Bok prop stars as Edinburgh down triple champions

CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP: Springbok prop Boan Venter sealed the match for Edinburgh four minutes before time as they saw off three-time winners Toulon.

His South African teammate Pierre Schoeman opened the scoring for Sean Everitt’s Edinburgh in the 13th minute of the match that took place in pouring rain.

Edinburgh looked at home early on in the second period, especially after Wes Goosen was moved to fullback.

A slight forward pass ruled out a try for the Scots, but some more Cammy Scott kicks offered them valuable distance on the scoreboard.

Some solid work from the hosts’ pack throughout bore its fruit too on the hour mark. Forcing Toulon’s scrum into some ill discipline within a metre of the try line, the Scots had a penalty try to their name as they headed into the final 10 minutes.

The three-time champions were getting frustrated by Edinburgh’s organisation towards the end of the tie.

The props were earning their wages as the klaxon neared, and replacement prop Venter sealed the deal four minutes from time for the hosts.

The French side will be disappointed to head home with no points.

*Gloucester put in a late kick to ease to a 34-14 victory our Castres in their Champions Cup opener at Kingsholm.

The match had been level at 14-14 with 20 minutes to go before the home side streaked to the win, thanks largely to two late tries from substitute Charlie Atkinson, the second of which, with almost the final play, ensured they picked up a winning bonus point.

Castres had taken the early initiative and gone in front through a converted try in the ninth minute from Vuate Karawalevu.

Freddie Thomas went over for Gloucester’s first score before the visitors regained the lead through Loris Zarantonello’s converted try.

Will Trenholm crossed over to level things once more before flyhalf Ross Byrne kicked two penalties to edge Gloucester into a lead they would not relinquish.

That set things up for Atkinson to seal victory late on and move his side second behind Bath in Pool 2.

See all Sunday’s scores and scorers below…

Edinburgh 33-20 Toulon

Scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Schoeman, Vellacott, Penalty Try, Venter
Pens: Scott 3

For Toulon:
Tries: White
Cons: Jaminet
Pens: Garcia
DG: Jaminet

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Wes Goosen, 12 Findlay Thomson, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Cammy Scott, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 James Lang, 23 Piers O’Conor

Toulon: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Gaël Drean, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Jérémy Sinzelle, 11 Mathis Ferte, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Ben White, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Esteban Abadie, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 Brian Alainu’uese, 4 David Ribbans (captain), 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Jeremy Toevalu, 17 Leo Ametlla, 18 Dany Priso, 19 Corentin Mezou, 20 Joe Quere Karaba, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Matéo Garcia, 23 Mathieu Smaili

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox (England), Greg MacDonald (England)
TMO: Daniel Jones (England)

Gloucester 34-14 Castre

Scorers:

For Gloucester:
Tries: Thomas, Trenholm, C Atkinson 2
Cons: Byrne 4
Pens: Byrne 2

For Castre:
Tries: Karawalevu, Zarantonello
Cons: Popelin 2

Gloucester: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Tomos Williams (captain), 8 Will Trenholm, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Deian Gwynne, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Ciaran Knight
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Afolabi Fasogbon, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Josh Basham, 21 Mike Austin, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Rob Russell

Castres: 15 Theo Chabouni, 14 Christian Ambadiang, 13 Vuate Karawalevu, 12 Vilimoni Botitu, 11 Rémy Baget, 10 Pierre Popelin, 9 Jeremy Fernandez, 8 Veresa Ramototabua, 7 Baptiste Cope, 6 Baptiste Delaporte (captain), 5 Florent Vanverberghe, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 3 Aurelien Azar, 2 Loris Zarantonello, 1 Quentin Walcker
Replacements: 16 Teddy Durand-Pradere, 17 Atunaisa Sokobale, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Gauthier Maravat, 20 Abraham Papalii, 21 Gauthier Doubrere, 22 Enzo Herve, 23 Jack Goodhue

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Pau 27-35 Northampton

Scorers:

For Pau:
Tries: Isa, Robson, Arfeuil
Cons: Desperes 3
Pens: Desperes 2

For Northampton:
Tries: Ramm 2, Dingwall, Mitchell, Hendy
Cons: F Smith 2
Pens: F Smith 2

Teams:

Pau: 15 Aymeric Luc, 14 Gregoire Arfeuil, 13 Jack Maddocks, 12 Nathan Decron, 11 Clement Laporte, 10 Axel Desperes, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Loic Credoz, 6 Sacha Zegueur, 5 Remi Picquette, 4 Thomas Jolmes, 3 Jon Zabala Arrieta, 2 Julian Montoya (capatin), 1 Alexandre Etchebehere
Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Remi Seneca, 18 Guram Papidze, 19 Mickael Capelli, 20 Joel Kpoku, 21 Reece Hewat, 22 Thomas Souverbie, 23 Quentin Valentino

Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 James Ramm, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 JJ van der Mescht, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Craig Wright, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Cleopas Kundiona, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Tom James, 23 Toby Thame

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Clara Munarini (Italy), Alberto Favaro (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)