Ulster survive Stade Francais scare, Connacht secures qualification
ROUND FOUR WRAP: Ulster scored four first-half tries but had to fend off a second-half fightback from Stade Francais to earn a 26-19 victory in the Challenge Cup at the Affidea Stadium.
It took three minutes for the Irish side to take the lead as they worked it from left to right, and Nathan Doak found Tom O’Toole, who crashed over from close range.
Rob Baloucoune produced a special diving finish to put Ulster 12 points to the good before Stuart McCloskey sprinted down the wing to add a third try.
Baloucoune turned creator for a bonus point try after he broke the line and fed Doak, who sprinted over the whitewash to give Ulster a 26-0 lead at the break.
However, the French side fought back after the break. Giorgi Melikidze replied seven minutes after the interval, and Charles Laloi chopped the deficit to 14 with a try with 25 minutes still left on the clock.
Stade Francais got themselves well back in the contest in the 66th minute when replacement hooker Lucas Peyresblanques picked off the back of a maul to stroll over uncontested, but Ulster were able to hang on to top Pool 3 and will have home advantage going into the knockout stage in April.
In the other clash, Zebre defeated Black Lion by 28-14 to secure their Round of 16 play-off hopes.
The Parma outfit outscored the Georgians four tries to two in a hard-fought battle against the invitational side.
Discipline was an issue for both teams, with Zebre’s Samuele Locatelli Matteo Canali sent to the sin bin as well as Black Lion’s Vasi Kakovin.
In Galway, Connacht secured third place in Pool 1 with a resounding 75-14 win over US Montauban.
It was one-way traffic at Dexcom Stadium with Connacht roping in 8 first-half tries to lead 56-7 at the break.
They scored a further four second-half tries to US Montauban’s one try per half, with flankers Cian Prendergast and Paul Boyle both bagging a brace.
There was also some ill-discipline with Connacht replacement prop Jack Aungier being sent to the sin bin, as well as US Montauban’s Asaell Paolo and replacement Facundo Pomponio.
US Montauban replacement hooker Ru-Hann Greyling also found himself in hot water after being red-carded 27 minutes into the match.
In Wales, Ospreys fought hard against Montpellier but ultimately went down by 26-31.
They have, however, secured the fourth and final spot in Pool 1 to secure Challenge Cup Round of 16 qualification.
The match started with both teams scoring converted tries in the opening 12 minutes to be level at 7-7, but Montpellier scored two tries in the 21st and 35th minute to edge out a 21-7 lead before Lewis Lloyd hit back for the hosts on the stroke of half-time to make it 21-14 in favour of the visitors.
Lloyd grabbed a brace shortly after the break to narrow the gap once more, with Jack Walsh’s conversion levelling matters once more.
Ospreys went into the lead in the 58th minute thanks to a try by Ross Moriarty, which went unconverted, before a converted try and a late penalty by Montpellier ensured victory for the visitors.
Ulster 26-19 Stade Francais
Scorers
For Ulster:
Tries: O’Toole, Baloucoune, McCloskey, Doak
Cons: Murphy 3
For Stade Francais
Tries: Melikidze, Laloi, Peyresblanques
Cons: Foursans-Bourdette 2
Teams
Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Bryn Ward, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Dave McCann, 5 Harry Sheridan, 4 Iain Henderson (captain), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Matt Dalton, 20 Sean Reffell, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Jude Postlethwaite
Stade Français Paris: 15 Mathis Ibo, 14 Charles Laloi, 13 Jeremy Ward (captain), 12 Tani Vili, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Paul Abadie, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Mathieu Hirigoyen, 6 Juan-Martin Scelzo, 5 Jacques Botha, 4 Pierre-Henri Azagoh, 3 Giorgi Melikidze, 2 Alvaro Garcia, 1 Jack Iscaro.
Replacements: 16 Lucas Peyresblanques, 17 Yanis Lux, 18 Sergo Abramishvili, 19 Setareki Turagacoke, 20 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 21 Thibaut Motassi, 22 Louis Foursans-Bourdette, 23 Samuel Ezeala
Referee: Adam Leal (England)
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales (England) & Wayne Falla (England)
TMO: Daniel Jones (England)
Black Lion 14-28 Zebre
Scorers
For Black Lion:
Tries: Kvatadze 2
Cons: Tsirekidze
For Zebre:
Tries: Pitinari, Hasa, Pani, Da Re
Cons: Da Re 4
Yellow cards: Matteo Canali (Zebre, 39′), Samuele Locatelli (Zebre, 58′), Vasi Kakovin (Black Lion, 30′)
Teams:
Black Lion: 15 Shalva Aptsiauri, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demi Tapladze, 12 Tornike Kakhoidze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Luka Tsirekidze, 9 Tengiz Peranidze, 8 Giorgi Sinauridze, 7 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 6 Lasha Tsikhistavi, 5 Demuri Epremidze, 4 Mikheil Babunashvili, 3 Giorgi Chkhartishvili, 2 Irakli Kvatdza, 1 Vasi Kakovin.
