Tag: Rugby

Bath’s Freddie Burns gifted Toulouse victory in the Champions Cup after the four-time champions secured a narrow 22-20 triumph at the Rec.

The West Countrymen were two points in arrears going into the latter stages, but the hosts appeared set to win when Burns strolled over the line, only for the full-back to have the ball knocked out of his hand when already celebrating.

Todd Blackadder’s men had enjoyed a positive first half-hour, going 17-7 in front via Jamie Roberts and Burns tries, but Les Rouge et Noir kept themselves in the contest at the break.

Sofiane Guitoune crossed the whitewash, to go with Maxime Medard’s earlier effort, as they gave themselves hope heading into the final 40 minutes.

Burns and Thomas Ramos traded penalties at the start of the second period, but Guitoune took Toulouse in front with 18 minutes remaining.

Bath then had several opportunities to win the game but Burns missed a late kick – his third of the contest – before the full-back’s embarrassing moment cost his side at the end.

The West Countrymen have struggled to make an impact in Europe’s top-tier competition over recent times and they will rue this missed opportunity.

They opened the scoring through Burns but Les Rouge et Noir hit back after the full-back was turned over at the breakdown. There was plenty of space on the left and the visitors eventually took advantage when good hands sent Medard across the whitewash.

Unperturbed, the hosts upped the intensity and started to go slightly more direct. Dave Attwood provided the thrust and, with the opposition defence in reverse, Roberts took a neat line to score.

Bath were now very much in the ascendency and touched down for the second time when Jackson Willison and Henry Thomas combined. The ball was shifted wide and Burns brilliantly shrugged off the attentions of two tacklers to finish.

Cheslin Kolbe was one of those who failed to stop the full-back, but the recently capped South African international gained his revenge by creating Guitoune’s try after stepping inside two defenders and passing to the centre.

That meant Toulouse went into the interval just five points in arrears but they were dealt a blow following Jerome Kaino’s yellow card for a high tackle.

Ugo Mola’s men handled the sin-bin period well, however, despite the West Countrymen managing to extend their advantage through another Burns three-pointer.

They were duly rewarded for their efforts during Kaino’s time off the field when Tom Ellis was also yellow carded for dangerously sending Rynhardt Elstadt beyond the horizontal.

Unlike Bath, who failed to benefit from the opposition being down to 14, the visitors scored 10 points while Ellis was absent. Ramos initially reduced the arrears from the tee before the French outfit moved ahead through Guitoune’s well-taken try.

Confidence was high in the Toulouse ranks but they bizarrely looked to move the ball from deep and it invited pressure.

It meant Blackadder’s charges could go in search of the winning points and the hosts thought they had it, but Burns’ mistakes meant they had to settle for just a losing bonus-point.

The scorers:

For Bath:
Tries: Roberts, Burns
Cons: Burns 2
Pens: Burns 2
Yellow Card: Ellis

For Toulouse:
Tries: Medard, Guitoune 2
Cons: Ramos 2
Pen: Ramos
Yellow Card: Kaino

Bath: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Darren Atkins, 10 Rhys Priestland (c), 9 Chris Cook, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Max Green, 22 Max Wright, 23 Tom Homer

Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Francois Cros (c), 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Lucas Pointud
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Clément Castets, 18 Maks Van Dyk, 19 Pierre Gayraud, 20 Selevasio Tolofua, 21 Louis Madaule, 22 Antoine Dupont, 23 Romain Ntamack

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Eddie Hogan-O’Connell (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

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Check out the video highlights from Round Nine of the Mitre 10 Cup.

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Ulster kicked off their Champions Cup campaign with a hard-fought 24-10 victory over Leicester Tigers in their clash at Kingspan Stadium.

Crossings from Alan O’Connor, Will Addison and Jacob Stockdale sealed an opening pool win, with John Cooney adding nine points off the tee.

Leicester headed into the interval leading by a slender three-point margin in a low-scoring half of rugby, which ended 3-0 in tough conditions.

George Ford fired over that penalty in the 15th minute after Tigers had weathered an early sustained period of pressure from the home side.

The England fly-half however would soon find himself heading to the sin-bin after making a high tackle on Ulster full-back Michael Lowry. Fortunately for Ford his absence did not yield any points against his side, as it remained 3-0 to Leicester when he returned on 32 minutes.

In fact the scoreline would not be altered before half-time, despite an Ulster surge on 35 minutes and then Ford’s charged down drop-goal.

