Tries from Ramiro Moyano and WP Nel helped Edinburgh to victory away to Saracens; London Irish were victorious in France, but Dragons fell to a comeback from Perpignan; The other match saw Biarritz defeat Zebre
Saturday 11 December 2021 23:06, UK
Edinburgh began their European Challenge Cup campaign with an impressive 21-18 victory over Saracens at the StoneX Stadium.
Tries from Ramiro Moyano and WP Nel, together with three penalties and one conversion from Emiliano Boffelli, secured a crucial win against their Gallagher Premiership opponents.
Alex Goode and Andy Christie crossed for Saracens and Manu Vunipola kicked two penalties and a conversion.
Mike Blair's men held on for victory ahead of their double-header against Glasgow later this month.
Dragons let slip a nine-point lead to go down 22-16 at Perpignan, who made the most of the Welsh region losing Tavis Knoyle and Adam Warren to the sin-bin in the second half to claim victory.
Jamie Roberts' 73rd-minute try, converted by Sam Davies who finished with 11 points, gave Dragons hope of a late recovery but the French side held on.
In-form London Irish enjoyed a better night in France as they defeated Pau 33-17 to claim a five-point haul in their European opener.
Agustin Creevy and Olly Cracknell both scored two tries each for Irish after the Gallagher Premiership side - coming into the game on a four-match winning streak - had taken the lead through an 11th-minute penalty try.
Pau got to within touching distance at 26-17 in the closing stages but the Exiles slammed the door on them through Cracknell's second try with the clock in the red.
Also on Saturday, Biarritz beat Zebre 26-13 thanks to tries from Antoine Erbani, Baptiste Erdocio, Ushangi Tcheishvili and Billy Scannell.
