Exeter Chiefs too strong for Bulls in Heineken Champions Cup | Edinburgh gain bonus-point win vs Castres

Exeter and England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie scored a hat-trick as the Chiefs put the Bulls to the sword in the European Cup

Recap Saturday's two early Heineken Champions Cup Round 2 clashes, as Exeter Chiefs proved too strong for the Bulls, while Edinburgh gained five points vs Castres...

Exeter Chiefs 44-14 Bulls

Exeter took a huge step towards the Heineken Champions Cup knockout phase as they blitzed South African challengers the Bulls 44-14 at Sandy Park.

It was the Chiefs' second successive bonus-point victory in this season's tournament, underpinned by captain Luke Cowan-Dickie's try hat-trick, plus touchdowns for flanker Dave Ewers, who was also yellow carded late in the game, centre Henry Slade and substitute Solomone Kata.

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The Bulls claimed a five-point maximum in defeating Lyon last weekend, but they had no answer to Exeter's forward power and set-piece excellence.

The Chiefs, European champions in 2020, were out of sight by the break as fly-half Joe Simmonds added four conversions and two penalties.

And the Bulls, despite an early try by wing Stravino Jacobs and centre Chris Smith's second-half effort, both converted by fly-half Morne Steyn, could find no way back into a one-sided Pool A encounter.

Edinburgh 31-20 Castres

Edinburgh added a five-point Heineken Champions Cup win to the losing-bonus they earned at Saracens last Sunday, but they had to fight all the way before finally beating Castres 31-20.

The French side had supposedly selected a second string for the trip to the DAM Health Stadium but they came close to securing a try bonus themselves before eventually falling just short in the Pool A clash.

Edinburgh had to make a late change to their line-up when Duhan van der Merwe failed a fitness test on a minor ankle injury - however, the winger is expected to be fit for Friday's match at Glasgow.

A high-tempo game remained scoreless until midway through the first half, when Edinburgh finally made their pressure tell, Bill Mata forcing his way over, with Emiliano Boffelli converting.

Castres hit back soon after. A scrum penalty went to touch, and when Pierre Colonna's throw-in bounced off an arm and back into his path, he raced for the line then flopped over for an unconverted try.

The French side then took the lead after half an hour with another five-point score when scrum-half Julien Blanc finished on the right.

Edinburgh regained the lead through a penalty try, awarded after Quentin Walcker came in from the side and pulled the maul down. The loosehead prop was sin-binned for the offence but the 14 men had the last word in the first half when Julien Dumora found the target from a penalty to take the score to 14-13.

Edinburgh increased their lead early in the second half when Charlie Savala finished off from a pass by James Lang. The try, made possible by an excellent run from Luke Crosbie deep into the 22, was converted by Boffelli from in front of the posts.

The hosts were soon under renewed pressure but they got the bonus try when a James Lang kick ahead was fumbled by Martin Laveau then touched down by Ben Vellacott. Boffelli converted.

Castres hit back immediately, with Adrien Seguret dashing through a gap in the defence after Edinburgh failed to deal with the restart, but the home side weathered the storm, and a Boffelli penalty minutes from time completed the scoring.