Falcons reek revenge on Montauban

Bath still unbeaten in Challenge Cup

Newcastle Falcons claimed an emphatic 35-0 victory over a poor Montauban side at Kingston Park on Sunday to keep alive their hopes of some European silverware.

The bonus-point victory moves the Falcons into second place in Pool Three of the Challenge Cup on 11 points, but they need to beat leaders Brive at home and Italian minnows Petrarca away in the final two rounds to have any say in the cup playoffs.

Wallaby legend Matthew Burke opened the scoring with a try in the 18th minute and backrower Eni Gesinde’s effort five minutes later gave the Falcons a 14-0 lead they were never going to relinquish.

A yellow card to hooker Tony Testa did not help the visitors and Burke’s second try on the half-hour mark handed Newcastle a 21-0 lead at half-time.

Winger Tom May supplied the bonus-point try and Falcons director of rugby John Fletcher cleared his bench with the game won.

Backrower Brent Wilson completed the rout with a try in the dying minutes and fly-half Toby Flood retained his perfect record with a fifth conversion.

Meanwhile, Bath’s unbeaten European Challenge Cup campaign shows no signs of being stopped after they recorded a 20-14 victory over Harlequins at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

With only a home game against Connacht and a trip to French minnows Montpellier left in the pool stages, Bath’s unbeaten record looks in little danger.

Full-back Nick Abendanon scored a crucial brace of tries in last weekend’s 24-18 victory at The Stoop, and was over the line in only the second minute of the Pool Four return match.

Bath’s Olly Barkley and Quins’ Adrian Jarvis then traded penalty goals, but Shaun Berne’s try in the final minute of the first half gave the home side a daunting 17-3 lead at the break.

Jarvis pegged back three points early in the second spell, but an upset was never on the cards as Bath closed ranks. An injury-time try to winger Tom Williams and a penalty goal from former All Black Andrew Mehrtens gave Quins the final say and a losing bonus point.

Saracens took control of Pool Two with a 36-16 win over GRAN Parma in Italy.

After hammering Parma 71-16 last weekend, the only surprise about Saracens’ first try was that it took 18 minutes to arrive.

As scrum-half Alan Dickens limped off after taking a heavy knock, the Saracens pack drove their rivals backwards and French referee Romain Poite immediately awarded a penalty try.

The two New Zealand-born fly-halves – Parma’s Rima Wakarua and Saracens’ Glen Jackson – exchanged penalty goals as rain started falling at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, before centre Rodd Penney’s try gave the visitors a 17-9 lead at the break.

Flanker David Seymour finished off a brilliant break from Thomas Castaignede to put the result beyond doubt, while there were also tries for Paul Gustard and replacement scrum-half Moses Rauluni.

In Romania, Newport Gwent Dragons recorded a 39-29 win over Bucuresti.

Home winger Catalin Fercu scored two first-half tries, but his one-man show could not prevent Turner’s men from recording a crucial bonus-point victory.

Both sides scored five tries, but 14 points from the boot of Wales international Ceri Sweeney proved the difference.

Clermont Auvergne dispatched Viadana 57-29 at Parc des Sports Marcel-Michelin after taking a match-winning 26-3 lead at half-time.

Nine different Clermont players scored tries, with fly-half Alexandre Peclier adding six conversions. Former Scotland fly-half Calvin Howarth converted three of the Italians’ four tries.

In Italy, Pool Three leaders Brive hammered Petrarca 48-6 to put one foot into the quarter-finals. Samoan Terry Fanolua, Fiji international Norman Ligairi and centre Nicolas Couttet all scored try doubles.

In Friday night’s action, Bristol put one foot in the quarter-finals with a predictable mauling of Bayonne at the Memorial Stadium.

With two pool matches left, the 48-6 win over the French minnows leaves Richard Hill’s team in the box seat for a home match in the play-offs.

They face a tricky game at the Dragons in early January, but are virtually certain to pick up five points at home to Bucuresti in the final-round match.

Craig Morgan, Lee Robinson and back-rower Joe El Abd ran in tries in an entertaining opening half-hour, and England scrum-half Shaun Perry bagged the bonus-point try to give the home side a 24-3 lead at the break that was never going to be overtaken.

Perry scored his second shortly after the break, and Robinson went over twice in quick succession to complete his hat-trick and leave Bristol on 19 out of a possible 20 points in the opening four rounds of the tournament.

In France, Montpellier beat Connacht 35-22 in a battle of the also-rans in Pool Four. Neither side have a chance of making the quarter-finals, but the French club do not like losing at home and they kept the Irishmen at bay – despite losing outside-half Francois Trinh Duc to a red card that cost him a two-week suspension.

Georgia’s international flanker Mamuka Gorgodze scored a brace of tries for the home side, but it was the boot of Regis Lespinas (20 points) that proved the difference on the night.

Connacht’s Daniel Riordan bagged a brace of his own, and his side outscored the Frenchmen four tries to three, but they now have two games to avoid bottom place in the pool.