Toulon put Ulster to the sword

Champions Toulon became the first side to qualify for the European Cup quarterfinals when they handed Ulster a 60-22 thrashing.

Springbok wing Bryan Habana scored a try but it was Steffon Armitage who stole the show with a hat-trick as Toulon turned on the power and style.

The reigning champions earned a bonus point after running in eight tries. Nicolas Sanchez, Mathieu Bastareaud, Martin Castrogiovanni and Mamuka Gorgodze were the other try-scorers.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked 20 points for the hosts while Ulster curiously managed an attacking bonus point with four tries of their own from Paddy Jackson, Mike McComish, Jared Payne and Lewis Stevenson.

The try-fest – 12 in total – gave Toulon a five-point lead over Leicester, who got a bonus point in a 40-23 thrashing of Scarlets on Friday night, at the top of Pool Three.

As Toulon took five competition points compared to Leicester's four in the two games between the sides, the French champions cannot now be overtaken by the Tigers.

Leicester will need to win away to Ulster in their final group match next weekend, and probably with a bonus point too, if they are to join Toulon in the last eight.

In London, Saracens were desperate to get a bonus point to boost their quarterfinal chances – particularly given their final pool match is away to Clermont.

But they came up just short despite eliminating Munster with a 33-10 win at the Allianz Park.

Although Owen Farrell kicked three first half penalties for the hosts, some of Sarries' decision-making clearly showed they were concerned with notching the extra point.

They had the game as good as won by the break leading 23-3 after wings Chris Wyles and Chris Ashton both dotted down.

Munster resorted to infringing at the breakdown in the second half as Sarries continued to go in search of the tries they needed.

It resulted in prop James Cronin being sent to the sin bin but that roused the visitors who crossed the whitewash through centre Denis Hurley.

Saracens did make the extra man count with seven minutes left as Ashton crossed for his second try but they will now probably need at least a losing bonus at Clermont to stay in the competition.

Clermont Auvergne will go into the final round of group matches in pole position in Pool One – their home showdown with second placed Saracens set to determine outright winners and automatic quarterfinal qualification.

Clermont were given a real battle by Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium in a contest in which the lead changed hands five times before finishing strongly for a 22-13 win and the four points.

All of Saturdays scores and scorers:

Harlequins 3-23 Wasps

The scorers:

For Harlequins:

Pen: Bottica

For Wasps:

Tries: Wade, Simpson

Cons: Goode 2

Pens: Goode 3

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 George Lowe, 11 Tom Williams, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Jack Clifford, 5 George Robson, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Will Collier, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler (captain).

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Nick

Evans, 23 Charlie Walker.

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes , 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Edd Shervington, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Simon McIntyre , 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Ben Jacobs, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Andrea Masi.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)

TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)

Clermont 22-13 Sale Sharks

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Try: Penalty try

Con: Cipriani

Pens: Cipriani 2

For Clermont:

Try: Lee

Con: Lopez

Pens: Lopez 5

Teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Jonny Leota, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Ross Harrison.

Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Ciarian Parker, 19 Mark Easter, 20 Magnus Lund, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Tom Arscott.

Clermont: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Benson Stanley, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Aurélien Rougerie, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Damien Chouly (captain), 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Raphael Chaume.

Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Clément Ric, 19 Loic Jacquet, 20 Julien Bardy, 21 Ludovic Radoslavjevic, 22 Mike Delany, 23 Jonathan Davies.

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)

Assistant referees: Martyn Lewis (Wales); Gwyn Morris (Wales)

Leinster 50-8 Castres

The scorers:

For Leinster:

Tries: D. Kearney, Moore, Reddan, Cronin, Furlong, Fanning, McGrath

Cons: Madigan 6

Pen: Madigan

For Castres:

Try: Martial

Pen: Kockott

Teams:

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Luke Fitzgerald, 12 Ian Madigan, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Martin Moore, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Michael Bent.

Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Jamie Hagan, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Gordon D'Arcy, 23 Darragh Fanning.

Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Romain Martial, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Romain Cabannes (captain), 11 Marcel Garvey, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Jannie Bornman, 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Christophe Samson, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.

Replacements: 16 Mathieu Bonello, 17 Paea Faanunu, 18 Benjamin Desroche, 19 Yohan Montes, 20 Piula Faasalele, 21 Remi Tales, 22 Remi Grosso, 23 Antoine Dupont.

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)

Assistant referees: Matteo Liperini (Italy); Stefano Penne (Italy)

Saracens 33-10 Munster

The scorers:

For Saracens:

Tries: Wyles, Ashton 2

Cons: Farrell 3

Pens: Farrell 4

For Munster:

Try: Hurley

Con: Keatley

Pen: Keatley

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Ernst Joubert, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Chris Wyles.

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 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 James Cronin.

Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 John Ryan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Dave O'Callaghan, 21 Ronan O'Mahony, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Keith Earls.

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos (France); Tual Trainini (France)

Toulon 60-22 Ulster

The scorers:

For Toulon:

Tries: Sanchez, Habana, Bastareaud, Castrogiovanni, Armitage 3, Gorgodze

Cons: Halfpenny 7

Pens: Halfpenny 2

For Ulster:

Tries: Jackson, McComish 2, Payne

Con: Pienaar

Teams:

Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Chris Masoe (captain) 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Xavier Chiocci.

Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Carl Hayman, 19 Mamuka Gorgodze, 20 Rudi Wulf, 21 David Smith, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Romain Taofifenua.

Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart Olding, 11 Michael Allen, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson (captain) 7 Mike McComish, 6 Clive Ross, 5 Franco Van Der Merwe, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Bronson Ross, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andy Warwick.

Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Black, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Michael Heaney.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)

Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales); Greg Morgan (Wales)