Tom Cruse scores a try for Wasps
Tom Cruse scores a try for Wasps

European Rugby Champions Cup round-up: Wasps win


A round-up of the latest action in the in the European Rugby Champions Cup.

European Champions Cup results

Saturday January 20

Pool 2

  • Clermont 24-7 Ospreys
  • Saracens 62-14 Northampton

Pool 3

  • Glasgow 28-21 Exeter
  • Montpellier 14-23 Leinster

Pool 5

  • Benetton 28-47 Bath
  • Scarlets 30-27 Toulon

Sunday January 21

Pool 1

  • Stade Rochelais 16-7 Harlequins
  • Wasps 26-7 Ulster

Pool 4

  • Leicester 20-23 Racing 92
  • Munster 48-3 Castres

European Champions Cup round-up

Champions Cup quarter-finals

  • Leinster v Saracens
  • Scarlets v La Rochelle
  • Munster v Toulon
  • Clermont Auvergne v Racing 92

Wasps ended their European Champions Cup group campaign on a winning note with a convincing 26-7 victory over Ulster at the Ricoh Arena.

The victory for Wasps ruined Ulster's hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals but their win paved the way for their fierce rivals, Saracens, to survive as the only remaining English club.

Wasps' win took them above Ulster to finish as runners-up in Pool One but their 17-point tally was insufficient for them to qualify and they can only reflect on their poor performances at Harlequins and Ulster, which ultimately proved costly.

Tom Cruse, Guy Thompson, Jake Cooper-Woolley and Willie Le Roux scored Wasps' tries with Danny Cipriani converting three.

Sean Reidy scored a try for Ulster, which John Cooney converted.

Munster reached the Champions Cup knockout stages for a record 17th time with a runaway 48-3 bonus-point victory over Castres at Thomond Park.

The kick-off was delayed by three hours due to heavy rain in Limerick, but the efforts of the ground staff ensured the game went ahead as Munster - advancing as Pool Four winners - set up a home quarter-final against Toulon.

Champions Cup novices La Rochelle are through to the quarter-finals at the first attempt as winners of Pool 1 but a spirited Harlequins performance prevented them from getting a home tie.

The under-strength Quins side won the second half after conceding 13 points in the opening 40 minutes and gave director of rugby John Kingston plenty to feel proud about despite a 16-7 defeat.

Leicester regained some pride after a poor campaign by pushing Racing 92 all the way before going down 23-20 in their final pool game.

The Tigers, who have now failed to reach the knock-out stage in three of the last four seasons, finished bottom of their pool for the first time but at least produced a battling performance at Welford Road.

Brendon O'Connor scored their only try, the other points coming from the boot of George Ford, while scrum-half Maxime Machaneaud starred for Racing. He scored 18 points, including a try, the other being scored by Henry Chavancy.

On Saturday, Saracens kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions Cup knock-out phase after demolishing Northampton 62-14 at Allianz Park.

For the third time this season the reigning champions posted 50 points against their Aviva Premiership rivals, who saw their mini-revival grind to a halt a week after humbling Clermont.

The bonus-point win sees Saracens finish second in Pool 2 and they will progress to the quarter-finals if they finish among the three best runners-up when the final round of group matches is completed.

Desperate to preserve their dream of winning a third successive European title, they did everything possible to stay in contention by amassing seven tries against feeble opponents and scoring 27 points through the boot of Owen Farrell.

Apart from the first quarter, Northampton were never in the hunt for a second win of a dismal group campaign. Instead, they leaked their highest number of points in a European game.

Clermont are through to the quarter-finals as winners of Pool 2 thanks to a 24-7 victory over Ospreys - and bagged a home game in the knock-out stage.

The inability of the Welsh region to turn their first-half pressure into points meant they lost their chance of going through and opened the door for reigning champions Saracens to remain in the hunt for one of the three best runners-up spots.

Glasgow broke their duck in this season's competition with a 28-21 bonus-point win that dissolved Exeter's chances of finishing as one of the best three pool runners-up.

A hard-fought first half dominated by Exeter left the scores tied at 7-7, with an early try from Stuart Hogg matched by a late one from Sam Simmonds.

Glasgow were awarded a penalty try on 53 minutes and with Chiefs scrum half Nic White in the sin bin the home side ran in tries from Tommy Seymour and Matt Fagerson.

Chiefs hit back with tries from Don Armond and Ian Whitten, but Glasgow held them in the closing stages.

In Pool 5, Scarlets beat Toulon 30-27 while Bath were 47-28 winners at Benetton.

Leinster completed a clean sweep of Pool 3 with a 23-14 triumph at Montpellier to guarantee top seeding for the quarter-finals.

The three-time European champions made it six wins from six matches and made sure the star-studded French side would not progress at the Altrad Stadium.

Ross Byrne's early score was cancelled out by Bismarck Du Plessis and Yacouba Camara after powerful forward drives.

But quick-fire tries from Robbie Henshaw and Sean Cronin at the start of the second half put Leinster out of sight.

They will now face the final team to sneak into the final qualification places, with so much still to be decided in the final round of pool matches.

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