Champions Cup results: Bristol Bears clinch knockout place after winning thriller as Sale Sharks, Leinster also progress

Bristol ran riot in a remarkable first half to secure their place in the Investec Champions Cup knockout phase with a 61-49 victory over the Bulls in Pool Four in Pretoria.

The South African hosts fielded 10 Springboks in their starting XV in the hope of registering a first win of the group campaign yet were still swept aside at Loftus Versfeld.

Bristol started like a freight train, running in three tries inside the opening 10 minutes and seven in total to build a interval 47-28 lead.

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Wing Noah Heward crossed twice and there were also touch downs for Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Max Lahiff, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Kieran Marmion.

The Bulls offered more resistance in the second half but Bristol continued to fire shots with Heward completing his hat-trick, Pedro Rubiolo breaching the whitewash and Ravouvou running in his second.

A third win in as many outings in the competition lifts the Bears to the top of Pool Four above main rivals Northampton and Bordeaux, who collide at Stade Chaban-Delmas on Sunday.

Sale book last-16 spot in comfortable Sharks win

A dominant second-half display gave Sale a 26-10 win over South African side Sharks in Pool One and a spot in the last 16.

The visitors went ahead through Siya Masuku's penalty but Sale led 7-3 at half-time thanks to a try from Rekeiti Ma'asi-White.

Ten minutes into the second half Bevan Rodd popped up at the back of the maul to score.

Five minutes later George Ford and Obi Ene combined to put Tom O'Flaherty over in the corner.

Sharks responded when Manu Tshituka charged past Ford to score and Masuku's conversion brought them to within nine points.

But Sale went straight back up the other end with O'Flaherty getting the bonus-point try and Ford adding his third conversion.

Byrne's last-kick penalty earns Leinster thrilling win over La Rochelle

Harry Byrne held his nerve to lift Leinster to a last-gasp 25-24 victory over La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium.

La Rochelle had seemed poised to walk away from Dublin with the spoils from a see-saw tussle after Ihaia West dotted down late on but replacement fly-half Byrne's penalty in the 83rd minute sealed a third win from three Pool Three matches for Leinster.

Joshua Kenny crossed twice as Leinster stormed into a 12-0 lead inside 10 minutes but either side of Nolann Le Garrec's penalty, Davit Niniashvili and West scored converted tries to put La Rochelle 17-12 up.

Leinster seemed to have regained the upper hand when Josh van der Flier levelled proceedings before Robbie Henshaw went over soon after.

West's second score was followed by Le Garrec nudging La Rochelle ahead again with his third conversion with three minutes left, but Leinster earned a late penalty and Byrne successfully split the posts with a tricky kick a few metres out from the right touchline.

Leinster are now guaranteed a spot in the last-16 ahead of their final group match at Bayonne next weekend.

Glasgow down Clermont to book knockout place

Glasgow Warriors are also guaranteed a spot in the last-16 of the Champions Cup after claiming a third bonus-point win on the spin by beating Clermont Auvergne 33-21.

After edging out Sale in their Pool One opener and then hitting back from 21-0 down to stun six-time champions Toulouse last month, the Warriors took charge at the Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin.

First-half tries from Euan Ferrie, Huw Jones, Kyle Steyn and Jack Dempsey, three converted by George Horne, helped the visitors establish a 26-7 lead at the break, with George Moala scoring for Clermont.

But Patrick Schickerling was yellow carded for offside, with Horne joining him in the sin bin for a deliberate knock on, with Clermont awarded a penalty try and Glasgow down to 13 men.

Clermont capitalised on the two-man advantage as Irae Simone touched down, closing the gap to five points just after the hour, but Steyn's second try made sure of a Glasgow win.

Having made sure of a spot in the knockout stages, Glasgow could claim top spot in their group by beating Saracens at Scotstoun next weekend.

Scarlets still searching for first win after Pau loss

Scarlets missed out on a first win in Pool Four after a see-saw 47-38 defeat by Pau.

The Welsh side led through a Joe Hawkins penalty but two minutes later they conceded the opening try to Toshi Butlin.

After 10 minutes Butlin had his second from a long pass out from Axel Desperes, and shortly after Clement Mondinat went over for try number three.

Home skipper Josh Macleod scored twice either side of former Scarlet Carwyn Tuipulotu barging his way over for Pau, and from 26-10 down Scarlets were just two points behind at half-time through Archie Hughes' try.

They edged ahead moments after the restart when Taine Plumtree burst through and Hawkins increased the lead to 12.

But Pau hit back through Remi Seneca, Theo Attissogbe and Siate Tokolahi to secure the victory.