Biarritz blitz Gloucester

Biarritz seized control of Pool Two in the Heineken Cup with a 42-15 victory over Gloucester.

Takudzwa Ngwenya stole the show at Parc des Sports Augilera with a hat-trick of tries, while Ayoola Erinle came off the bench to secure the bonus point.

Valentin Courrent grabbed a fifth try right at the death for the hosts, who have now won seven games on the spin in all competitions.

Gloucester did manage tries from Tom Voyce and Jake Boer but they were no more than consolation efforts as they were soundly beaten on their travels.

Brilliant Biarritz

There was no disgrace in defeat, though, with Biarritz, and Ngwenya in particular, simply proving too hot to handle in sunny conditions.

For 25 minutes it appeared the two European heavyweights were happy to trade blows via the boot, a Nicky Robinson penalty being sandwiched in between a pair of three-pointers from Dimitri Yachvili.

While rarely threatening in attack, Gloucester had at least stood firm in defence before they suffered a major setback with the sin-binning of Andy Hazell.

The flanker saw yellow for failing to roll away after the tackle and in his absence Biarritz finally broke through to score the opening try.

After Yachvili had slotted over the simply penalty Imanol Harinordoquy went within a whisker of the line, only the combination of Jon Sharples and Gareth Delve stopping the number eight from rumbling over on the left.

However there was nothing they could do to deny Ngwenya on 35 minutes, the winger handing off James Simpson-Daniel before ghosting by full-back Voyce.

The American international wasn't finished there, though, ending the first half with a sublime solo effort on the right. Stuck next to the touchline, he chipped cleverly over the top of the sizeable Lesley Vainikolo before running around his fellow winger to claim the ball before galloping away underneath the posts.

His third of the afternoon was much more straightforward, a mere canter over the line after Gloucester had turned the ball over when on the attack.

Arinle burst

Voyce did give those travelling fans something to cheer when he touched down, though he was unable to do anything soon after to stop his former Wasps team-mate Arinle from getting a fourth try for Biarritz.

The ex-Leicester centre timed his run back on the angle perfectly to power through the number 15 and secure a five-point haul for his new club.

A second try for Gloucester did follow from Boer, which was converted by fellow replacement Freddie Burns, but the Top 14 side still managed to have the last word.

Courrent collected his own grubber to complete a five-star Biarritz display, Yachvili kicking the conversion to finish with a personal haul of 17 points.