European Rugby Champions Cup: Munster beat Gloucester

Munster 36-22 Gloucester

Danny Cipriani capped a bad week with a first-half red card for a high tackle which sent 14-man Gloucester spinning to a 36-22 Champions Cup defeat against Munster at Thomond Park.

Cipriani, snubbed by Eddie Jones on Thursday when England's autumn series squad was named, was sent off in the 28th minute by French referee Alexandre Ruiz after his right shoulder made contact with the head of Munster centre Rory Scannell.

Tries from Mike Haley (20 minutes) and Rhys Marshall (34) gave Munster a 15-3 half-time lead, with Gloucester also having lock Tom Savage sin-binned.

The Irish province, who gained a valuable draw at Exeter in round one, had their bonus point by the 55th minute thanks to man-of-the-match Joey Carbery's first European try in the red jersey and a Sam Arnold score.

Andrew Conway added a fifth try in front of a 23,068-strong crowd but Munster's poor discipline saw them end the game with 13 players - replacements Arnold and Stephen Archer both saw yellow - as Gloucester rallied superbly with tries from former Munster lock Gerbrandt Grober, Jason Woodward and the excellent Ben Morgan.

Already down a few bodies, including Gallagher Premiership top try scorer Charlie Sharples (hamstring), Gloucester rejigged their front row before kick-off with Fraser Balmain (illness) dropping out.

They got off to a bright start by disrupting Munster's lineout and Val Rapava Ruskin, Balmain's replacement, won a scrum penalty.

Munster were fortunate to get away with just a penalty for CJ Stander's collapsed maul, before a Tadhg Beirne turnover lifted the hosts and they soon took advantage after the match officials deemed Savage's shoulder-led clearout on Dan Goggin worthy of a yellow card.

Gloucester were caught narrow in defence and good width from Munster put full-back Haley over in the right corner. Carbery swept the conversion wide to the left, and Munster captain Peter O'Mahony coughed up a penalty which Cipriani turned into three points with a booming long-range kick.

However, the 30-year-old England fly-half received his marching orders just a few minutes later, being caught too upright in a tackle on Scannell which also involved Ruskin.

Carbery sent the resulting penalty over for 8-3 and he converted after Billy Twelvetrees was pinged for another high tackle and hooker Marshall struck from an impressive lineout maul.

An ankle injury forced Tommy O'Donnell off before the interval, and Tom Marshall joined Franco Marais on the sidelines as injuries further impacted the Gloucester line-up.

Playing a scrum penalty advantage, Carbery wrapped around Goggin to raid in beside the posts in the 50th minute, and the young number 10's classy behind-the-back pass added momentum to an attack which ended with Arnold's well-taken try.

Even at 29-3 down, Gloucester were far from finished. Grobler scored from close range following a series of Munster penalties and Matt Banahan threatened before full-back Woodward crossed in the left corner. Conway claimed Munster's fifth try, via Carbery's soft hands, with the latter chalking up 16 points in total.

However, the new Pool 2 leaders' disappointing finish slightly took the shine off their victory as they allowed the resilient Cherry and Whites to dictate possession, Morgan burrowing over in the 78th minute, in between those yellows for Arnold (deliberate knock-on) and Archer (high tackle).

Castres 29-25 Exeter

Top 14 champions Castres hit back from 14-0 down inside the opening 15 minutes to edge past Exeter 29-25 in the Heineken Champions Cup, despite playing with 14 men for 44 minutes.

Back-rower Ma'ama Vaipulu was dismissed for a high tackle on hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie.

In the end, a yellow card for Henry Slade for tripping Florian Viallelle in a race to the line seven minutes from time cut short any hope of an Exeter comeback.

The Chiefs had the better of the opening exchanges as Santiago Cordero's mazy solo effort was followed moments later by a Matt Kvesic score. He squirmed through a lineout maul from Exeter's third penalty kick to touch in quick succession to score unopposed and hand the Chiefs a 14-0 lead after 14 minutes.

