Ireland Sevens star Andrew Smith helped Connacht keep their Investec Champions Cup hopes alive as they beat 14-man Bristol and ended the visitors’ hopes in the competition.
Smith scored the fourth try in a 27-10 bonus-point victory at the Dexcom Stadium with Shayne Bolton, Jack Aungier and Caolin Blade having crossed earlier. Bristol were a man down for 67 minutes after Josh Caulfield’s dismissal for a stamp on the Ireland prop Finlay Bealham.
Connacht, looking for their first win of the campaign in their fourth game in Pool 1, got off to the perfect start when wing Bolton crossed with just seven minutes gone, and they were handed a further boost six minutes later when the Bristol lock Caulfield was sent off.
Fellow front-rower Aungier doubled the home side’s lead with 20 minutes gone and fly-half JJ Hanrahan added the conversion as the England prop Kyle Sinckler headed for the sin bin for an offence during the buildup. AJ MacGinty reduced the deficit with a penalty as Sinckler returned but the Irish province went in at the break leading 17-3 courtesy of scrum-half Blade’s jinking run.
Smith had an early second-half try ruled out for a toe in touch after a lengthy review but he was not to be denied and crossed the line after taking a pass from replacement fly-half Jack Carty’s to secure the bonus point.
Bristol earned a late consolation when Connacht collapsed a maul and conceded a penalty try.
Two tries apiece from Huw Jones and Kyle Rowe helped Glasgow to a 29-5 win over Toulon and into the last 16 of the competition. Franco Smith’s side had to win to guarantee their passage out of the pool stage and they landed five tries to get the job done with a bit to spare.
Toulon threatened a comeback when Gail Drean scored early in the second half but Glasgow hit back to win comfortably.
Glasgow welcomed back Kyle Steyn and Jack Dempsey from long-term injury and gave a first start to Max Williamson in the second row. A much changed Toulon selection saw the Scotland scrum-half Ben White rested, although the former Scotland back-row Cornell du Preez was named among the replacements.
Jones, restored to centre after a few games on the wing, created the opening try with a dart past the defence before setting up Rowe to score in the corner. Glasgow found their rhythm after a slow start and soon went over again. Jones was at the heart of it, the former Harlequins player taking a pass from fellow centre Sione Tuipulotu and accelerating over the line. George Horne, who had failed to convert Rowe’s try, made no mistake second time around to put Glasgow 12-0 in front at half-time.
Toulon had barely threatened as an attacking force but got themselves on the scoreboard early in the second half. Steyn did well to stop the first attack but the ball was recycled to Jérémy Sinzelle whose pass sent Drean scurrying over to score.
Glasgow’s dominance looked in danger but a third score eased the nerves around Scotstoun. Johnny Matthews, so often the scorer, instead looped a pass wide to McKay to walk in from close range. The home side made sure of the win – and secured a bonus point – with their fourth try shortly afterwards. Dempsey teed up Jones and he powered over in the corner before Rowe scored the fifth with the clock in the red.
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Gloucester made it four wins from four in EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 3 with a comprehensive 35-5 victory over Castres at Kingsholm. The Cherry and Whites had already qualified for the round of 16 but ran in four tries to secure a bonus-point win.
Seb Atkinson went over for an eighth-minute score converted by Adam Hastings, who added a penalty as the hosts went into the break 10-5 up, Josaia Raisuqe going over for the French side.
It was one-way traffic after the interval with tries from Freddie Clarke, Hastings and Albert Tuisue ensuring a comfortable night’s work for Gloucester. Hastings finished with 15 points from a try, two conversions and two penalties, while Santiago Carreras added a late conversion and penalty.
Edinburgh ran in five tries as they moved to the brink of qualification from the pool with a 31-19 win over Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets.
Ben Vellacott and WP Nel both went over in the first six minutes as the Scots raced into a 14-0 lead. Joe Roberts crossed to get Scarlets back into it but further Edinburgh scores from Duhan van der Merwe and Hamish Watson had the bonus point secured by half-time.
Pierre Schoeman put the result beyond doubt three minutes after the restart and – after Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist was shown a red card in the 72nd minute – Ryan Conbeer and a penalty try gave some respectability to the score for the home side, who have lost all four games to exit the competition.