Things improved and quickly in the second period for Ulster when lock O’Connor finished well from close range after a line-out move. That was converted by Cooney and one minute later they thought they had scored again, but Iain Henderson’s try was denied due to a forward pass.

Leicester, 7-3 down, went in search of a response and on 51 minutes they had a chance five metres out until a crooked line-out foiled them.

Ulster however made no such mistake as just before the hour mark centre Addison ran hard and straight and with Cooney’s extras it was 14-3.

Cooney made it 17-3 with 11 minutes left before a wonderful pass from McCloskey sent Stockdale over to leave Ulster needing one more try for the bonus point.

But it was Leicester who would have the final say, Manu Tuilagi sliding over in the wet for a morale-boosting score, with the game ending in entertaining fashion.

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: O’Connor, Addison, Stockdale
Cons: Cooney 3
Pen: Cooney

For Leicester:
Try: Tuilagi
Con: Ford
Pen: Ford

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Ross Kane, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Angus Kernohan

Leicester Tigers: 15 Jonah Holmes, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jordan Olowofela, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Guy Thompson, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 David Fe’ao, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Sam Lewis, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Gareth Owen

Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
Television match official: Eric Gauzins (France)

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

POOL 1

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

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

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

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

POOL 2

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

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

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

POOL 3

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

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

POOL 4

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

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

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

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

POOL 5

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

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

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

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

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Racing 92 claimed a smash and grab 14-13 come-from-behind victory over the Scarlets in Champions Cup action at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

Racing 92 bossed the first-half, enjoying 64 percent territory and 60 percent possession, but it was actually Scarlets who led for 29 minutes of the first stanza after Leigh Halfpenny’s 10th minute penalty.

Scarlets were having to make twice the number of tackles as their opponents with a tackle efficiency of 84 percent compared to their opponents’ 95, while Racing made double the amount of metres as Scarlets.

And just when it looked as if Scarlets may hold on until the half-time whistle, Racing scrum-half Xavier Chauveau dummied and offloaded for Baptiste Chouzenoux, who had run an excellent support line to dot down. Fly-half Finn Russell gave the visitors a 7-3 lead going into the interval.

But 12 minutes into the second-half, the Scarlets began to turn the screw at the scrum and scrum-half Gareth Davies produced a moment of magic with a brilliant blindside sniping break from the back of the set-piece to dot down for an 8-7 lead.

Five minutes later, Scarlets had their second and it was a superb team try. The initial break and offload from Hadleigh Parkes got it all started before Jonathan Davies’ excellent grubber kick was well finished by Johnny McNicholl. However, once again Scarlets fly-half Angus O’Brien failed to convert his second successive conversion which meant it was still just a six-point lead.

Having kept themselves in the game up until four minutes to go, a line-out drive ensured Racing would sneak it as they were awarded the penalty try while scrum-half Davies was yellow-carded for bringing down the maul.

And so the away side would hold on for somewhat of a smash and grab 14-13 victory when it looked for all money that Scarlets’ second-half turnaround would open their Champions Cup account with a win.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Davies, McNicholl
Pen: Halfpenny

For Racing 92:
Tries: Chouzenoux, Penalty Try
Con: Russell

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Tom Price, 20 Joshua Macleod, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Paul Asquith

Racing 92: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Olivier Klemenczak, 12 Henry Chavancy (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Xavier Chauveau, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Dominic Bird, 20 Boris Palu, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Virimi Vakatawa

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Jonathan Healy (England)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

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Montpellier started their Champions Cup campaign with a narrow and unconvincing 21-15 triumph over a gallant Edinburgh at the GGL Stadium.

Vern Cotter’s charges controlled much of the opening period and deserved the 21-10 lead given to them by Henry Immelman, Benjamin Fall and Gabriel Ngandebe tries.

The Scots responded via Stuart McInally’s score and Simon Hickey’s penalty before Dougie Fife reduced the deficit to six points going into the latter stages.

Edinburgh were the better side in the final quarter but they could not fashion the chance that would win them the match as Montpellier held on.

Despite impressing domestically last season, the Frenchmen struggled in Europe and were ousted at the group stage, but they opened this encounter determined to right those wrongs.

Cotter’s men started on the front foot with Ruan Pienaar, in the unfamiliar position of fly-half, directing operations well. The former South African international spotted space in the opposition defence, drew the would-be tackler and sent Immelman over the line.

To the visitors’ credit, they responded excellently and created a superb try. It was instigated by a wonderful Viliame Mata off-load before Henry Pyrgos went surging towards the line. Although the scrum-half was hauled down, McInally was on hand to pick up and touch down from close range to level matters.

