European Challenge Cup

Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw admits it will feel "a little bit strange" when he goes into European Challenge Cup final battle against his former team.

Gloucester held off a stern challenge from Exeter to win their European Challenge Cup semi-final 30-19 at Kingsholm and set up a final clash with Edinburgh next month.

Edinburgh reached a European final for the first time after beating Newport Gwent Dragons 45-16 in a one-sided European Challenge Cup semi-final.

Clermont were simply glorious; Leinster were brutally efficient. Saracens were powerful and clutch, whilst Toulon, believe it or not, were a tad lucky.

London Irish head coach Glenn Delaney was left to rue what might have been after his side lost a dramatic Challenge Cup quarter-final to Edinburgh at the Madejski Stadium.

Gloucester became the first side through to the European Challenge Cup semi-finals after a 14-7 win over Connacht in a dour game at Kingsholm.

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.

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.

Round 5 of the European Rugby Champions Cup was another feather in the cap of the new competition, offering up an abundance of tries, end-to-end excitement and compelling contests throughout.

Cardiff Blues returned to the top of Pool One in the European Challenge Cup in astonishing fashion, running over a hundred points beyond part-timers Rovigo at Arms Park.

Newcastle lost their unbeaten record in the European Challenge Cup as Stade Francais scored a late try to win a thrilling Pool 3 tie 31-24.

The European Rugby Challenge Cup returned for a pulsating third round of fixtures this past weekend and we have somehow shortened the action into one full round-up which includes Newcastle Falcons maintaining their 100% record, Garth Steenson's 16 point haul for Exeter at La Rochelle and a whole load more. Who do you think is on course to make it to the quarter-finals at this stage?

Newcastle maintained their 100 per cent start to their European Challenge Cup campaign with a 30-23 victory against Stade Francais on Friday.

There were wins for Cardiff Blues, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester and Stade Francais as the second round of European Rugby Challenge Cup fixtures drew to a close today.

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.

London Welsh were soundly beaten by in-form French side Bordeaux-Begles in Thursday's European Challenge Cup encounter at the Kassam Stadium.

Sunday 19 October saw London Irish welcome Italian side Rovigo Delta in the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The game also saw Dan Leo and Ofisa Treviranus start for the Exiles, the pair having both been selected recently for the Samoa squad ahead of the autumn internationals.

London Irish ran in 10 tries during a comprehensive 70-14 win over Rovigo in the final European Rugby Challenge Cup game of the first round.

A round-up of the first Saturday of action in the new European Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup competitions where there was plenty of drama and high quality rugby played.

Edinburgh claimed an impressive 15-13 away win over Bordeaux-Begles and Newcastle Falcons beat Bucharest Wolves 43-19 in the evening's European Rugby Challenge Cup matches.