Rugby
Toulon, Quins in quarters
2013-01-12 18:21
Paris - French giants Toulon and Clermont,
as well as English champions Harlequins, joined Ulster in the European
Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Toulon routed Cardiff Blues 45-25
in Pool 6, Harlequins beat Irish province Connacht 47-8 in Pool 3 while
Clermont topped Pool 5 with a 46-3 rout of Exeter.
That result
meant that two-time defending champions Leinster, who collected a
bonus-point 33-14 win over the Scarlets, were left hoping to secure a
place in the last eight as one of two best runners-up when group games
conclude next week.
Toulon manager Bernard Laporte congratulated
his players on showing character in bouncing back from their home defeat
in the Top 14 by Racing-Metro last week.
"We fulfilled our objective, which was to win and qualify for the quarter-finals," said the former France coach.
"The
bonus point allows us to approach the final pool match in the best
possible conditions to ensure we have a home quarter-final, but let's
not get ahead of ourselves, nothing has been achieved yet."
Cardiff
opened the scoring with a penalty from Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny,
who was then on hand to round off a midfield move that saw Gavin Evans
glide past a stationary Mathieu Bastareaud.
But Toulon fired back
with quickfire tries from Kiwi winger Rudi Wulf and prop Xavier Chiocci,
both converted by Jonny Wilkinson.
Hooker Jean-Charles Orioli was
played in by Frederic Michalak and Chris Masoe for Toulon's third try
just before half-time, France centre Maxime Mermoz and winger Alexis
Palisson bagging a swift brace after the restart.
In London,
Harlequins beat Irish province Connacht 47-8 in a six-try-to-one
thrashing, ex-All Black fly-half Nick Evans chipping in with 15 points
with the boot.
Saracens all but sealed their place in the last
eight, prevailing against the odds with a 37-28 win over French
opponents Racing-Metro in a thrilling Pool 1 clash.
The English
side lead the pool by six points from Racing and will have their place
confirmed in the quarter-finals if Munster lose to Edinburgh on Sunday.
Saracens
won despite having at one point trailed 19-6 and at two stages of the
game been reduced to 14 men for yellow cards to Will Fraser, for
elbowing Juan-Martin Hernandez, and England wing Chris Ashton for
slapping former France centre Fabrice Estebanez.
The hosts, who
had chosen to play the game in Nantes, ran in three tries in the
first-half, two to Argentinian wing Juan Jose Imhoff, but were never
able to shake off the English side.
That was mainly thanks to a
peerless kicking display by fly-half Owen Farrell, who kicked 11 from
11, 10 penalties and one conversion, for a total of 32 points.
Clermont reached the quarter-finals for the fifth time with their 46-3 win over Exeter.
The
French side scored six tries through Jean-Marcellin Buttin (two),
Wesley Fofana, Damien Chouly, David Skrela and Napolioni Nalaga.
Leinster
ran in five tries to beat the Scarlets with Cian Healy, Shane Jennings,
Luke Fitzgerald, Rob Kearney and Ian Madigan all crossing.
But
the Irish side, champions in 2009, 2011 and 2012, will need a
bonus-point win at Exeter next weekend to keep their last-eight hopes
alive.
Ulster, the runners-up in 2012, secured their quarter-final spot on Friday with a 23-6 win over Glasgow.
European Cup results on Saturday:Pool 1
Racing Metro (FRA) 28 Saracens (ENG) 37
Pool 3
Harlequins (ENG) 47 Connacht (IRL) 8
Zebre (ITA) 6 Biarritz (FRA) 32
Pool 5
Clermont (FRA) 46 Exeter (ENG) 3
Leinster (IRL) 33 Scarlets (WAL) 14
Pool 6
Toulon (FRA) 45 Cardiff Blues (WAL) 25
Friday
Pool 4
Northampton (ENG) 18 Castres (FRA) 12
Ulster (IRL) 23 Glasgow (SCO) 6
Pool 6
Sale (ENG) 6 Montpellier (FRA) 27
Sunday
Pool 1
Edinburgh (SCO) v Munster (IRL) (14:45)
Pool 2
Ospreys (WAL) v Leicester (ENG) (17:00)
Toulouse (FRA) v Treviso (ITA) (17:00)