Richard Cockerill’s team were playing some good rugby but they were to be undone by two errors. The first came in defence as a couple of missed tackles allowed Fall to go scampering down the right to score before a turnover meant Montpellier could attack once more.

Excellent pace and hands from Nico Janse van Rensburg got the hosts towards the 22 and Pienaar’s cross-field kick was collected and finished by Ngandebe. That gave the home side a comfortable lead at the break, despite Hickey reducing the arrears at the break from the tee.

However, Cockerill’s side began the second period in the ascendency and, under pressure, the Top 14 outfit infringed one too many times, which led to a yellow card for Bismarck du Plessis.

Although Edinburgh were initially unable to take advantage, just before Du Plessis returned they managed to give themselves hope when Mata powered through a tackle and off-loaded for Fife to score.

Montpellier were now struggling for continuity and the visitors pressed in the final 10 minutes for the winning try, but the Frenchmen managed to hold out and secure a crucial victory.

The scorers:

For Montpellier:
Tries: Immelman, Fall, Ngandebe
Cons: Pienaar 3
Yellow Card: B Du Plessis

For Edinburgh:
Tries: McInally, Fife
Con: Hickey
Pen: Hickey

Montpellier: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Vincent Martin, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Gabriel Ngandebe, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Enzo Sanga, 8 Louis Picamoles (c), 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Grégory Fichten, 18 Antoine Guillamon, 19 Kevin Kornath, 20 Kelian Galletier, 21 Julien Tomas, 22 Yvan Reilhac, 23 Alexandre Dumoulin

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Dougie Fife, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Luke Hamilton, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Chris Dean

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

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Lyon’s debut in the Champions Cup ended in disappointment as Cardiff Blues secured a superb 30-21 triumph at the Matmut Stadium de Gerland.

The Top 14 outfit began brightly and went 10-0 ahead through Loann Goujon’s try and Lionel Beauxis’ penalty, but the Blues responded via Olly Robinson and Tomos Williams.

Although the hosts were back in front by the interval via the boot of Beauxis, Gareth Anscombe restored the visitors’ lead in the initial stages of the second half.

Anscombe then added a three-pointer before the full-back effectively completed the win with a fine individual score as they opened Pool 3 in outstanding fashion.

Lyon are an improving outfit in France and they crossed late on through Quentin Delord, but they failed to claim a losing bonus-point after Anscombe’s penalty in the final minute.

Despite the end result, the home side were dominant in the early exchanges with their forwards looking to move the point of contact, but it was mere power which did the trick for the first try.

The hosts set up a scrum and Goujon did well to keep hold of the ball and charge across the whitewash from close range for a 7-0 lead.

Mignoni’s men then kicked a penalty before the Welsh region got into the game and created an opportunity when Jason Harries broke through and off-loaded to Willis Halaholo.

Although that move broke down, the Frenchmen had been warned and they conceded as Williams sniped around the fringes and passed to Robinson, who touched down.

Having been stunned by that score, Lyon were determined to respond immediately but scrum-half Jean-Marc Doussain forced the pass and Ellis Jenkins intercepted. The openside did not have the pace to go all the way so he found the supporting Williams and the scrum-half finished well in the corner.

Unperturbed, Mignoni’s charges dominated the latter stages of the half and Beauxis took them back in front at the break from a couple more efforts off the tee.

However, John Mulvihill’s team began the second period on the front foot and deservedly regained their lead through Anscombe’s accuracy with the boot.

Lyon struggled for continuity after the break and it was Cardiff who were by the far the more assured side. Their full-back duly rewarded their control with a second three-pointer before the Wales international effectively secured the victory.

After receiving the ball, Anscombe set off on a mazy run and ended up going over without being challenged to give the Welsh region an 11-point advantage.

Despite being under pressure late on, the Blues held out defensively until Delord touched down in the final two minutes, but it was too late as Anscombe completed the visitors’ victory from the tee.

