There were wins for Sale and London Irish while Connacht drew at Worcester in the early Challenge Cup games played on Saturday.
Sale Sharks 15-13 Lyon
Sale kept their hopes of knockout qualification alive as they beat Lyon 15-13 at the AJ Bell Stadium in a close-fought match on Saturday.
The hosts led 5-3 in a low-scoring first-half as Andrei Ostrikov’s crossing was their only offering, with Lionel Beauxis responding for Lyon.
Replacement Josh Beaumont’s try and the boot of Will Cliff made it 15-6 to the Sharks after 52 minutes before Virgile Lacombe’s try on 72 minutes set up a nervy finish to the game, with Sale holding on for a crucial four points.
Sale move up to second spot in a tightly contested Pool 2, two points behind leaders Cardiff Blues who face off with Toulouse on Sunday.
The scorers:
For Sale:
Tries: Ostrikov, Beaumont
Con: Cliff
Pen: Cliff
Yellow Card: Solomona
For Lyon:
Try: Lacombe
Con: Michalak
Pens: Beauxis 2
Sale: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Will Addison, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Denny Solomona, 10 Sam James, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Jono Ross, 7 David Seymour, 6 Cameron Neild, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 George Nott, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Marc Jones, 1 James Flynn
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Matthew Postlewhaite, 22 Josh Charnley, 23 Luke James
Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Delon Armitage, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Mike Harris, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Baptiste Couilloud, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Dylan Cretin, 6 Julien Puricelli, 5 Etienne Oosthuizen, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Alexandre Menini
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Tornike Mataradze, 18 Stéphane Clement, 19 Francois van der Merwe, 20 Theophile Cotte, 21 Thibaut Regard, 22 Jone Tuva, 23 Frédéric Michalak
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Aled Evans (Wales)
London Irish 47-14 Krasny Yar
Four tries from Theo Brophy Clews helped London Irish to a bonus-point 47-14 home victory over Krasny Yar in their Challenge Cup game.
The visitors led 10-7 at the break though thanks to a try from Giorgi Pruidze and it was clear the Exiles needed a stern half-time message.
Ben Loader did cross for Irish in the first-half but after the interval it was one-way traffic as Brophy Clews starred while Lovejoy Chawatama and Joe Cokanasiga also scored, with Sunia Latu getting a consolation for Krasny Yar.
The scorers:
For London Irish:
Tries: Loader, Brophy Clews 4, Chawatama, Cokanasiga
Cons: Bell 2, Atkins 4
For Krasny Yar:
Tries: Pruidze, Latu
Cons: Malaguradze 2
Pen: Malaguradze
Yellow Card: V Tsnobiladze
London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Ben Ransom, 13 Matt Williams, 12 Theo Brophy Clews, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Jacob Atkins, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Isaac Curtis-Harris, 7 Max Northcote-Green, 6 Jack Cooke, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 4 William Lloyd, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 David Paice, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Todd Gleave, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Josh Basham, 20 Tom Woolstencroft, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Tom Fowlie, 23 Joe Cokanasiga
Krasny Yar: 15 Soso Matiashvili, 14 Igor Galinovskiy, 13 Giorgi Pruidze, 12 Lasha Malaguradze, 11 Vas Artemyev, 10 Fangatapu Apikotoa, 9 Vasilii Dorofeev, 8 Aleksandr Khudiakov, 7 Viktor Arhip, 6 Viktor Gresev, 5 Andrei Garbuzov, 4 Andrei Mahu, 3 Sione Fukofuka, 2 Valeriy Tsnobiladze, 1 Grigory Tsnobiladze
Replacements: 16 Andrei Kondakov, 17 Oleg Prepelitse, 18 Mikheil Tsiklauri, 19 Alexander Ilin, 20 Rushan Iagudin, 21 Anton Riabov, 22 Sunia Latu, 23 Kirill Golosnitskii
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Graeme Ormiston (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
Worcester Warriors 24-24 Connacht
Connacht wrapped up top spot in Pool 5 of the Challenge Cup as they drew 24-24 with second-placed Worcester Warriors at Sixways.
They trailed 24-14 at the break after tries from Perry Humphreys (2), Sam Lewis and Josh Adams put the Warriors in a strong position.
But Connacht clicked into gear after the interval with Tiernan O’Halloran’s try adding to first-half crossings from John Muldoon and Niyi Adeolokun, with Craig Ronaldson kicking vital points to see the Irish side claim two points.
The Warriors also picked up a try bonus point for their efforts but they are now six points adrift of Connacht with just one round remaining.
The scorers:
For Worcester:
Tries: Humphreys 2, Lewis, Adams
Cons: Pennell 2
Yellow Card: Pennell
For Connacht:
Tries: Muldoon, Adeolokun, O’Halloran
Cons: Ronaldson 3
Pen: Ronaldson
Yellow Cards: Roux, Butler
Worcester: 15 Josh Adams, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Chris Pennell, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 David Denton, 5 Pierce Phillips, 4 Darren Barry, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Matti Williams, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Bi Alo, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Michael Dowsett, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Ben Howard
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Darragh Leader, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Niyi Adeolokun, 10 Craig Ronaldson, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Conor Carey, 2 David Heffernan, 1 Peter McCabe
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Coulson, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Eoin Griffin, 23 Cian Kelleher
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Laurent Cardona (France), Cédric Clave (France)
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