European Challenge Cup Round Up

The last weekend of European Challenge Cup Pool fixtures have ended and the knockout stages have been drawn with some interesting quarter finals due to take place; most notably for English rugby fans a Premiership battle between Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Falcons due to take place at Sandy Park.

In Pool one London Irish finished top of their pool after recording a bonus point win over Rovigo Delta in Italy.

The Exiles went into the game knowing a bonus point win was needed to secure the home spot in the next round but after the first 40 minutes it was clear it was not going to be a walk over.

The first half saw Rovigo pin Irish in their own 22 for the majority of the half, drilling kick after kick deep into Irish territory. A breakaway try from flanker Ofisa Treviranus and a Shane Geraghty penalty ensured Irish went into half time with a slender 10 – 6 lead.

The second half saw Irish’s fitness come out on top as they ran in four unanswered tries. James Short, in his first appearance in recent weeks, finished well in the corner before Treviranus barged his way over for his second off a Darren Allinson pop pass.

Topsy Ojo extended his all-time top try scorer stat for the Exiles as he finished a move started by Andrew Fenby in Irish own 22 and claim the bonus point before Treviranus completed his hat trick after Tom Fowlie crashed though and offloaded for the Samoan to go in under the posts and leave the fill time score at 34 – 6.

Elsewhere in the pool Cardiff Blues beat Grenoble 3 -28 to finish second in the pool and also quality for the quarterfinals.

London Irish will now welcome Edinburgh to the Madejski Stadium in the quarter finals who beat Bordeaux 38 – 20 to secure their place in the quarter finals and Cardiff Blues will face Newport Gwent Dragons after they beat Stade Francais 30 – 19.

The other quarter finals pair Gloucester against Connacht after the Irish side staged a comeback to overturn a 20 – 11 half time score against La Rochelle to run out 20 – 30 winners and Gloucester saw off Brive 20 – 31.

Exeter Chiefs also qualified for the quarters after running in six tries against Bayonne to win 45 – 3 at Sandy Park. The West Country outfit will play fellow Aviva Premiership side Newcastle Falcons in the quarterfinals after they beat Bucharest Wolves 52 – 10, having the crucial bonus point wrapped up by half time.

The possible semi finals throw up some tasty looking contests. If London Irish beat Edinburgh they will have a home semi-final against either the Dragons or Cardiff Blues, a side they have already played twice in the pool stages; losing away but winning at home.

If Gloucester win they will either welcome Exeter or Newcastle to Kingsholm; meaning a potential West Country derby could be on the cards if both Exeter and Gloucester go through and for Chiefs this will be a chance for them to get their revenge after Gloucester beat them at Sandy Park in the Premiership earlier in the season.