The scorers:

For Lyon:
Tries: Goujon, Delord
Con: Beauxis
Pens: Beauxis 3

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Robinson, T Williams, Anscombe
Cons: Anscombe 3
Pens: Anscombe 3

Lyon: 15 Charlie Ngatai, 14 Toby Arnold, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Thibaut Regard, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Loann Goujon, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Julien Puricelli (c), 5 Hendrik Roodt, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Mickael Ivaldi, 1 Alexandre Menini
Replacements: 16 Jeremie Maurouard, 17 Raphael Chaume, 18 Clément Ric, 19 Manuel Carizza, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Dylan Cretin, 22 Quentin Delord, 23 Pierre-Louis Barassi

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Olly Robinson, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 Macauley Cook, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Samu Manoa, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rey Lee-Lo, 23 Aled Summerhill

Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Ian Tempest (England), Wayne Falla (England)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)

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A weakened Newcastle Falcons did what only one other side has done in Europe’s top-tier competition and beat Toulon at the Stade Mayol, winning 26-25.

It was a remarkable performance from the visitors, who went into the interval ahead despite being 10-0 behind early on via Romain Taofifenua’s try and Francois Trinh-Duc’s three-pointer.

Joel Hodgson began the comeback from the tee before Kyle Cooper crossed the whitewash to level matters at the end of the opening quarter. Hodgson then added successive penalties for a six-point buffer but Raphael Lakafia’s effort reduced the deficit at the break.

A penalty try then extended the Falcons’ lead but Guilhem Guirado’s try and Trinh-Duc’s three-pointer took Patrice Collazo’s charges ahead.

They appeared set to scrape their way to an unconvincing triumph but Hodgson’s late effort off the tee won a dramatic encounter, leaving the Mayol stunned.

Dean Richards named a weakened side for this encounter but, despite an awful start, which saw Taofifenua charge down Michael Young’s attempted box-kick and score, the visitors, who are bottom of the Premiership, were exceptional from thereon in.

They did concede next when Trinh-Duc kicked a penalty but the Englishmen grew into the contest and reduced the arrears as Hodgson was on target from the tee.

The Falcons were playing some impressive rugby and were earning plenty of territory from an ill-disciplined Toulon side. Johnny Williams was physical in midfield and Sinoti Sinoti was his usual electric self, but the hard work was done up front and, after a series of phases inside the opposition 22, Cooper burrowed across the line.

Newcastle maintained their pressure on the hosts and Hodgson kicked them in front for the first time in the match.

With the French outfit conceding penalties regularly, it gave their fly-half another opportunity from the tee and he was in no mood to miss, bisecting the uprights for a 16-10 advantage after Jean-Baptiste Gros had been sin-binned.

Toulon were evidently frustrated but they responded well to being behind and scored when a rolling maul ended with Lakafia touching down.

It kept them in the contest going into the second period but the Tynesiders remained resilient and produced a brilliant move for Hodgson to go clear. He passed to wing Sinoti, who looked set to score until Daniel Ikpefan took him high, which led to a yellow card and penalty try.

Annoyed by that decision, with supporters and players arguing that there was obstruction in the build-up, they once again lifted the intensity and Guirado went over after Hodgson was sin-binned.

The Falcons were the team that were now making the mistakes and another infringement led to Trinh-Duc regaining the hosts’ lead.

However, the momentum changed once again when Richards’ men built pressure and it resulted in Julian Savea becoming the third Toulon player to be yellow carded.

With the home side down to 14 men, Newcastle put their opponents under further duress and Hodgson won the game from the tee with 10 minutes to go.

The scorers:

For Toulon:
Tries: R Taofifenua, Lakafia, Guirado
Cons: Trinh-Duc 2
Pens: Trinh-Duc 2
Yellow Cards: Gros, Ikpefan, Savea

For Newcastle:
Tries: Cooper, penalty try
Con: Hodgson
Pens: Hodgson 4
Yellow Card: Hodgson

The teams:

Toulon: 15 Daniel Ikpefan, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Anthony Belleau, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Eric Escande, 8 Raphael Lakafia (c), 7 Stephane Onambele, 6 Jean Monribot, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Swan Rebbadj, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Sébastien Taofifenua, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Malakai Fekitoa, 21 Hugo Bonneval, 22 Anthony Meric, 23 Florent Vanverberghe

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 Gary Graham, 6 Mark Wilson (c), 5 Glen Young, 4 Will Witty, 3 David Wilson, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Sami Mavinga
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Ryan Burrows, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Pedro Bettencourt

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Neil Patterson (Scotland)

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Gloucester returned to Champions Cup rugby after five years with a 19-14 victory over Castres at Kingsholm on Sunday afternoon.

Gloucester dominated the majority of the encounter but had to survive a late onslaught from the Top 14 side.

It was quite the contrast of styles from the outset with Gloucester intent on controlling possession, maintaining a high tempo and spreading the ball wide, while Castres were more prepared to go from one set-piece to another while playing around the fringes.

