Edinburgh's South African imports star in Euro winner
FRIDAY WRAP: Pierre Schoeman starred as Edinburgh sealed their place in the knockout stage of the Challenge Cup with a bonus point win, beating Pool Three’s bottom side Scarlets 31-19 in Wales.
Scrumhalf Ben Vellacott, prop WP Nel, wing Duhan van der Merwe, and flanker Hamish Watson got things started in the first half, with prop Schoeman adding the fifth at the start of the second.
Flyhalf Ben Healy converted three to give the visitors their commanding advantage.
There were question-marks over Edinburgh’s discipline, though, with a yellow card for hooker Dave Cherry for slowing down the ball illegally and one for a dangerous tackle from Grant Gilchrist – who then got a red card seven minutes from time after a high hit.
Scarlets made the scoreline a little more respectable with a flurry of points in the closing seconds to add to Joe Roberts’ 14th-minute effort – one from Ryan Conbeer a minute before the final whistle, converted by Ioan Lloyd, was followed by a penalty try in added time.
* Meanwhile, Flyhalf Adam Hastings notched up a personal tally of 15 points as Gloucester routed Castres Olympique 35-5 to secure home advantage in the Round of 16.
In an exciting first-half, both teams crossed once as Gloucester centre Seb Atkinson opened the scoring in the eighth minute while Castres Olympique replacement Josaia Raisuqe went over at the end of the half.
The difference was the boot of Hastings, who kicked a conversion and a penalty to leave the Gallagher Premiership club in the lead by five after fly-half Pierre Popelin could not add the extras for the visitors.
Gloucester struck first in the second period too, lock Freddie Clarke dotting down with a brilliant, unorthodox kick and finish, Hastings again accurate.
Hastings then added his second penalty, and Castres Olympique only got smaller and smaller in Gloucester’s rear-view mirror as Hastings crossed for his own try.
Albert Tuisue soon followed him over the whitewash, as the hosts punished a 14-man Castres Olympique after replacement Esteban Talalua was sent to the bin.
Fullback Santiago Carreras converted Hastings’ try but not Tuisue’s, although he did a penalty with the clock in the red to tie up the win.
Castres Olympique could still make it out of Pool 3, but that depends on what Black Lion can do against ASM Clermont Auvergne.
All Friday’s scores and scorers
Scarlets 19-31 Edinburgh
The scorers
For Scarlets
Tries: Roberts, Conbeer, Penalty try
Cons: Lloyd, penalty try does not require a conversion
Edinburgh
Tries: Vellacott, Nel, Van der Merwe, Watson, Schoeman
Cons: Healy 3
Red card: Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh, 73)
Yellow cards: Healy (Edinburgh, 11), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh, 36), Alex Craig (Scarlets, 42), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh, 80+)
Teams
Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Ben Williams, 5 Jac Price, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ryan Elias (captain), 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Eddie Swart, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Shaun Evans, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Tomi Lewis
Edinburgh: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Chris Dean, 13 Matt Currie, 12. James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Tom Dodd, 22 Ali Price, 23. Cameron Scott
Referee: Sara Cox (England)
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum (England) & Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Dean Richards (England)
Gloucester 35-5 Castres Olympique
The scorers
For Gloucester
Tries: Atkinson, Clarke, Hastings, Tuisue
Cons: Hastings 2, Carreras
Pens: Hastings 2, Carreras
For Castres Olympique
Try: Raisuqe
Yellow card: Esteban Talalua (Castres Olympique, 68)
Teams
Gloucester: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Ruan Ackermann (captain), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 George McGuigan, , 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Steve Varney, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Josh Hathaway.
Castres Olympique: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Adrien Seguret, 12 Andrea Cocagi, 11 Nathanael Hulleu, 10 Pierre Popelin, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Abraham Papalii, 7 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 6. Mathieu Babillot (Captain), 5 Tom Staniforth, 4 Gauthier Maravat, 3 Aurelien Azar, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Wayan de Benedittis.
Replacements: 16 Pierre Colonna, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Esteban Talalua, 19 Florent Vanverberghe, 20 Yann Peysson, 21 Jeremy Fernandez, 22 Vilimoni Botitu, 23 Josaia Raisuqe
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland) & Tomas O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Source: @ChallengeCup_