Replacements: 16 Tamaz Tchamiashvili, 17 Nika Khatiashvili, 18 Kakhaber Darbaidze, 19 Guram Ganiashvili, 20 Giorgi Kervalishvili, 21 Giorgi Spenderashvili, 22 Zaur Lutidze, 23 Romani Makhatadze
Zebre Parma: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Giulio Bertaccini, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Davide Odiase, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Bautista Stavile, 5 Leonardo Krumov (captain), 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Muhamed Hasa, 2 Tommaso di Bartolomeo, 1 Juan-Manuel Pitinari.
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Franceschetto, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Franco Carrera, 20 Alessandro Ortombina, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Martin Roger Farias, 23 Davide Ruggeri
Referee: Evan Urruzmendi (France)
Assistant referees: Andrei Gheorghe (Rome) & Florin Bonea (Rome)
TMO: Herve Lasausa Lespy Labaylett (France)
Connacht 75-14 US Montauban
Scorers
For Connacht:
Tries: Boyle 2, Prendergast 2, Gilbert, West, Devine, Jansen, Jennings, Tierney-Martin, Penalty try does not require a conversion
Cons: Gilbert 7, Naughton 2
For US Montauban:
Tries: Seux, Vailee
Cons: Bosviel, Fortunel
Yellow cards: Asaell Pacolo (US Montauban, 29′), Facundo Pomponio (US Montauban, 64′), Jack Aungier (Connacht, 72′)
Red card: Ru-Hann Greyling (US Montauban, 27′)
Teams
Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Harry West, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Paul Boyle, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Sam Illo, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Billy Bohan.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Sean Walsh
US Montauban: 15 Jean Seux, 14 Gade Asaeli, 13 Simon Renda, 12 Maxime Mathy, 11 Paul Vallee, 10 Jerome Bosviel, 9 Hugo Zabalza, 8 Nafi Ma’afu, 7 Tjuee Uanivi, 6 Fred Quercy, 5 Lewis Bean, 4 Clement Bitz, 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 Maixent da Costa, 1 Lucas Seyrolle
Replacements: 16 Ru-Hann Greyling, 17 Leo Aouf, 18 Noa Kanika, 19 Karl Wilkins, 20 Mael Castel, 21 Thomas Fortunel, 22 Gibson Popoali’i, 23 Facundo Pomponio
Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales) & Gareth Newman (Wales)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Ospreys 26-31 Montpellier
Scorers
For Ospreys:
Tries: Watkin, Lloyd 2, Moriarty
Cons: Walsh 3
For Montpellier:
Tries: Masibaka 2, Ducros, Hounkpatin
Cons: Hogg 4
Pen: Coly
Teams
Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Phil Cokanasiga, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Jack Walsh (captain), 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Gwilym Evans, 6 Marco de Witt, 5 James Fender, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Lewis Lloyd, 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Cameron Jones, 18 Kian Hire, 19 Lewis Jones, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Morgan Morse, 22 Kieran Hardy, 23 Iestyn Hopkins
Montpellier: 15 Donovan Taofifenua, 14 Jules Ducros, 13 Thomas Darmon, 12 Auguste Cadot, 11 Melvyn Rates, 10 Stuart Hogg, 9 Alexis Bernadet, 8 Langi Gleeson, 7 Alex Masibaka, 6 Alex Becognee, 5 Matthieu Uhila, 4 Marco Tauleigne, 3 Christopher Tolofua, 2 Jordan Uelese (captain), 1 Valentin Welsh
Replacements: 16 Lyam Akrab, 17 Baptiste Erdocio, 18 Wilfrid Hounkpatin, 19 Tyler DuGuid, 20 Solomon Shand, 21 Tom Baraer, 22 Leo Coly, 23 Miracle Tangata
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: Franco Rosella (Italy) & Luca Bisetto (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
