Champions Cup: Bath blitz Munster at The Rec as Saracens, Bristol win too in opening round of pool stages

Henry Arundell scored for Bath as a remarkable start set them on the way to Champions Cup victory over Munster

An astonishing start which saw Bath 28-0 ahead inside 19 minutes proved crucial as the Prem side saw off Munster 40-14 in their Champions Cup opener. 

A penalty try - for which Munster's Tadhg Beirne was sin-binned - was followed by Miles Reid, Henry Arundell and Tom Dunn efforts, and though the visitors narrowed to 28-7 and had a huge chance for 28-14, Beno Obano added a fifth before the break.

Craig Casey scored for Munster to leave the half-time score 35-14, but despite a wealth of second-half territory and possession, the Irish province failed to score again.

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Instead, Bath added a late try to put gloss on the victory through Ted Hill. Finn Russell added four conversions.

While Munster came into the contest shorn of star fly-half Jack Crowley, and then lost lock Jean Kleyn and loosehead Michael Milne before kick-off, their start to the contest was catastrophically bad, particularly at lineout time, costing them dearly.

Saracens hammer Clermont Auvergne at home

Two tries from Argentina centre Lucio Cinti set Saracens on their way to a thumping 47-10 victory over Clermont Auvergne in their opening match of the Champions Cup pool stage.

Sarries scored seven tries in total at the StoneX Stadium, with a dominant first half helping them see off the team they defeated in the 2017 final of this competition with plenty to spare.

There was also a reminder of Noah Caluori's burgeoning talent as the teenage winger lit up the occasion with a superb score in the early stages of the second half, his seventh try of the season.

Leicester Tigers blown away by La Rochelle in France

Leicester delivered a plucky display but a Tigers side featuring several Champions Cup debutants went down to a 39-20 defeat at La Rochelle.

Gregory Alldritt had a try disallowed before putting the hosts ahead the second time he touched down, while La Rochelle led 10-0 after the first quarter when Jules Favre dotted down.

Billy Searle's penalty and Joaquin Moro's converted try evened things up at 10-10 after half an hour, but Oscar Jegou crossed just before the interval, with Ihaia West adding the extras for the first time.

Searle's penalty meant La Rochelle led 17-13 at half-time, but Jegou's converted try gave them some breathing room before West's penalty stretched their advantage even further.

La Rochelle used all their experience in the second half to boss a young Leicester side and quickfire tries from UJ Seuteni and Nathan Bollengier sealed a bonus-point win for the 2022 and 2023 champions.

Leinster eventually get past weakened Harlequins

Leinster opened their Champions Cup campaign with a 45-28 victory over Harlequins at the Aviva Stadium.

Harlequins - who selected a weakened side, not picking Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham-South and Jack Kenningham - trailed only 24-21 after an hour, but Leinster dominated the final quarter to break clear and eventually scored seven tries.

Leinster led 24-7 at the break as Garry Ringrose and Ciaran Frawley added to a Jordan Larmour double.

Luke Northmore and Cassius Cleaves went over for Harlequins and a penalty try after the interval cut the deficit to three points.

Both sides were reduced 14 players in the second half, but it was Leinster who grew stronger with tries from Tommy O'Brien, Jack Conan and Jimmy O'Brien. Harlequins had the final word as Oscar Beard sprinted almost the length of the pitch to secure the consolation of a four-try bonus-point for the visitors.

Bristol Bears hang on for tight victory at Scarlets

Pat Lam's Bristol Bears began their Champions Cup season with a valuable away victory, beating the Scarlets 17-16 in a tight clash in Llanelli.

Back-row Bill Mata (two) and wing Louis Rees-Zammit scored the tries for Bristol, which proved just enough to beat their Welsh opponents.

Bulls 33-46 Bordeaux-Begles

Champions Cup holders Bordeaux-Begles began their campaign in style, travelling to Pretoria and beating South Africa's Bulls.

Damian Penuad, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (two), Maxime Lamothe, Boris Palu, Matthieu Jalibert and Salesi Rayasi each scored tries in a very impressive display, as the French side went toe-to-toe at altitude and came out strong victors.