It was a successful weekend for English clubs competing in the latest of European Challenge Cup action.
Newcastle Falcons made it three wins out of three and returned to the top of Pool One by thumping Bordeaux-Begles 52-24 in an eight-try romp at Kingston Park on Saturday.
Winger Adam Radwan scored two of six first-half tries, with Calum Green, Mark Wilson, Ben Sowrey and Craig Willis also touching down.
Alex Tait and Joshua Matavesi added second-half scores for Dean Richards’ men, who could confirm their place in the last eight with victory over Dragons on Friday.
Director of rugby Richards said: “You’ve got to look at the team Bordeaux brought over, there were a lot of quality players in it so to play in the manner we did and score the tries that we did, I was really pleased.
“Whatever happens down at the Dragons happens, and we’ll just give it our best shot.
“The boys know it will be a hard task down there because the Dragons are not a bad side, they’ve got a lot of talent in their team and they’ll be gunning to take our scalp.”
Sale Sharks also registered a victory on Saturday, beating Cardiff Blues 24-0 in Pool Two.
AJ MacGinty claimed 14 points with the boot in a man of the match display while Will Cliff and Marc Jones both scored second-half tries to confirm a fine win.
Steve Diamond’s side lie third after their first European win of the season, but are just two points off Cardiff and one behind second-placed Toulouse.
Attack coach Paul Deacon said: “If we had lost on Saturday that would probably have been it for us in terms of the group. Now though we are right back in it.”
Meanwhile, in-form Gloucester were given an almighty scare against Guinness PRO14 side Zebre as they stayed in contention for qualification to the quarter-finals with a 33-26 away win.
Tries by Johannes Meyer, Renato Giammarioli and centre Thomas Boni gave the Italian side a surprise lead at the break but the Cherry and Whites thundered back in the second period.
A brace from Horley as well as tries from Ruan Ackermann, Owen Williams and Richard Hibbard gave Gloucester their second win in the competition.
Wing Charlie Sharples said: “It wasn’t the easiest game. We probably made it a little bit more difficult than it needed to be but five points away from home is all that matters at the end of the day.
“There’s lots to work on but it’s a good result. It’s a tough place to come and we’ve never had a comprehensive win. They’re a physical team and they thrived off that.
“We know it wasn’t the best performance and it was below the standards we set as a team but we got the win and we will make sure we’re better next week.”
A brace from Tom Howe helped Worcester Warriors battle to their second win of the Challenge Cup against French side Oyonnax, who they beat 35-14 at Sixways.
The winger went over in each half as Luke Baldwin and David Denton crossed late on to secure the bonus point victory.
This was a much-improved display after last week’s defeat to Sale Sharks and the Warriors are now in touching distance of pool leaders Connacht.
London Irish, though, suffered a chastening in the Scottish capital as they were thumped 50-20 by Edinburgh, who made it three wins in a row in the tournament.
