Toulouse to Galway in Round 2 on Saturday, 19 November.

Harlequins face a tough away trip in Round 4 when they take on Toulouse at Le Stadium on Sunday, 18 December.

Northampton Saints, the 2011 finalists, will also be on the road in Round 1 as they travel to Thomond Park to meet the 2006 and 2008 Heineken Cup winners, Munster in Pool 1.

Aironi Rugby, the Italian franchise set for their second season in the competition, will have home advantage when they host former double champions Leicester Tigers at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella on the opening Saturday. 

 

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Tuesday 7th June 2011

THE draw for the 17th season of the Heineken Cup was made at Twickenham Stadium today with the seven English clubs targeting a return to the home of English rugby when the final is played in late May, 2012.

And London Irish Director of Rugby Toby Booth believes their Pool 2 opponents Cardiff Blues, Edinburgh and Racing Métro 92 will prove the perfect mix of fresh challenges as they chase European glory.

“It is great to be facing sides we have never played before in Europe and that is the magic of the competition,” he said.

“Last year we were in the so-called Pool of Death while this time around we have been drawn in the Pool of Attack.

“Last year’s experience will benefit us this time around and we are licking our lips at what lies ahead.

“It is Heineken Cup folklore but it is true, we must win our home games and try and pick up points away from home. It is going to be a frantic start to the season but we are up for the challenge and want to go one step further than last year.”

The French challenge comes in the shape of Racing Métro 92, who are relatively new to the European top flight, and their coach Simon Mannix accepts that while last season they were in the toughest pool of the lot things are not much better this time around.

“We have to look at this draw as a great opportunity for us to explore new territory against a very strong London Irish side and teams from two other countries we have never played before.

“We are still a very young side in terms of European experience – this will be only our third season in any European competition – but a great part of the Heineken Cup is seeing how other clubs from other countries play the game, so we are really looking forward to coming up against Cardiff Blues and Edinburgh as the first sides we have faced from either Wales or Scotland.

“Last season we were in probably the toughest pool but the experience we got from playing against Leinster, Saracens and Clermont, will stand us in good stead and we are really looking forward to the opportunity of playing against some of the best teams in Europe.”

Heineken Cup newcomers Connacht Rugby are up against the most successful club in the history of the tournament, but welcomed Toulouse as Pool 6 opponents. “This is an absolute dream draw for us in our first season in the Heineken Cup – mighty Toulouse will be coming to Galway, you could not have asked for anything better,” said Director of Rugby, Eric Elwood.

“The Heineken Cup is the best club competition is Europe and we have been drawn with three fantastic teams, although it might have been nice to have a break from playing Harlequins and coming up against my good friends Conor O’Shea and John Kingston yet again.

“We have played Gloucester in a pre-season friendly in the past and while these three teams present great challenges we also see it as a great opportunity now that we are finally in the Heineken Cup.”

Reigning Amlin Challenge Cup Champions Harlequins are relishing being back in the top flight with Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea echoing Elwood’s sentiments about going head-to-head yet again.

“This is what the players and supporters wanted – to be back in the Heineken Cup and playing against the best teams.

“It was great winning the Amlin Challenge Cup last season and the experiences of beating London Wasps, Munster and Stade Français Paris in the knock-out stages will stand us in good stead on our return to the Heineken Cup.

“Connacht are old favourites with us and we played them in the Pool stages last year and know just how tough it is to go to Galway.

“We know Gloucester very well and how difficult they are to beat, and Toulouse are the aristocrats of European rugby, they boast the best record of any side in the tournament and it will be fantastic to face them again.”

The two Scottish teams both face English and French opposition in their groups, with new Edinburgh head coach Michael Bradley declaring:“We’re happy with the draw in the sense that the sides that we’ve been drawn against sides which all present winnable opportunities.

“I suspect this group will be very tight. The timing of the matches – who we play and when we play – is going to be very important but the overriding impression is that this is a group that Edinburgh could do well in.”

Meanwhile Glasgow Warriors head coach Sean Lineen said, “We have three challenging teams in this draw however the boys are excited because these are three good teams to measure yourself against.

“Leinster are the current holders of the Heineken Cup and they bring an all encompassing physicality to the competition. Montpellier are a great team who really like to play rugby and Bath have quality players right through their setup.

“We are up against three giants of the game really, but we want to play against the best and get three home wins first and foremost!”

Aironi Rugby go into their second season in Europe up against former double winners Leicester Tigers with coach Rowland Phillips insisting that the Italian franchise will have learnt from their lessons in the top flight last season.

“It is an extremely tough pool – Leicester and Ulster are both former champions – but whichever three teams you draw in the Heineken Cup, you are up against huge sides and that is the great attraction of the tournament for us.

“We had our moment against Biarritz last season and our aim is to build on what we have learnt and enhance the reputation of Aironi.

“We did play Leicester Tigers as Viadana in the 2009/10 season and this time we are in with three huge teams and the interest they generate in Italy will be enormous.

“The Heineken Cup is a pretty unforgiving competition and you just have to look at some of the proven European sides who failed to get out of the Pools last time to see the task we face trying to progress.

“However we are just delighted to be playing against three top teams and measure how we are developing.”

The Scarlets, one of three Welsh regions in the tournament have 2011 Heineken Cup finalists Northampton Saints in their Pool and head coach Nigel Davies is targeting the home ties as his first priority.

“The key thing to getting out of this group is winning at home, we realised that last season and we just slipped up against Leicester. I don’t think any of the teams in the Pool will be happy, but we will all think we are good enough to beat each other.

“One thing is for sure, there won’t be two teams qualifying out of this Pool, I firmly believe the talent we have developed is good enough to compete at this level, but the players have to believe in themselves.

“We know all about Munster and Northampton Saints obviously reached the final last season. And we know from years of travelling to France that going to Castres will be very difficult. It is going to be very challenging for us, but I think we are going to improve from last season.”

2011/12 HEINEKEN CUP POOL DRAW

Pool 1: Munster, Northampton Saints, Scarlets, Castres
Pool 2: Cardiff Blues, London Irish, Edinburgh, Racing Métro 92
Pool 3: Leinster, Bath Rugby, Glasgow Warriors, Montpellier
Pool 4: Leicester Tigers, Clermont Auvergne, Ulster, Aironi
Pool 5: Biarritz Olympique, Ospreys, Saracens, Benetton Treviso
Pool 6: Toulouse, Harlequins, Gloucester, Connacht.

 

 

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*Selected match reports © 2011 ERC