A review of Sunday's action in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Hogg touches down as Exeter hold on to beat Sale
Stuart Hogg scored his first try for Exeter before going off with a head injury as the Chiefs maintained their 100 per cent Heineken Champions Cup record with a nail-biting 22-20 win at Sale.
The Sharks staged a tremendous rally after trailing 22-8 after 25 minutes and scored the only try of the second half but in the end ran out of time and a second defeat in three matches left their qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
Despite scoring three tries before half-time, the Chiefs failed for the first time to secure a bonus point but, after beating all three opponents in Pool Two, they have a stranglehold on the group at the halfway stage.
Hooker Akker Van Der Merwe scored two first-half tries for the Sharks to keep them in the game but they are now below Glasgow in the group and need to beat Exeter in the return fixture at Sandy Park next Sunday to keep alive their hopes of only a second appearance in the knockout stages.
Gloucester stop the rot with Connacht victory
Gloucester full-back Tom Marshall scored two tries to keep his side's European hopes alive with a 26-17 bonus-point win over Connacht at Kingsholm.
After five consecutive defeats, including two in Europe, Gloucester badly needed a victory to get their season back on track, but it took them some time to quell a very ordinary Connacht.
Louis Rees-Zammit and Jake Polledri also touched down for Gloucester, with Danny Cipriani kicking three conversions.
John Porch and Quinn Roux responded with tries for Connacht, while Jack Carty contributed five points from the tee and Conor Fitzgerald added a conversion.
