Montpellier end Connacht's Euro dream
SATURDAY WRAP: Connacht bowed out of the Challenge Cup after suffering a comprehensive 22-45 quarterfinal defeat at Montpellier.
Stuart Lancaster’s side bowed out to the two-time champions at Septeo Stadium, where captain Cian Prendergast saw his side well beaten on his 100th appearance.
Sam Gilbert’s penalty had given Connacht the first points of the day, only to be put on the back foot by a penalty try and bookings to Dylan Tierney-Martin and Shamus Hurley-Langton.
The former would go on to score a first-half try before Shayne Bolton also saw yellow, with Montpellier entering half-time leading 26-8 as Christopher Tolofua, Mohamed Haouas and Domingo Miotti crossed the line.
Sean Naughton’s converted try temporarily gave Connacht hope early in the second half, but there was to be no comeback.
Auguste Cadot and Ali Price added tries for Montpellier, with replacement Jack Aungier scoring a late consolation before Valentin Welsch completed the rout.
Dragons, long perceived as the weakest of the four Welsh teams, booked their place in a European semifinal with a hard-fought 35-32 victory over Zebre on Saturday.
There was little to separate the sides, with both teams crossing for four tries in an evenly contested encounter.
However, the boot of Angus O’Brien proved decisive. He contributed 15 points, guiding the Dragons over the line in a thrilling finish.
Montpellier 45-22 Connacht
The scorers:
For Montpellier:
Tries: Penalty try, Tolofua, Haouas, Miotti, Cadot, Price, Welsch,
Cons: Miotti 2, Vincent 2
For Connacht:
Tries: Tierney-Martin, Naughton, Aungier
Cons: Gilbert 2
Pen: Gilbert
Teams:
Montpellier: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Donovan Taofifenua, 13 Auguste Cadot, 12 Lennox Anyanwu, 11 Jon Echegaray, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Ali Price, 8 Billy Vunipola (captain), 7 Alex Becognee, 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Tyler DuGuid, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Christopher Tolofua, 1 Baptiste Erdocio
Replacements: 16 Lyam Akrab, 17 Enzo Forletta, 18 Valentin Welsch, 19 Marco Tauleigne, 20 Lenni Nouchi, 21 Melvyn Rates, 22 Thomas Vincent, 23 Arthur Vincent
Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Chay Mullins, 10 Sean Naughton, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Sam Illo, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Billy Bohan
Replacements: 16 Matthew Victory, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Josh Murphy, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Jack Carty, 23 John Devine
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales (England) & Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
TMO: Adam Jones (Wales)
Zebre 32-35 Dragons
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Tries: Trulla, Bertaccini, Krumov, Quattrini
Cons: Da Re 3
Pens: Da Re 2
For Dragons:
Tries: Inisi, Keddie 2, Dee
Cons: O’Brien 3
Pens: O’Brien 3
Teams:
Zebre: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Giacomo da Re, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Davide Odiase, 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Leonardo Krumov (captain), 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Ion Neculai, 2 Tommaso di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Luca Franceschetto, 18 Juan-Manuel Pitinari, 19 Giacomo Ferrari, 20 Giovanni Licata, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Damiano Mazza, 23 Samuele Locatelli
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Dai Richards, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Niall Armstrong, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Harrison Keddie, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Ryan Woodman, 3 Christian Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Owain James, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 21 Morgan Lloyd, 22 Fetuli Paea, 23 Huw Anderson
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (England) & Jonathan Healy (England)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
