Edinburgh march into play-offs

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne claimed a club Challenge Cup record 28 points as Edinburgh advanced to their third European quarterfinal with a 38-20 triumph over Bordeaux-Begles in their Pool Four decider.

The home side were always in control at Murrayfield as Hidalgo-Clyne scored two tries in addition to kicking three conversions and four penalties.

Centre Matt Scott and prop WP Nel also got over the whitewash for Edinburgh as they eased into the last eight.

Baptiste Serin and replacement Pierre Bernard scored Bordeaux's tries, with the latter converting both, while France international Lionel Beauxis kicked two penalties as their campaign came to an end.

Bordeaux were playing their first game in Scotland, and they were facing a stiff test against an Edinburgh side unbeaten in six games at home.

Alan Solomons' men started positively, looking lively with ball in hand and enjoying an early edge in the forward exchanges.

Scotland squad member Hidalgo-Clyne knocked over an early penalty for Edinburgh but the hosts then wasted a gilt-edge chance to register an early try.Wing Dougie Fife burst through on the right flank and found David Denton in support, but the No.8's final pass to Hidalgo-Clyne was a poor one and the scrumhalf could not gather.

Beauxis made the most of the let-off by putting the French side on the board with a penalty. However, there was no reprieve for the visitors a few minutes later. A menacing rolling maul rumbled towards the line and Hidalgo-Clyne sniped down the blind side to fly over the line, before adding his second penalty for an 11-3 lead.

Beauxis and Hidalgo-Clyne exchanged penalties as the first half drew to a close, with the latter kicking another three-pointer upon the resumption to extend the Edinburgh lead to 11 points.

Bordeaux needed the next score to keep themselves in the game, but it went to the hosts. Prop Alasdair Dickinson set off for the line, and centre Scott got the ball down under a pile of bodies on the line, with Hidalgo-Clyne converting.

The French side hit back as Serin raced onto Bernard's clever grubber through to score and briefly re-ignite their hopes, but the Edinburgh response was emphatic.

Prop Nel slid over from close range for the hosts' third try and Hidalgo-Clyne rounded off his stellar night by taking advantage of some powerful forward carrying to slide over and become Edinburgh's highest scorer in a Challenge Cup match as he usurped Duncan Hodge's previous mark of 24.

Bernard got a consolation for Bordeaux as he profited from his own kick ahead, but it was far too late to have an impact on the outcome.

* Earlier Gloucester qualified as top seeds for the Challenge Cup quarterfinals after completing a scrappy win in Brive.

Matt Kvesic scored in either half to clinch a bonus point after Dan Robson crossed and a penalty try completed the 31-20 win. Gloucester had already secured top spot in Pool Five, but will now march into the last eight with a record equalling 29 points from 30 available.

The last time the Cherry & Whites won all six pool games in Europe and scored 29 match points, they went on to win this tournament in 2006.

* Oyonnax were left dreaming of what might have been had they nicked one more win, or notched a few bonus points, in Pool Five after ending up in the runners-up spot to Gloucester with only 16 points.

That is unlikely to give them one of the three best runners-up positions when the Challenge Cup pools close on Sunday, leaving them just short of qualification in their second season in Europe. With no bonus points from six games they were always on the back foot.

They managed to do the double of Zebre in a dour final game thanks to three tries.

Round Six so far!

Scorers and scorers:

Brive 20-31 Gloucester

The scorers:

For Brive:

Tries: Penalty, Acquier

Cons: Swanepoel, Bezy

Pens: Swanepoel 2

For Gloucester:

Tries: Kvesic 2, Robson, Penalty

Cons: Hook 4

Pen: Hook

Yellow cards: Patrick Barnard (Brive, 37), David Halaifonua (Gloucester, 41), Karlen Asieshvili (Brive, 41), James Hook (Gloucester, 57)

The teams:

Brive: 15 Romain Sola, 14 Venione Voretamaya, 13 Sevanaia Galala, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Guillaume Namy, 10 Nicolas Bézy, 9 Damien Neveu, 8 Fabien Laurent, 7 Said Hireche (captain), 6 Tjiuee Uanivi, 5 Russlan Boukerou, 4 Victor Lebas, 3 Patrick Barnard, 2 Louis Acosta, 1 Johannes Coetzee.

Replacements: 16 Thomas Acquier, 17 Karlen Asieshvili, 18 Anton Peikrishvili, 19 Simon Pinet, 20 Fabien Sanconnie, 21 Andrew Mailei, 22 Baptiste Delage, 23 Hugo Veyssiere.

Gloucester: 15 James Hook, 14 David Halaifonua, 13 Mark Atkinson, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Tom Savage, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 John Afoa, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Yann Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 James Hudson, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Bill Meakes, 23 Shane Monahan.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland); Shane Kierans (Ireland)

Oyonnax 20-3 Zebre

The scorers:

For Oyonnax:

Tries: Bousses, Ursache, Wannenburg

Con: Lespinas

Pen: Lespinas

For Zebre:

Pen: Orquera

Yellow cards: Valerio Bernabo (Zebre, 67), Andrea de Marchi (Zebre, 68)

The teams:

Oyonnax: 15 Florian Denos, 14 Maxime Le Bourhis, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Roimata Hansell Pune (captain), 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Regis Lespinas, 9 Fabien Cibray, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Valentin Ursache, 6 Guillaume Bernad, 5 Damien Lagrange, 4 Miroslav Nemecek, 3 Marc Clerc, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.

Replacements: 16 Paula Ngauamo, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Ruaan Du Preez, 19 Olivier Missoup, 20 Yohan Domenech, 21 Hemani Paea, 22 Dug Codjo, 23 Thibault Lassalle.

Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Giiulio Toniolatti , 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 George Biagi (captain), 3 Luca Redolfini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Matias Aguero.

Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea de Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Gullo Palazzani, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Leonardo Sarto.

Referee: Lloyd Lynton (Scotland)

Assistant referees: Peter Allan (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)

TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Edinburgh 38-20 Bordeaux-Begles

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:

Tries: Hidalgo-Clyne 2, Scott, Nel

Cons: Hidalgo-Clyne 3

Pens: Hidalgo-Clyne 4

For Bordeaux-Bègles:

Tries: Serin, Bernard

Cons: Bernard 2

Pens: Beauxis 2

Yellow cards: Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux-Bègles, 70), John Andress (Edinburgh, 70)

Edinburgh: 15 Neil McLennan, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 David Denton, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson

Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 John Andress, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jade Te Rure, 23 Andries Strauss

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15 Baptiste Serin (captain), 14 Lévi Aumua, 13 Charles Brousse, 12 Thibault Lacroix, 11 Paulin Riva, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Tai Tuifua, 7 Hugh Chalmers, 6 Bertrand Guiry, 5 Jandre Marais, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Benat Auzqui, 1 Jefferson Poirot

Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Sébastien Taofifenua, 18 Patrick Toetu, 19 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 20 Matthew Graham, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Pierre Bernard, 23 Matthew Clarkin

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)

Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Jon Hardy (Wales)

TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)

@EPCRugby