Leinster sting Wasps, Perpignan win
Ireland's Leinster stung Wasps 48-28 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the European Challenge Cup while Perpignan also advanced after seeing off compatriots Toulouse 30-19.
With another French side, Biarritz, having seen off Gloucester 41-31 on Thursday and with another Anglo-French sequel to come in the shape of Bath versus Stade Francais on Saturday, Leinster set the stage for an exciting business end to Europe's second-string tournament with a stylish showing.
Christian Wade twice went over in the opening half for hosts Wasps but they were undone as Gordon D'Arcy and Ian Madigan also touched down and Madigan booted ten points to give the Irish province side an interval lead of 20-15.
Mike Ross, Rob Kearney and Isa Nacewa also touched down rendering a pair from Tom Varndell academic.
Leinster are hoping for a consolation after their attempt to win the European Cup for a fourth time in five years foundered in the group stage, where they lost out to Clermont.
Perpignan ended the hopes of highly-fancied Toulouse as Sebastien Taofifenua, Farid Sid and Sebastien Vahaamahina went over for the Catalans.
But Perpignan must do without prop Nicolas Mas for potentially the remainder of the season after he injured his knee during the encounter, manager Marc Delpoux indicated.
Friday's scores and scorers:
London Wasps 28-48 Leinster
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Wade 2, Varndell 2
Con: Robinson
Pens: Robinson 2
For Leinster:
Tries: D'Arcy, Madigan, Ross, R Kearney, Nacewa
Cons: Madigan 4
Pens: Madigan 5
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Elliott Daly, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Chris Bell, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Sam Jones, 6 Joe Launchbury, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Phil Swainston, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Zak Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Tim Payne, 18 William Taylor, 19 Jonathan Poff, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Stephen Jones, 23 Hugo Southwell.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 John Cooney, 22 Andrew Goodman, 23 Andrew Conway.
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees: Marius Mitrea (Italy), Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Perpignan 30-19 Toulouse
The scorers:
For Perpignan:
Tries: Taofifenua, Sid, Vahaamahina
Cons: Hook 3
Pens: Hook 2, Terrain
For Toulouse:
Try: Maka
Con: Beauxis
Pens: Beauxis 4
Red card: Dan Leo (Perpignan, 64)
Teams:
Perpignan: 15 Gavin Hume, 14 Farid Sid, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Sione Piukala, 11 Adrien Plante, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Alasdair Strokosch, 6 Dan Leo, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Sebastien Taofifenua.
Replacements: 16 Romain Terrain, 17 Sona Taumalolo, 18 Kisi Pulu, 19 Guillaume Vilaceca, 20 David Mele, 21 Sofiane Guitoune, 22 Bertrand Guiry, 23 Luke Narraway.
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Timoci Matanavou, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Gillian Galan, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Grégory Lamboley, 5 Edwin Maka, 4 Romain Millo-Chluski, 3 Vasil Kakovin, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Yohan Montes, 19 Ruslan Boukerou, 20 Karl Chateau, 21 Yannick Jauzion, 22 Yann David, 23 Sebastien Bezy.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Greg Garner (England), Luke Pearce (England)
AFP
