Goosen miss gives Racing the draw
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A brave Ospreys fightback was not quite enough to earn a vital victory as the Welsh side played out a 19-19 draw against Racing Metro at the Liberty Stadium.
The home side had trailed 16-3 during the first half as Johan Goosen kicked three penalties and converted Francois van der Merwe's try.
But they roared back through three Dan Biggar penalties and a tremendous late try from Josh Matavesi.
Goosen had a chance to give Racing all four points with a late penalty attempt, but his long-range effort fell wide as an engrossing clash finished all square.
Earlier, Saracens kept their knock-out qualification hopes alive and kicking as they won a fascinating and thunderous all-England Pool 1 clash 19-15 against Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium.
It was a second group win of the campaign for Mark McCall's men while Sale have now lost three from three and prop up the Pool with just two bonus losing points.
Saracens – last season's losing finalists – will now welcome Sale to Allianz Park in Round 4 back on track to stay in contention for quarterfinal qualification in the wake of this success.
After that, Northampton Saints secured maximum points with a 38-15, six-try demolition of Treviso in Italy to stay in contention for a European Champions Cup quarterfinal spot.
Scores from Samu Manoa, Alex Waller, Ben Foden, Luther Burrell, George Pisi and a penalty try ensured it was job well done for Jim Mallinder's side against the struggling Italians.
Following that, Munster were made to wait for their 100th top flight European victory after ASM Clermont Auvergne stormed the Thomond Park fortress 16-9 in a thunderous encounter.
The win swept Clermont to top spot in Pool 1 and with home clashes with Munster and Saracens to come they are slight favourites for automatic quarterfinal qualification.
Clermont are one of just four clubs in Champions Cup and European Cup history to have a winning record over Munster and that is now stretched to four wins and two defeats.
Leicester Tigers and Ulster Rugby were the only previous elite tournament winners at Thomond Park and Clermont joined them in some style as the first of the French.
Because there are dream starts and there are dream starts – and Clermont made a dream start right out of the top draw on their way to the triumph.
Finally, Ulster got themselves back in the play-off hunt with a 24-9 bonus-point win over the Scarlets at the Kingspan Stadium.
Having already lost to Leicester and Toulon, Ulster desperately needed all five points, and they took advantage of the Scarlets' indiscipline to run in four tries.
Darren Cave and Ruan Pienaar, in the first half, followed by Tommy Bowe and Rory Best after the break, sealed the bonus point
All Saturday's scores and scorers
Sale Sharks 15-19 Saracens
Scorers:
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Lund, Ostrikov
Con: Cipriani
Pen: Cipriani
For Saracens:
Tries: Farrell, M. Vunipola
Pens: Hodgson, Farrell
DG: Farrell
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Luke McLean, 13 Mark Jennings, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Magnus Lund (captain), 6 Mark Easter, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 James Flynn, 19 Viliami Fihaki, 20 Andrew Highes, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Will Addison.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Chris Wyles.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Martyn Lewis (Wales)
TMO: Paul Adams (Wales)
Bennetton Treviso 15-38 Northamption Saints
Scorers:
For Bennetton Treviso:
Tries: Nitoglia, Carlisle
Con: Carlisle
Pen: Carlisle
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Manoa, A. Waller, Foden, Burrell, Penalty try, G. Pisi
Cons: Myler 4
Teams:
Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Simone Ragusi, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Sam Christie, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Alberto Lucchese, 8 Dean Budd, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Salesi Manu, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matteo Muccignat.
Replacements: 16 Amar Kudin, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Romulo Acosta, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Tomas Vallejos, 21 Marco Barbini, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Edoardo Gori.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Phil Dowson (captain), 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Sam Dickinson, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Mike Haywood. 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 George Pisi, 23 James Wilson.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)
TMO: Jude Quinn (Ireland)
Ospreys 19-19 Racing Metro
Scorers:
For Ospreys:
Try: Matavesi
Con: Biggar
Pens: Biggar 4
For Racing Métro:
Try: van der Merwe
Con: Goosen
Pens: Goosen 3
DG: Goosen
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Tom Grabham, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 James King, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Lloyd Peers, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Marc Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Daniel Suter, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Racing Métro: 15 Benjamin Lapeyre, 14 Adrien Planté, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Marc Andreu; 10 Johannes Goosen, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Juandre Kruger, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (captain), 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Walter Desmaison, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Camille Gerondeau, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Yoan Audrin, 23 Benjamin Dambielle.
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Andrew Small (England), Andrew Pearce (England)
TMO: Sean Davey (England)
Munster 9-16 Clermont Auvergne
Scorers:
For Munster:
Pens: Keatley 3
For Clermont:
Tries: Lee, Fofana
Pen: Lopez
DG: Lopez
Teams:
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony (captain), 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Dave Foley, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Sean Dougall, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Johne Murphy.
Clermont: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Damien Chouly (captain), 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Davit Zirakashvili, 19 Julien Pierre, 20 Alexandre Lapandry, 21 Thierry Lacrampe, 22 Brock James, 23 Jonathan Davies.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Greg Garner (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
Ulster 24-9 Scarlets
Scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Cave, Pienaar, Bowe
Cons: Humphreys 2
Yellow Card: Pienaar
For Scarlets:
Pens: Priestland 3
Yellow Cards: Davies, L. Williams
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart Olding, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Roger Wilson, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Stuart McCloskey, 23 Michael Allen.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Regan King, 12 Scott Williams (captain), 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Rory Pitman 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Johan Snyman, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Phil John, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 Lewis Rawlins, 21Rhodri Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Gareth Owen
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth (England), Gareth Copsey England)
TMO: Trevor Fisher
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