Category News

European Challenge Cup

Ulster (14) 61

Tries: Stockdale 2, Herring, O’Toole, Stewart, Wilson, Flannery, Z Ward 2 Cons: Murphy 8

Racing 92 (7) 7

Ulster secured a commanding bonus-point win over Racing 92 in what was their first ever pool-stage game in the Challenge Cup.

On the night when Australia prop Angus Bell made his debut for the northern province, Richie Murphy’s side scored nine tries in the 61-7 victory but almost all of the damage was done in the second half.

The French visitors to the Affidea Stadium rotated heavily for the contest but took a 7-0 lead and Ulster’s advantage was just 14-7 at half-time.

The province took control of proceedings with a pair of quick-fire scores after the turn and ultimately scored 47 unanswered points in a dominant second half.

Although Ulster did drop down into the Challenge Cup after the pool stages in 2021 and 2024, this was their first time starting their campaign in the second-tier European competition.

The presence of high-profile visitors, who have twice visited Belfast in the Champions Cup over the previous six seasons, perhaps stripped the occasion of some of its novelty.

The French side’s team selection, however, hinted at the changed circumstances.

Eleventh in the Top 14 table, the visitors clearly had their mind on domestic matters with the likes of French internationals Romain Taofifenua and Gael Fickou not in their travelling party.

It was Racing’s Antoine Gibert, however, who opened the scoring. While, beyond one brief spell for the French side in Ulster territory, the hosts had dominated the opening exchanges, but Gibert did well to read James Hume’s intended offload for a lengthy intercept score which the fly-half converted himself.

Undeterred, Ulster continued to show patience with ball in hand with the sharp passing evidenced under new attack coach Mark Sexton this season on show when Jacob Stockdale was worked over the line for their first try of the evening after a quarter of an hour.

The game’s second quarter was a decidedly more even, and considerably scrappier, affair but Ulster took a lead into the half despite Racing creating the better opportunities.

Their second score came when Racing’s former Wales lock Will Rowlands was pinged at the ruck and Rob Herring was mauled over from the resulting kick to the corner five minutes before the turn.

Ulster’s advantage survived until the interval only after a try-saving tackle from Robert Baloucoune, a Rowlands score was chalked off for obstruction, and a goalline turnover from Nick Timoney in the closing minutes of the half.

That defensive stand loomed all the larger when Ulster scored two tries in the opening seven minutes of the second half to take control of the contest.

Tight-head prop Tom O’Toole scored an opportunistic try to provide the first two-score buffer of the evening before half-time replacement Tom Stewart was the beneficiary of another strong Ulster maul to wrap up the bonus point.

The arrival of Wallaby loose-head Bell as a second-half substitute brought one of the biggest cheers of the night from the home crowd, but it was his fellow front-row replacement Scott Wilson who crashed over as Racing’s heads began to drop approaching the hour mark.

As the game became increasingly ragged, Ulster scored five more tries across the final 13 minutes.

Ulster: Stockdale; Baloucoune, Hume, Postlethwaite, Z Ward; Murphy, Doak; Crean, Herring, O’Toole, Sheridan, Irvine, McCann, Timoney (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: Stewart, Bell, Wilson, Hopes, B Ward, McKee, Flannery, Moore.

Racing 92: Prisciantelli; Donguy, James, Ashvetia, Hulleu; Gibert, Labarbe; Jabea Njocke, Basse, Kharaishvili, Kpoku, Rowlands (capt), Sanconnie, Zinzen, Tagitagivalu.

Replacements: Escobar, Coetzee, Leota, Baudonne, Hill, Albuisson, Carbonneau, Espeut.

Sin bin: F Sanconnie (49-59)

European Challenge Cup

Ulster (14) 61

Tries: Stockdale 2, Herring, O’Toole, Stewart, Wilson, Flannery, Z Ward 2 Cons: Murphy 8

Racing 92 (7) 7

Ulster secured a commanding bonus-point win over Racing 92 in what was their first ever pool-stage game in the Challenge Cup.

On the night when Australia prop Angus Bell made his debut for the northern province, Richie Murphy’s side scored nine tries in the 61-7 victory but almost all of the damage was done in the second half.

The French visitors to the Affidea Stadium rotated heavily for the contest but took a 7-0 lead and Ulster’s advantage was just 14-7 at half-time.