Castres found a rapid answer with a try from Florian Viallelle, who picked up a perfect pop pass to slice through Exeter's defence and Julien Dumora reduced the gap further three minutes later after Exeter conceded a penalty in front of the posts.

The battle at the breakdown was ferocious and Dumora slotted a drop goal following a galloping break from Steve Mafi to bring the hosts within a point.

Dumora then added a 31st-minute penalty to put Castres ahead for the first time, but soon after he was forced off by injury and his replacement Yohan Le Bourhis extended the lead to 19-14 with a nerveless penalty.

Vaipulu was then dismissed for that tackle on Cowan-Dickie and Exeter capitalised almost immediately when Gareth Steenson charged down a kick from Le Bourhis and gathered to level the half-time score at 19-19.

Mafi then charged through the Chiefs five minutes after the break and Le Bourhis converted to give the hosts a 26-19 lead early in the second period before Steenson narrowed the deficit with a penalty after another high tackle.

Le Bourhis and Steenson exchanged furthered penalties as they game headed into the final 20 minutes with four points separating the sides.

A Le Bourhis drop goal hit a post and desperate defence was needed as Exeter tried to make the extra man count before Slade's yellow evened up the numbers for the closing minutes.

Exeter elected to kick a penalty to touch with just over two minutes left to give themselves one last shot at victory.

But, after a knock-on at the following lineout, the Chiefs front row conceded the penalty that gave the points to Castres, who maintained their two-year unbeaten run at home in Europe.

Saracens 29-10 Lyon

Saracens made it two wins from two in this season's Heineken Champions Cup, producing a clinical display to seal a 29-10 bonus-point win over Lyon.

Mark McCall's men were not at their best after the 12-3 victory over Glasgow on Europe's opening weekend - but they still came out on top.

Tries from Maro Itoje and Sean Maitland plus a penalty and two conversions from Owen Farrell put the hosts in control with 40 minutes played.

Captain Brad Barritt got his team's third try in the 46th minute - but it took until three minutes from time for the crucial fourth score to arrive thanks to Alex Lewington.

Lyon crossed through Virgile Lacombe, but their European dream now looks over after back-to-back defeats.

Saracens were in almost complete control from the first whistle.

Farrell kicked a penalty in just the third minute and it was no surprise when the tries soon arrived.

After relentless home pressure, Itoje came up with the first score when the England international stripped the ball from giant Lyon lock Etienne Oosthuizen in impressive fashion and ran to the line. Farrell converted.

The second home try was a shocker from a French perspective. Alex Goode kicked through and although the ball went almost straight to Jean-Marc Doussain, the Lyon scrum-half could not deal with it and Maitland ended up as the beneficiary.

The Saracens winger's surprise was obvious as he scored and Farrell converted to make it 17-0.

Lyon got on the board through a Lionel Beauxis penalty and although the visitors finally began to see a bit of the ball, they trailed by 14 points at the break.

Rudi Wulf's break and powerful run was denied by an excellent tackle from Goode.

Saracens got their third try at the start of the second period, Barritt driven over for what was his team's 100th Champions Cup effort. The score was confirmed via the TMO and Farrell kicked the goal.

At 24-3 Lyon faced a tough task to come back, but when Toby Arnold hacked on a loose ball, his pick-up was hindered by a cruel bounce of the ball and the chance was lost.

Even without injured England forward trio Mako and Billy Vunipola and Nick Isiekwe, the Saracens pack was in outstanding form and both teams shuffled their sides in search of fresh legs. It worked for Lyon who to their credit, did not give up.

Doussain took a quick tap from a penalty and replacement Lacombe picked up and crashed over between the posts. It meant Beauxis couldn't miss with his conversion.

Saracens were suddenly in a hurry. Itoje went on the rampage and fed Farrell, but a superb tackle by covering Lyon defender Pierre-Louis Barassi stopped a try.

But there was still time for Lewington to finish off a flowing team move for the bonus point try and Farrell's missed conversion mattered little.

