After a busy schedule on Saturday the final games of the European weekend saw three Guinness PRO14 sides involved in Heineken Champions Cup clashes on Sunday. It was not just those in the midst of the action who had something riding on games across the continent as Glasgow Warriors saw their fate shaped by results. Here’s how a hectic weekend of games came to a close on Sunday. Glasgow Warriors out as Sarries win They did as much as they could on Saturday with a 45-7 thrashing of Sale Sharks, but Glasgow Warriors’ Champions Cup hopes were extinguished on Sunday. The victory over Sale saw Warriors produce some excellent rugby as Leone Nakarawa marked his debut with a try. However, the Scottish side knew a Saracens win in Sunday’s early kick-off would send them out and were left disappointed as the Champions Cup holders did just enough. It looked as though Warriors may be handed a reprieve when Sarries were reduced to 14 men after Will Skelton was red carded. It wasn’t to be though, and Owen Farrell slotted a late penalty to secure a 27-24 win over Racing 92 and ensure Glasgow missed out. Today’s result at Allianz Park means our #ChampionsCup campaign is over for this season. Thank you for all your support throughout the pool stages #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/Y6rjf1aiEJ— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) January 19, 2020 Munster overwhelm Ospreys to finish on a high Neither of these Guinness PRO14 sides had anything resting on this meeting after Saturday’s results but that didn’t stop Munster enjoying themselves. The Irish outfit ran in five unanswered tries to secure a 33-6 win despite the Ospreys having started the stronger to open up a 6-0 lead. CJ Stander helped himself to two tries to add to efforts from Stephen Archer, Conor Murray and substitute Craig Casey. JJ Hanrahan also added eight points from the kicking tee to help seal a win which saw Munster finish third in Pool 4 with 16 points. Connacht come up short With both sides already out, there was little more than pride to play for when Connacht travelled to France to take on Montpellier in Pool 5. Nonetheless, the pair served up an entertaining encounter in what proved to be a high scoring affair at the Altrad Stadium. Connacht ultimately came up just short as they went down to a 35-29 defeat which sees them finish bottom of their pool. The Irish side more than played their part though and tries from Matt Healy, John Porch and Kieran Marmion had them level at 21-21 at the break having allowed Montpellier to race into a 21-0 lead. Kyle Godwin added a fourth Connacht try after the break, but Montpellier had the final say with an Yvan Reilhac try three minutes from time that proved to be the matchwinner. Today’s result at Allianz Park means our #ChampionsCup campaign is over for this season. Thank you for all your support throughout the pool stages #WarriorNation pic.twitter.com/Y6rjf1aiEJ— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) January 19, 2020 The best of Saturday’s action It was business as usual for Leinster as they made it six wins from six to secure top seeding for the Champions Cup knockout stages with a 18-0 defeat of Benetton. Ulster will join them in the last eight after closing out their pool stage commitments with a 22-15 win over Bath as they finished behind Clermont in Pool 3. Things weren’t so cheery for Zebre and Cardiff Blues as they missed out on the quarter-finals. Zebre were never really in with a shout of making the last eight, but held unbeaten Bristol Bears to a 7-7 draw while a 64-3 win over Calvisano wasn’t enough for Cardiff Blues to go through. Finally, Darcy Graham took the headlines for Edinburgh as he scored four of their five tries in a resounding 36-0 Challenge Cup victory over Agen, while the Scarlets earned a bonus-point win at London Irish to sneak through and on Friday night the Dragons also booked their place in the last eight.