The province took control of proceedings with a pair of quick-fire scores after the turn and ultimately scored 47 unanswered points in a dominant second half.

Although Ulster did drop down into the Challenge Cup after the pool stages in 2021 and 2024, this was their first time starting their campaign in the second-tier European competition.

The presence of high-profile visitors, who have twice visited Belfast in the Champions Cup over the previous six seasons, perhaps stripped the occasion of some of its novelty.

The French side’s team selection, however, hinted at the changed circumstances.

Eleventh in the Top 14 table, the visitors clearly had their mind on domestic matters with the likes of French internationals Romain Taofifenua and Gael Fickou not in their travelling party.

It was Racing’s Antoine Gibert, however, who opened the scoring. While, beyond one brief spell for the French side in Ulster territory, the hosts had dominated the opening exchanges, but Gibert did well to read James Hume’s intended offload for a lengthy intercept score which the fly-half converted himself.

Undeterred, Ulster continued to show patience with ball in hand with the sharp passing evidenced under new attack coach Mark Sexton this season on show when Jacob Stockdale was worked over the line for their first try of the evening after a quarter of an hour.

The game’s second quarter was a decidedly more even, and considerably scrappier, affair but Ulster took a lead into the half despite Racing creating the better opportunities.

Their second score came when Racing’s former Wales lock Will Rowlands was pinged at the ruck and Rob Herring was mauled over from the resulting kick to the corner five minutes before the turn.

Ulster’s advantage survived until the interval only after a try-saving tackle from Robert Baloucoune, a Rowlands score was chalked off for obstruction, and a goalline turnover from Nick Timoney in the closing minutes of the half.

That defensive stand loomed all the larger when Ulster scored two tries in the opening seven minutes of the second half to take control of the contest.

Tight-head prop Tom O’Toole scored an opportunistic try to provide the first two-score buffer of the evening before half-time replacement Tom Stewart was the beneficiary of another strong Ulster maul to wrap up the bonus point.

The arrival of Wallaby loose-head Bell as a second-half substitute brought one of the biggest cheers of the night from the home crowd, but it was his fellow front-row replacement Scott Wilson who crashed over as Racing’s heads began to drop approaching the hour mark.

As the game became increasingly ragged, Ulster scored five more tries across the final 13 minutes.

Ulster: Stockdale; Baloucoune, Hume, Postlethwaite, Z Ward; Murphy, Doak; Crean, Herring, O’Toole, Sheridan, Irvine, McCann, Timoney (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: Stewart, Bell, Wilson, Hopes, B Ward, McKee, Flannery, Moore.

Racing 92: Prisciantelli; Donguy, James, Ashvetia, Hulleu; Gibert, Labarbe; Jabea Njocke, Basse, Kharaishvili, Kpoku, Rowlands (capt), Sanconnie, Zinzen, Tagitagivalu.

Replacements: Escobar, Coetzee, Leota, Baudonne, Hill, Albuisson, Carbonneau, Espeut.

Sin bin: F Sanconnie (49-59)

European Challenge Cup

Ulster (14) 61

Tries: Stockdale 2, Herring, O’Toole, Stewart, Wilson, Flannery, Z Ward 2 Cons: Murphy 8

Racing 92 (7) 7

Ulster secured a commanding bonus-point win over Racing 92 in what was their first ever pool-stage game in the Challenge Cup.

On the night when Australia prop Angus Bell made his debut for the northern province, Richie Murphy’s side scored nine tries in the 61-7 victory but almost all of the damage was done in the second half.

The French visitors to the Affidea Stadium rotated heavily for the contest but took a 7-0 lead and Ulster’s advantage was just 14-7 at half-time.

The province took control of proceedings with a pair of quick-fire scores after the turn and ultimately scored 47 unanswered points in a dominant second half.

Although Ulster did drop down into the Challenge Cup after the pool stages in 2021 and 2024, this was their first time starting their campaign in the second-tier European competition.

The presence of high-profile visitors, who have twice visited Belfast in the Champions Cup over the previous six seasons, perhaps stripped the occasion of some of its novelty.

The French side’s team selection, however, hinted at the changed circumstances.

Eleventh in the Top 14 table, the visitors clearly had their mind on domestic matters with the likes of French internationals Romain Taofifenua and Gael Fickou not in their travelling party.

