Brive

Rugby Rumours: Mike Haley, Takudzwa Ngwenya, Alex Lozowski and Bryan Habana

Robbie Henshaw handed Ireland an RBS 6 Nations fitness boost as Connacht thrashed Enisei-STM 47-5 to qualify for the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Edinburgh got back to winning ways in the European Rugby Challenge Cup after their defeat in last season's final against Gloucester while Brive beat Newcastle in tonight's matches.

Gloucester claimed their sixth win from six in the European Challenge Cup to secure top seeding for the quarter-finals after a 31-20 win at Brive.

Zebre won their first European match at the 14th time of asking as they beat Brive 26-21 while there were also European Rugby Challenge Cup wins for London Irish, La Rochelle, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Charlie Sharples marked his 150th competitive appearance for Gloucester with a hat-trick of tries as the Premiership side beat Brive 55-0 in the opening game of the European Rugby Challenge Cup at Kingsholm.

The semi-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup will be an all-English affair after Bath thrashed Brive 39-7 to join Harlequins, Northampton and one of Wasps or Gloucester in the last four.

With the cold snap across France waning, the 18th round of the Top 14 sees a full complement of fixtures as the battle for the play-offs and relegation heats up.

With Phillipe Saint-André having announced his Six Nations squad on Thursday, the 30 men selected will be out to prove themselves worthy of making France's starting XV against Italy in one month's time.

The curtain fell on 2011 with Toulouse extending their lead at the top of the Top 14 table, after Clermont Auvergne were held up at Lyon. Elsewhere there were surprise victories for Bordeaux-Bègles and Biarritz.