Amlin Challenge Cup round-up

Lyon ended their first European campaign with a 21-13 victory over Newcastle Falcons.

Wing Mosese Ratuvou opened the scoring for the hosts with the game's first try and Welshman Lee Thomas added the extras with the boot to give Lyon an early 7-0 lead.

An impressive break from Mark Wilson set up field position for the visitors to reply with his break and Redford Pennycook darted clear from a ruck 25m out to touchdown.

Jimmy Gopperth slotted the conversion and then kicked the Falcons into the lead for the first time with a late first half penalty.

Gopperth had the first word of the second period as well kicking his side further another with another three points.

Lyon then responded with a penalty try converted by Romain Loursac and Laurent Tranier then came off the bench to cross for his side's third try to put them in a commanding position.

Pool 2
Petrarca Padova 6-50 Toulon

Toulon booked their place in the last eight of the Amlin Challenge Cup with a seven try victory over Petrarca Padova in Northern Italy.

The Pool 2 leaders opened the scoring with a Jonny Wilkinson penalty in the first minute and the former England star was soon lining up his next shot at goal as he converted Benjamin Lapeyere's try.

Alberto Chillon responded with a penalty for the hosts before Laurent Emmanuelli grabbed Toulon's second score.

Tim Walsh kicked a penalty for Padova before Fabien Cibray rounded off the first half scoring with Toulon's third try.

After the interval Lapeyere grabbed his second try and he was soon followed over the line by fellow wing Alexis Palisson.,

Julien Dumora converted, as he did with Gabi Lovobalavu's score and a late penalty try.

Pool 1
Banca Monte Crociati 13-26 Bucharest Wolves

Bucharest Wolves completed the double over Crociati with a bonus point victory in northern Italy.

Florin Surugiu opened the scoring for the visitors after four minutes with the game's first try and fly-half Florin Vlaicu added the extras with the boot.

The Romanian side then double their advantage after 20minutes with wing Marian Apostol touching down for their second try. There was still time for a third try from the visitors before the break with Surugiu grabbing his second try.

Crociati got off the mark early in the second period courtesy of a Marco Gennari penalty but the next score again went to Bucharest with Flavius Dobre grabbing his side's bonus-point try.

The hosts rounded off their European campaign with two late tries from Filippo Casalini and Carlo Festuccia but it was too late effect the final outcome.

Pool 4
Exeter Chiefs 31-14 Perpignan

Exeter Chiefs claimed an historic win over French giants Perpignan to seal a first ever European quarter-final.

The Devon club were playing in the second-flight of English domestic rugby in 2010 but have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround which culminated in the comfortable Amlin Challenge Cup triumph over the Catalan club.

Rob Baxter's men went into the Sandy Park clash knowing only a win would be enough to top Pool Four and advance into the knockout stages.

They passed their biggest test yet with flying colours but must wait until the outcome of tomorrow's clash between London Wasps and Bordeaux-Begles to learn if they have done enough to earn a home quarter-final.

The Chiefs made the worst possible start to the clash as Perpignan clinched early tries from Charles Geli and Joffrey Michel.

But home fly-half Ignacio Mieres chipped away at the visitors lead before Hayden Thomas touched down.
Brett Sturgess and James Phillips then crossed for crucial second-half tries to seal a memorable Sandy Park victory.

The Catalan giants made a perfect start at Sandy Park and grabbed the game's opening try after just two-minutes. It was an opportunist touchdown for the visitors with David Marty hacking through, after the ball popped out a ruck on the five-metre line, and then re-gathering before looping a perfect pass for Geli to score his second try in as many weeks.
Wales international, in his first European campaign with the French club, slotted the conversion to hand his side a swift 7-0 lead.

Perpignan doubled their advantage with a second try on eight minutes. The ball was spread wide to Joffrey Michel, who drew the defence while in his own half, kicked-through and out-paced the covering defence to dive on the ball in the nick of time. Again Hook was on target with the boot to make the scores 14-0.

Exeter hit-back with an Mieres penalty on 14 minutes and quickly added a second to close the gap further.

Perpignan were dealt a blow on 25 minutes when Robins Tchale-Watchou was sent to the sin-bin for failing to roll away from the ruck as referee John Lacey lost patience with the French side's penalty count.

Mieres kicked to the corner as the English side aimed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and their decision paid off when Thomas wriggled over following a driving lineout.

The Chiefs' Argentine fly-half stretched his faultless kicking display with the conversion to bring his side within a point of the Top 14 outfit.

Some magical footwork from try-scorer Thomas earned Exeter a penalty just before half-time and Mieres made no mistake to give his side a 16-14 lead.

Hook had the opportunity to boot Perpignan back into the lead early in the second-half but sliced the ball wide and it was Exeter who broke the deadlock thanks to Mieres' fourth penalty.

Exeter, with their tails up, raced clear for a crucial try on the hour-mark. The ball was spread wide and following quick-hands from Gonzalo Camacho and Kevin Barrett prop-forward Brett Sturgess surged down the wing to score.

Rob Baxter's men continued to exert pressure on shell-shocked Perpignan and took a major foot-hold on the game when replacement flanker Phillips sliced through the French side's defence after Gareth Steenson's penalty rebounded off the uprights.

Steenson dissected the posts to hand his side a commanding 31-14 lead.

Pool 4
Newport Gwent Dragons 45-16 I Cavalieri Prato

The Dragons ended their 2011/12 European campaign with a seven try triumph over Italian side I Cavalieri Prato.

It took the Dragons just four minutes to get off the mark as hooker Rhys Buckley crashed over from close range following a quick break from fly half Jason Tovey.

The lead was extended just minutes later as centre Adam Hughes touchdown followed by Aled Brew and Andy Tuilagi, the latter collecting the bonus-point score.

On the stroke of half-time Tovey ghosted through the Prato defence and enjoyed an unchallenged canter to the line for his side's fifth try of the game.

Prato came out fighting in the second half and were rewarded with a Alberto Chiesa try.

The Dragons then hit back with two tries of their own through Martyn Thomas and Lewis Robling to round off the victory whilst Prato claimed a late consolation but the result was never in doubt.

Pool 1
Stade Francais 33-10 Worcester Warriors

Stade Francais finished top of Pool 1 and eased into the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final courtesy of a 33-10 victory over Worcester Warriors on Saturday evening.

Last season's beaten finalists finish the group stage unbeaten and move into the knock-out rounds for the second successive season.

The visitors arrived in Paris knowing they could still clinch top spot and took an early lead through an Andy Goode penalty.

But the hosts struck straight back with a Paul Warwick try after eight minutes which Jules Plisson converted.

Captain Sergio Parisse grabbed his side's second before Morgan Turinui rounded off the first-half action with a converted score just before the break.

An Andy Goode try early in the second period gave Worcester hope but Stade came through with two more scores from Paul Sackey and Byron Kelleher to wrap up the bonus-point.