The home side dominated the early possession and went into the lead courtesy of Danny Cipriani penalty right in front with 10 minutes gone.

The hosts then dubiously had a try disallowed before Castres fly-half Julien Dumora restored parity on the scoreboard off the tee in the 16th minute.

Cherry and Whites pivot Cipriani was beginning to dictate matters with his little chip kicks behind the Castres defence beginning to cause havoc. Having gained the territorial ascendancy in this fashion, the hosts were being kept at bay by the Castres defence and came away with only three points for their endeavours to take a 6-3 lead after half-an-hour.

Castres hit back immediately with a cleverly-worked drop-goal from Dumora after a rare foray up field from the Top 14 side.

But soon afterwards, Gloucester had the first try of the game and deservedly so. After good work in the build-up from Charlie Sharples with a strong carry, Tom Marshall produced the moment of magic with a line break and final offload for Braley on his inside, who ran in under the posts. Cipriani converted for a 13-6 lead as the sides headed into the interval.

It was a more even battle for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but once again the Cherry and Whites took a more commanding grip on the game with another Cipriani penalty with 52 minutes gone.

The pressure was beginning to tell for Castres and it was a mystery as to how referee Marius Mitrea was not reaching for his pocket after another offside offence close to their own try-line gave Gloucester fly-half Cipriani an easy three-pointer for a 19-6 lead with 25 minutes to go.

However, two minutes later, the visitors were right back in it when Martin Laveau dotted down for a neat finish on the right-hand touchline after Woodward had erred by stepping out of the line too soon. Dumora would miss the conversion as it remained 19-11.

The visitors enjoyed the upper-hand throughout the encounter at scrum-time, while they were also winning more turnovers at the breakdown. This, however, only prevented Gloucester winning by a more comfortable advantage as they had the better in the territorial and possession stakes throughout.

Castres were rewarded for their dominance at the breakdown when Dumora made it a five-point deficit with the visitors right back in it with seven minutes to go.

But due to some brilliant defending on their own try-line and a couple of good turnovers, Gloucester managed to hold on for a precious 19-14 victory after a late scare from Castres side who grew more and more into the game.

The scorers:

For Gloucester:
Try: Braley
Con: Cipriani
Pens: Cipriani 4

For Castres:
Try: Laveau
Con: Dumora
Pens: Dumora 2

The teams:

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Tom Marshall, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan (c), 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Todd Gleave, 20 Matt Banahan, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Tom Hudson

Castres: 15 Armand Batlle, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 Taylor Paris, 10 Julien Dumora, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Baptiste Delaporte, 6 Mathieu Babillot (c), 5 Loic Jacquet, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Paea Fa’anunu, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Tudor Stroe
Replacements: 16 Paul Sauzaret, 17 Tapu Falatea, 18 Wilfrid Hounkpatin, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Yannick Caballero, 21 Yohan Le Bourhis, 22 David Smith, 23 Rory Kockott

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Television match official: Stefano Pennè (Italy)

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Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder says that the club will “rally behind” Freddie Burns after he potentially cost them victory against Toulouse in the Champions Cup.

The West Countrymen were 22-20 in arrears going into the final 10 minutes but had two opportunities to move back in front.

Both of them were spurned by the full-back when he missed a penalty in front of the posts before the 28-year-old, more embarrassingly, dropped the ball over the line having already started to celebrate.

Burns has since apologised on Twitter and Blackadder insists that the former Gloucester man will come back ready to perform.

“Freddie will be hurting, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “Now’s probably the time to rally behind him and support him.

“What’s done is done, you can’t take that back but what happens next is probably really important.

“He’ll take it on the chin but, as a group, this is where you need to support. We backed Freddie to perform today and he just made an error.

“That’s where often the greatest learning happens. He’ll be back on the horse for next week, ready to go (against Wasps), I’ve no doubt about that.”

Love this sport for the highs and the lows. Today was an ultimate low and a mistake I’ll learn from. I’ll continue to give my best as I always do. Lastly just apologies to the boys and the supporters for the mistake. I’ll bounce back… thanks for the support ??

— Freddie Burns (@FreddieBurns) October 13, 2018

Blackadder also believes that Burns’ error is symptomatic of the team at the moment after Tom Homer did something similar in the opening Premiership game of the campaign.

He added: “We did it against Bristol as well. We’re lacking that ruthless edge when you nail those points.

“I thought when the ball hit the post (from the penalty), obviously we could have taken the lead there, but we fought our way back into a position where we could have scored again.”

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