Falcons crash in France

Benoit Paillaugue kicked 22 points to help Montpellier overwhelm an under-strength Newcastle Falcons in their Amlin Challenge Cup Pool Three fixture.

The Falcons beat Bourgoin in their opener but could not make it a French double as they were undone by their more experienced hosts in the second period at Stade Yves du Manoir.

Montpellier led 9-8 at half-time but the unerring accuracy of scrum-half Paillaugue, who had a 100 percent record from eight place kicks, plus second-half tries from Quentin Poumayrou and Seta Tuilevuka ensured a comfortable home win.

Newcastle had led when Luke Fielden crossed over for his side's only try on the half-hour but the visitors, who handed a starting debut to 18-year-old fly-half Joel Hodgson, were outclassed by a team sitting fourth in the French Top 14.

Montpellier controlled field position in the opening exchanges but they had to be content with a 6-0 lead at the 20-minute mark thanks to a pair of Paillaugue penalties.

Hodgson then kicked over the Falcons' first points on their first foray into the hosts' half before they took the lead with the game's opening try.

Burst

Chris Pilgrim's quick burst from a scrum was enough to force the defence to over-commit and allow him to send Fielden over near the corner. Hodgson's conversion attempt hit the right-hand post and bounced away.

Pilgrim was proving to be the key figure and his chase and tackle halted an almost immediate reply, albeit after the scrum-half had been beaten to a kick and chase which started the break.

The Falcons scrum then withstood further pressure but Montpellier grabbed a 9-8 lead on the half-time whistle when Paillaugue impressively slotted a long-range penalty from the sideline.

After the break it was all Montpellier, however, as they camped inside Newcastle's half.

Paillaugue slotted two penalties to extend the lead before Poumayrou punched a hole in an increasingly stretched away defence to touch down after 57 minutes.

Tuilevuka followed him over the whitewash nine minutes later and things looked ominous for the Falcons, who have managed just one win in the Aviva Premiership, when Tim Ryan was harshly sent to the sin-bin with 10 minutes left.

But they avoided any further damage to the scoreboard as Montpellier were content to add to their opening win over Exeter and go four points clear at the top of the pool.