Grenoble resist Agen fight back
The visitors had looked to be cruising to the top of the pool when they secure a bonus-point by half-time thanks to an early try from Xavier Mignot and a fine hat-trick from Sona Taumalolo, with Gilles Bosch adding all four conversions.
Agen only registered a Bautista Guemes penalty during the opening half, but they clawed their way back into the game as Marc Baget, Marc Barthomeuf and Marius Deguilhem all scored tries, but a late penalty try and Mignot's second score sealed the win for Grenoble.
Grenoble had scored a last-minute try to win their previous pool match against London Irish, and they kicked off this encounter with a try inside the opening 60 seconds as Mignot raced over with Bosch converting. Within three minutes prop Taumalolo was crashing his way over the line from close range to further extend the advantage.
Guemes at least stemmed the tide with a penalty, but when the Grenoble pack again asserted their dominance, Taumalolo ploughed over the line again and, remarkably, followed up with another try just five minutes later to round off a 34 minute hat-trick for the loosehead prop.
With Bosch adding the extras, the visitors were 25 points to the good at the interval and there appeared no way back for Agen. However, the hosts flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half and a period of extended pressure ended with number eight Baget working his way over.
Replacement hooker Barthomeuf rounded off a fine flowing move to narrow the gap further, with Grenoble's Jonathan Best seeing yellow for infringing in the build-up, to give Agen further hope. Francois Bouvier converted, and when wing Deguilhem was sent scuttling over after sharp midfield play an incredible comeback win looked on the cards.
But when a powerful Grenoble scrum put the home side in reverse and forced a penalty try, plus a yellow card for hooker Barthomeuf, the balance shifted back in Grenoble's favour, with Mignot crossing for his second to put the result beyond doubt.
* In the other match on Thursday Gloucester made it 12 successive Challenge Cup wins and claimed the local bragging rights with a 34-22 triumph over Worcester Warriors at Sixways.
The sides were locked at 10-10 at half-time after tries from wings Henry Purdy and Dean Hammond.
But a second-half onslaught ensured Gloucester took control of Pool Four after Mikey Daniels had made the champions sweat.
Purdy crossed again after half-time before Rob Cook, Steve McColl and Billy Twelvetrees sealed a bonus-point win.
Thursday scorers and scorers!
Worcester Warriors 22-34 Gloucester
The scorers:
For Worcester Warriors:
Tries: Hammond, Daniels, O'Shea
Con: Lamb 2
DG: Lamb
For Gloucester:
Tries: Purdy 2, Cook, McColl, Twelvetrees
Cons: Laidlaw 3
Pen: Laidlaw
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Ben Howard, 14 Dean Hammond, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Andy Symons, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Charlie Mulchrone (captain), 8 Marco Mama, 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Matt Cox, 5 Darren O'Shea, 4 Dan Sanderson, 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Ryan Bower.
Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Mike Daniels, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Sam Betty, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Max Stelling.
Gloucester: 15 Steve McColl, 14 David Halaifonua, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Greig Laidlaw (capt), 8 Lewis Ludlow, 7 Jacob Rowan, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Tom Hicks, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Rob Cook.
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Salem Attalah (France), Mathieu Noirot (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
Agen 20-40 Grenoble
The scorers:
For Agen:
Tries: Baget, Barthomeuf, Deguilhem
Con: Bouvier
Pen: Guemes
For Grenoble:
Tries: Mignot 2, Taumalolo 3, Penalty try
Con: Bosch 4, Loustalot
Teams:
Agen: 15 Benoit Sicart, 14 François Tardieu, 13 Vincent Roux, 12 Pierre Fouyssac, 11 Marius Deguilhem, 10 Bautista Guemes, 9 Paul Abadie, 8 Marc Baget, 7 Antoine Miquel, 6 Nicolas Gal, 5 Léo Bastien, 4 Jean-Baptiste Roidot, 3 Jason Marshall, 2 Jalil Narjissi, 1 Quentin Bethune.
Replacements: 16 Marc Barthomeuf, 17 Viliamu Afatia, 18 Dave Ryan, 19 Denis Marchois, 20 Corentin Braendlin, 21 Baptiste Cadiou, 22 François Bouvier, 23 Julien Heriteau.
Grenoble: 15 Armand Batlle, 14 Daniel Kilioni, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Xavier Mignot, 10 Gilles Bosch, 9 Christophe Loustalot, 8 Steven Setephano, 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Henry Vanderglas, 5 Mathias Marie, 4 Jonathan Best, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Laurent Bouchet, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Loick Jammes, 17 Denis Coulson, 18 Walter Desmaison, 19 Ben Hand, 20 Mahamadou Diaby, 21 Lilian Saseras, 22 Clement Gelin, 23 Nigel Hunt.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Martyn Lewis (Wales)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)
Source: @ERChallengeCup
