European round-up: Sale score four tries in 29-7 trouncing of Racing 92 in Investec Champions Cup
Round-up of Friday's European rugby union action, as Sale scored four tries in a trouncing of Racing 92 and Castres edged past Munster in the Investec Champions Cup; Edinburgh put 52 up on Bayonne in rout that sees the Scottish outfit off the mark in the European Challenge Cup
Last Updated: 13/12/24 11:37pm
Sale reignited their Investec Champions Cup campaign as they cruised to a 29-7 win over Racing 92 at Salford Community Stadium.
The hosts had started the night bottom of Pool Four after a loss at Glasgow in the opening round, but an opening try from Jean-Luc du Preez set the tone for a dominant display.
Tom Roebuck crossed in the corner to put the hosts 12 points clear although Racing, who had beaten Harlequins in the opening round, responded when Guram Gogichashvili barged over to cut Sale's lead to five at the break.
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Racing's bid to build on that breakthrough was ended shortly after the restart when Roebuck reacted to a poor kick to send Joe Carpenter scampering under the posts to restore the home side's 12-point advantage.
Ben Curry crossed for Sale's fourth try after Racing's Maxime Baudonne was sent to the sin bin, and Sale's win could have been more emphatic had Rob du Preez - who kicked three conversions and a penalty - not had a late effort ruled out for a knock-on.
Castres 16-14 Munster
Munster fell to a 16-14 defeat to Castres in France as a late penalty from Louis le Brun helped the hosts get the better of a physical and error-strewn clash.
Craig Casey and Peter O'Mahony both went off injured on a night to forget for the visitors, who fell behind to early tries from Abraham Papalii and Quentin Walcker.
A superb solo try from John Hodnett kept Munster in touch, taking them to the interval only three points in arrears at 10-7, and the 68th-minute sin-binning of Castres prop Nicolas Corato gave the visitors renewed hope.
As the errors kept coming from both sides, a home infringement gave Hodnett the chance to power over for his second and Jack Crowley's second conversion gave the visitors an unlikely lead.
But was not enough for Ian Costello's side as Le Brun's kick gave Castres back the advantage and they saw the game out to take the points.
Edinburgh 52-12 Bayonne
Edinburgh ran in eight tries as they blew away Bayonne 52-12 to get off the mark in Pool Three of the European Challenge Cup.
Bouncing back from an opening loss to Gloucester, Edinburgh opened the scoring as Matt Currie celebrated his new contract with a try and, after Magnus Bradbury and Esteban Capilla were sent to the sin bin, Mosese Tuipluotu crossed for his first try for the club to make it 12-0 at half-time.
Lucas Martin got Bayonne on the board early in the second half, and Baptiste Germain quickly responded to a try from Darcy Graham with another score for the visitors, but the floodgates were about to open for Edinburgh as the tries came in a rush.
Duhan van der Merwe ran between the posts before Graham got his second, finding a way through a scrambling defence, and Tom Dodd then got two in quick succession, both from rolling mauls.
Jamie Ritchie added the final Edinburgh try in the 77th minute.
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