Racing 92 44-12 Ulster

Racing 92 established themselves as the early pacesetters in Pool four of the Heineken Champions Cup with a 44-12 victory over Ulster in Paris.

Tries from Teddy Iribaren, Wenceslas Lauret, Juan Imhoff, Teddy Thomas and Simon Zebo plus 18 points from the boot of Finn Russell was enough to secure the victory.

Ulster scored two tries of their own courtesy of David Shanahan and Jacob Stockdale while Billy Burns kicked two points.

Ulster made the perfect start when Burns launched a scintillating counter attack from his own 22 with his pass sending full back Michael Lowry charging down field before being brought down in Racing's 22.

But the ball was recycled before Will Addison put Shanahan over with a well-timed pass.

Ulster were then reduced to 14 men when number eight Nick Timoney received a yellow card for lifting Fabien Sanconnie above the horizontal.

The visitors further extended their lead with Stockdale crossing at the far left hand corner for his 23rd try in 33 Ulster appearances following a period of sustained pressure in the Racing 22.

Racing hit back when number eight Antonie Claassen charged forward off the back of a powerful scrum before drawing his man to put replacement scrum half Iribaren over.

The home side claimed their second try just five minutes later when Imhoff made a searing break into the Ulster 22. He was brought down but the ball was recycled before Lauret crossed the try line.

Craig Gilroy blew a golden opportunity to retake the lead when he was put clear by Addison but the ball was spilled forward.

Russell put his side further ahead with a penalty from 40 metres out to give the Parisians a 20-12 lead at the interval.

Imhoff touched down between the posts in the early stages of the second half after an initial break by Olivier Klemenczak to put Racing in control.

Russell added three more points for Racing with a successful penalty after Gilroy was penalised for intentionally knocking the ball forward.

Last season's finalists secured the try bonus point with a fine try which came through a moment of brilliance from Scotland star Russell.

The outside half chipped the ball over the top of the Ulster defence from within his own 22 before regathering and putting Thomas clear and he sprinted 50 metres for the try.

Ireland international Zebo rubbed salt into Ulster's wounds with a fifth try which came after some slick handling by the hosts.

Edinburgh 40-14 Toulon

Edinburgh stormed to a 40-14 win over Toulon in Heineken Champions Cup Pool 5.

A deserved bonus-point win kept their qualifying hopes on track as Ben Toolis, Henry Pyrgos, Stuart McInally and Chris Dean scored tries and Jaco van der Walt kicked 18 points.

Toulis and Pyrgos crossed as Edinburgh built up a 26-7 half-time lead, Romain Taofifenua with Toulon's response, and McInally made the lead a comfortable one early in the second half.

Daniel Ikpefan pulled another try back but Dean grabbed the bonus-point score late on, converted by Simon Hickey.

Edinburgh built up a 10-0 lead in just 15 minutes. Centre Matt Scott found a hole to make a long run and when Toulon were penalised, Van der Walt kicked the penalty.

A short-side break by Blair Kinghorn and Dougie Fife let Edinburgh hammer away on the line until penalised but the opening try was not long delayed. Prop WP Nel, bouncing off a tackle, burst into the Toulon 22 where pressure resulted in a try from Toolis converted by Van der Walt.

Toulon then put in their first attack in the 20th minute and pulled back seven points when pressure from a lineout saw the ball spread wide for lock Taofifenua to crash over, with Anthony Belleau converting.

Edinburgh responded with a fine handling break involving Kinghorn, Scott and Pyrgos, with the latter scoring under the bar to make Van der Walt's conversion simple.

As Edinburgh remained in the ascendency, their South African fly-half added three more penalties before the interval.

Five minutes after the resumption, Edinburgh pressure resulted in the third try scored by McInally with Van der Walt again converting.

Toulouse roused themselves for the rest of the half but could make nothing of Edinburgh's defence.

Particularly notable was a last-ditch tackle on Toulon winger Josua Tuisova by Simon Berghan.

