Following last weekend’s strong display from the 12 Guinness PRO14 teams competing on the continent, the final bout of European action before Christmas produced a more mixed bag of results. Last year’s beaten Champions Cup finalists Leinster once again fired on all cylinders, securing a stunning seven-try win over Premiership leaders Northampton Saints to book their spot in the quarter-finals. Elsewhere, Connacht kept their knockout hopes alive with victory over Gloucester, and Benetton came from behind to edge out Lyon and record their first win in Europe’s premier competition since 2015. But Munster suffered their first European defeat of the season at defending champions Saracens and Glasgow Warriors went down at home to last year’s Challenge Cup runners-up La Rochelle. Leinster make history Leinster followed up last week’s win at Northampton Saints by thumping their Premiership opponents 50-21 back on home soil, becoming the first team to ever qualify for the knockout stage after only four pool games. Two Garry Ringrose tries, and scores from Tadhg Furlong and Dave Kearney secured the bonus point for Leo Cullen’s men before the break, but Dan Biggar and Ollie Sleightholme did dot down for the visitors in a high-scoring first half. That gets a thumbs up from the boss! 👍#LEIvNOR #JoinTheRoar pic.twitter.com/YixJEbaqEr — Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) December 14, 2019 After the interval, Ringrose completed his hat-trick, while tries from James Lowe and Caelan Doris stretched the four-time winners’ advantage, despite Ahsee Tuala’s reply. Having prevented their opponents from securing a bonus point and with Benetton beating Lyon in Pool 1’s other clash, Leinster secured their last-eight spot in style and look like one of the frontrunners for this year’s main prize. Copeland comes to Connacht’s rescue A last-gasp Robin Copeland try secured a dramatic 27-24 comeback win for Connacht over Gloucester, avenging their defeat last time out and keeping any quarter-final hopes alive. The Premiership giants had looked certain for the win with a 24-13 lead just four minutes from the finish, but Shane Delahunt went over before Copeland’s injury-time winner which sent the Sportsground into raptures. Having dominated early possession, Caolin Blade’s 30th minute try helped Connacht to a 10-0 lead but Gloucester hit back immediately through Gerbrandt Grobler, and Mark Atkinson put them ahead after the restart. A Lewis Ludlow try and Atkinson’s second seemed to have ended the contest, but Andy Friend’s side rallied and thanks to their two late scores, live to fight another day in the competition. Benetton bounce back After being on the wrong end of a 28-0 thumping at Lyon last weekend, Benetton produced the perfect response on home turf to edge past the Top 14 leaders 25-22 and seal their first win in Pool 1. Leonardo Sarto and Monty Ioane scored early tries for the hosts to set tails wagging in Italy, but converted Liam Gill and Rudi Wulf scores gave Lyon a slender, two-point advantage at the break. NATI PER REGALARE EMOZIONI! 😍🦁💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/ZPrTUOFQDD — Benetton Rugby 🦁 (@BenettonRugby) December 14, 2019 Pierre-Louis Barassi’s second-half try had seemed to put the Frenchmen on track for victory, but Marco Lazzaroni’s late converted score clinched a much-needed victory for Benetton. Having finally got off the mark in Europe, coach Kieran Crowley will be hoping his team can replicate such performances back on the domestic stage, where they have so far endured a somewhat stuttering start to proceedings. Disappointment for Munster and Warriors Following their impressive win against the defending champions at Thomond Park, Conference B leaders Munster fell 15-6 to a strong Saracens team which saw their unbeaten run in Pool 4 come to an end. Penalties from Owen Farrell and JJ Hanrahan saw the teams go into the break level, but tries from Sean Maitland and Mako Vunipola proved the difference in the end. Glasgow Warriors are all but out of the Champions Cup following a dramatic 12-7 home defeat to La Rochelle, who had nothing to play for in Scotland. Jules Favre and Levani Botia scores put the Frenchmen in control after a Fraser Brown try had initially given Dave Rennie’s side the lead. And when the Warriors thought they had wrestled something from the game late on, Scott Cummings’ last-minute try was disallowed as Matt Fagerson was judged to have led with his forearm in the build-up. Challenge Cup action In the Challenge Cup, Edinburgh strengthened their bid for a knockout spot with a tight 9-7 win at Wasps that leaves them just a point behind Bordeaux in Pool 3 and with the most points of any second-placed team. The Scotsmen trailed at the break following Nizaam Carr’s try for Wasps, but two penalties in the final seven minutes from replacement Jaco van der Walt kicked Edinburgh to victory. Heading back up the M6 with the W. Well in lads! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/Rmc5iYoplD — Edinburgh Rugby (@EdinburghRugby) December 14, 2019 Scarlets will also be confident of progression after powering to an emphatic 46-5 win over Bayonne, with tries from Ryan Conbeer, Ryan Elias, Kieran Hardy (2), Angus O’Brien and Leigh Halfpenny. Owen Lane’s hat-trick wasn’t enough for Cardiff Blues as they fell 34-29 to Pau, but having fought back from 24-7 down at the break the Welshmen earned two bonus points which keeps their slim hopes of making the last eight alive.
