Champions Cup: Edinburgh suffer heavy defeat away to Castres as Quins crush Bayonne

Edinburgh were brought back down to earth in the Investec Champions Cup as they fell to a 33-0 defeat at Castres.

The visitors claimed a stunning 33-20 win over Toulon on their return to the competition last week but they were well beaten in France this time as the home side pulled away in the second half.

Christian Ambadiang's 12th-minute try was the only score of the first period but the lead extended to 12-0 within six minutes second-half minutes when Loris Zarantonello crossed and Pierre Popelin converted.

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Tyler Ardron was the third Castres player to score a try as they stretched their advantage even further and Edinburgh's cause was not helped when Piers O'Conor was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.

Castres took full advantage, Adam Vargas securing the bonus point with the hosts' fourth try when he crossed in the corner.

The scoring was complete in the 63rd minute when Popelin sent over his fourth conversion following Vilimoni Botitu's try.

Smith inspires Harlequins

Marcus Smith pulled the strings as Harlequins registered their Champions Cup victory by overwhelming Bayonne 68-14 at The Stoop.

Quins made an error-strewn start, but their England playmaker took control by setting up their opening two tries with pinpoint kicks and from there it was one-way traffic, with the visiting whitewash breached 10 times.

Smith, restored at fly-half after sitting out the 45-28 defeat at Leinster, was named man of the match for a performance that was full of clever touches and included nine conversions.

Will Porter, Sam Riley and Kieran Treadwell each ran in two tries on a grim afternoon for Bayonne, who had already folded by half-time.

Toulon overcome Bath in nine-try affair

Toulon came out on top over Bath in an entertaining nine-try contest and took a 45-34 victory at Stade Mayol.

The result means all six teams in Pool Two have a win and a loss to their name after their first two matches but Bath's bonus point means they top the table with six points, with the other sides on five.

Finn Russell slotted two penalties either side of Brian Alainu'uese's try which gave Toulon a 7-6 lead.

Mateo Garcia kicked three points for the hosts following a ruck infringement but Bath went ahead through Ted Hill with their first try of the game before Garcia knocked over his second penalty to make it 13-13.

Toulon went eight points to the good when Juan Ignacio Brex finished off after Kyle Sinckler's powerful run, before Garcia kicked his third penalty of the game - but back came Bath again when Russell's delayed pass allowed Santi Carreras to cross the whitewash.

Sinckler's powerful run proved troublesome again in Toulon's next try as Gael Drean picked a line to race clear and re-establish the French side's eight point lead but Bath were not going away. Arthur Green dotted down to bring the deficit back to one.

Toulon got their try bonus point through Lewis Ludlam but Max Ojomoh's short pass let Louie Hennessey cut the gap to four points for Bath before another penalty and Teddy Baubigny's try finished things off in the French side's favour.

Hendy claims hat-trick for Saints

Northampton made it two wins from two in Pool 4 as they crushed South Africa's Bulls 50-5 at cinch Stadium.

George Hendy finished with a hat-trick of tries and Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice in what became a one-sided encounter after Saints edged the first half 14-5.

Henry Pollock, Alex Coles and Josh Kemeny also touched down while Fin Smith landed five conversions.

Sleightholme opened the scoring after nine minutes but his error allowed Stravino Jacobs to reply with the Bulls' only try of the afternoon.

Hendy put the hosts back in charge with scores either side the break and the Bulls' hopes of recovering were hit when prop Alulutho Tshakweni was sin-binned for a trip.

Pollock crossed to secure the bonus point and Coles added another before Sleightholme grabbed his second and Hendy completed his treble. Kemeny brought up the half-century in the last minute.

Genge opens floodgates for Bristol

Bristol ran riot with nine tries as they thrashed Pau 61-12 at Ashton Gate.

Eight different try scorers got in on the act as Bristol made it two wins from two and scored all 61 of their points - as Tom Jordan kicked eight successful conversions - within the opening hour to claim a dominant win.

England prop Ellis Genge powered over from close range to open a destructive afternoon of scoring and Fitz Harding slipped the ball to Benjamin Grondona in a two-on-one situation to go under the posts for their second try.

Things were threatening to get a bit ugly for the French visitors when Bristol ran in three more tries before the break courtesy of Kieran Marmion, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Gabriel Oghre's score at the back of the maul on the stroke of half-time.

There were no signs of letting up in the second period either, Benhard Janse van Rensburg crossed over four minutes into the half before Joe Batley made it 47-0.

Pau got on the scoresheet through Fabien Brau-Boirie's try under the posts but Aidan Boshoff and Grondona - who crossed over for his brace - extended the hosts' score, while Brau-Boirie's second try was nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.

Challenge Cup: Exeter hopes hit by late Racing 92 fightback

Exeter succumbed to a late fightback from Racing 92 after Greg Fisilau had been sent to the sin-bin as the French side snatched a dramatic 31-31 draw in their Investec Challenge Cup match at the Stade Dominique Duvauchelle.

After Kleo Labarbe put the hosts ahead with an early try, the Chiefs, who beat Cheetahs 42-12 in their opening game, responded as Martin Moloney and Kane James both touched down.

Selestino Ravutaumada's 27th-minute try pulled Racing back in the game, only for Lewis Pearson and Rus Tuima to go over before the break to give Exeter what seemed a solid 28-12 lead, with Ben Coen making all the conversions.

After a hectic first half, the tempo dropped following changes from both sides in the pack.

Exeter saw Tuima given a yellow card just after the hour, with Racing capitalising to score another try through Romain Taofifenua before Coen kicked a 70th-minute penalty and Fisilau was also then sent to the sin bin.

Nolann Donguy's try set up a tense finish and Racing rallied as Antoine Latrasse went over in added time, with Geronimo Prisciantelli slotting over the extras to complete the comeback.

Dragons produce grandstand finish to snatch last-gasp win

Dragons produced a late rally with a last-gasp converted try from Harrison Keddie to edge out Lyon 23-21 in a thrilling finish at Rodney Parade.

The Welsh side, who lost away in Perpignan last time out, made a bright start and went ahead through couple of penalties from Angus O'Brien before Jared Rosser was shown a yellow card in the 22nd minute for an illegal clear-out.

Lyon, beaten at home by Newcastle in their opening European fixture, went on to take a 7-6 lead into half-time following a converted try by South African Janse Roux.

The French side continued their momentum after the break as wing Arthur Mathiron gathered his own kick to touch down. Prop Ave Maalo then added another try from close range after Dragons fly-half Tinus de Beer was sent to the sin-bin in the 56th minute for not rolling away.

Dragons, though, rallied again as Keddie went over in the corner and Lyon then picked up a late yellow card for Josiah Maraku. The home side made the extra man count as Oli Burrows scored from the back of a driving maul to reduce the deficit to 21-16 as O'Brien missed another conversion attempt.

There was a grandstand finish when Keddie crashed over for his second try of the match in the 79th minute and this time O'Brien made sure of the extras to seal a dramatic victory.