With eight minutes left Ikpefan got over for Toulon and Francois Trinh-Duc converted, but Edinburgh replied with Dean's try to claim maximum points.

Wasps 35-35 Bath

Freddie Burns bounced back from his Heineken Champions Cup horror show in impressive fashion as Pool One rivals Bath and Wasps drew 35-35 at the Ricoh Arena.

Burns missed an easy late penalty and then lost the ball over Toulouse's line after blowing a kiss to the crowd, botching what would have been a potential match-winning try against Champions Cup opponents Toulouse last weekend.

But Bath's coaching staff stuck by him, and he repaid them handsomely, converting all five of Bath's tries by Joe Cokanasiga, Max Wright, Semesa Rokoduguni, Charlie Ewels and Francois Louw.

Wasps stung Bath with a remarkable early-second-half scoring spree. Trailing by 14 points at the break, they scored three tries in eight minutes from scrum-half Joe Simpson, prop Zurab Zhvania and substitute Ashley Johnson.

It followed wing Josh Bassett's first-half touchdown, yet it required flanker Thomas Young's try nine minutes from time, with fly-half Lima Sopoaga kicking five conversions, to secure a share of the spoils, as Bath susbstitute Alex Davies missed a 79th-minute penalty after Burns had gone off injured.

But with European title holders Leinster firm favourites to win the group - they crushed Wasps 52-3 last week and face Bath home and away in December - a draw did not really help either of the Gallagher Premiership clubs.

Both sides looked to recover quickly from contrasting Champions Cup opening weekend defeats, and Bath could not have hoped for a better start as Burns' superb pass set up an attack from just inside their own half.

Cokanasiga then linked impressively at pace with scrum-half Will Chudley before showcasing all his strength by finishing superbly under pressure from three Wasps tacklers, and Burns' conversion opened up a seven-point lead.

Wasps drew level through an 18th-minute try after Simpson did all the hard work, breaking clear from a ruck and delaying his pass expertly before allowing Bassett a straightforward finish in the corner, with Sopoaga's conversion hauling Wasps level.

Bath, though, regained the lead just three minutes later after Wright cut open Wasps' defence far too easily, combined with hooker Jack Walker and then touched down unopposed before another Burns conversion opened up a 14-7 advantage.

Watching England head coach Eddie Jones was twice booed by the crowd when his image appeared on the stadium's big screen - and then cheered later - but Bath were not distracted and they increased their lead 10 minutes before half time.

Wasps attacked inside the Bath half, but full-back Willie Le Roux's pass was intercepted by Rokoduguni, who sprinted 65 metres for his team's third try,and Burns again added the extras.

It was a a poor score for Wasps to concede, but they gained a temporary one-man advantage as the interval approached when Bath's South Africa international flanker Louw was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

Wasps blasted out of the blocks after half-time, and Simpson set up a promising attacking position that ultimately saw him rewarded with a try when he gathered Zhvania's pass to metres out, with Sopoaga's conversion cutting the deficit to seven points.

And before Bath could regroup, Wasps struck again, this time when Zhvania rounded off another concerted spell of pressure, and a third Sopoaga conversion tied the game up.

Johnson then scored Wasps' bonus point try - Sopoaga again converted - yet the lead lasted only five minutes as Bath skipper Ewels surged clear and claimed an opportunist try, converted by Burns, to make it 28-28.

Louw and Young then scored tries during the final 15 minutes, but a draw is of no real use to either side in terms of any quarter-final ambitions.

Leicester 45-27 Scarlets

Leicester kept their European Champions Cup hopes alive with a thrilling 45-27 win over Scarlets at Welford Road.

The Tigers' pack dominated an injury-ravaged Scarlets' eight and their pressure was rewarded with five tries scored by Harry Wells, Guy Thompson, Sione Kalamafoni, Manu Tuilagi and Jonny May. George Ford added four penalties and four conversions.

Scarlets replied with tries from Gareth Davies, Steff Evans and Blade Thomson, with Leigh Halfpenny kicking two penalties and three conversions.

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