It was Racing’s Antoine Gibert, however, who opened the scoring. While, beyond one brief spell for the French side in Ulster territory, the hosts had dominated the opening exchanges, but Gibert did well to read James Hume’s intended offload for a lengthy intercept score which the fly-half converted himself.

Undeterred, Ulster continued to show patience with ball in hand with the sharp passing evidenced under new attack coach Mark Sexton this season on show when Jacob Stockdale was worked over the line for their first try of the evening after a quarter of an hour.

The game’s second quarter was a decidedly more even, and considerably scrappier, affair but Ulster took a lead into the half despite Racing creating the better opportunities.

Their second score came when Racing’s former Wales lock Will Rowlands was pinged at the ruck and Rob Herring was mauled over from the resulting kick to the corner five minutes before the turn.

Ulster’s advantage survived until the interval only after a try-saving tackle from Robert Baloucoune, a Rowlands score was chalked off for obstruction, and a goalline turnover from Nick Timoney in the closing minutes of the half.

That defensive stand loomed all the larger when Ulster scored two tries in the opening seven minutes of the second half to take control of the contest.

Tight-head prop Tom O’Toole scored an opportunistic try to provide the first two-score buffer of the evening before half-time replacement Tom Stewart was the beneficiary of another strong Ulster maul to wrap up the bonus point.

The arrival of Wallaby loose-head Bell as a second-half substitute brought one of the biggest cheers of the night from the home crowd, but it was his fellow front-row replacement Scott Wilson who crashed over as Racing’s heads began to drop approaching the hour mark.

As the game became increasingly ragged, Ulster scored five more tries across the final 13 minutes.

Ulster: Stockdale; Baloucoune, Hume, Postlethwaite, Z Ward; Murphy, Doak; Crean, Herring, O’Toole, Sheridan, Irvine, McCann, Timoney (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: Stewart, Bell, Wilson, Hopes, B Ward, McKee, Flannery, Moore.

Racing 92: Prisciantelli; Donguy, James, Ashvetia, Hulleu; Gibert, Labarbe; Jabea Njocke, Basse, Kharaishvili, Kpoku, Rowlands (capt), Sanconnie, Zinzen, Tagitagivalu.

Replacements: Escobar, Coetzee, Leota, Baudonne, Hill, Albuisson, Carbonneau, Espeut.

Sin bin: F Sanconnie (49-59)

Investec Champions Cup

Sale (14) 21

Tries: Van Rhyn, Davies, Louw Cons: Du Preez 3

Glasgow (12) 26

Glasgow Warriors enjoyed a dream opening night in the Champions Cup with a bonus-point win away at Sale Sharks.

With the wind at their backs, Sale started the better of the two sides and raced into a 14-0 lead inside 20 minutes through Ernst van Rhyn and teenage debutant Ollie Davies.

But Glasgow responded well and hit back with two tries of their own before the break through Gregor Hiddleston and Rory Darge.

Further tries from Kyle Steyn and Stafford McDowall pushed Glasgow 26-14 ahead before Marius Louw replied as Sale threatened a late rally but the visitors held on for a precious away win.

Sale skipper Van Rhyn went over from close range to give the hosts the lead after only two minutes before Alex Sanderson’s men were forced into an early change when centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White was forced off with an injury.

That brought 19-year-old Davies into the action for a Champions Cup debut and his impact was immediate.

Slotting into fly-half with Rob du Preez going to centre, he ran a good supporting line to Arron Reed’s break and took the full-back’s offload to run in for a try just a few moments after coming on to make it 14-0.

With the wind and rain swirling around the CorpAcq Stadium, Glasgow went to the set-piece to get a foothold back in the game and after catching the line-out the visitors drove over the line with hooker Hiddleston the man to claim the score.

Glasgow reduced the deficit further just before the break when Darge bundled over and Adam Hastings slotted the conversion to make it 14-12 at half-time.

Glasgow took the lead for the first time two minutes into the second period after a poor Raffi Quirke box-kick was allowed to bounce then collected by number eight Jack Dempsey, who popped it back to Steyn for the skipper to burst through a weak tackle and race away to the line.

Now well in the ascendancy, Glasgow grabbed the bonus point on 54 minutes when McDowall ran through Du Preez’s attempted tackle to score on his 100th appearance as Franco Smith’s side racked up 26 unanswered points.

But just as Sale looked out of it they gave themselves a lifeline. Tom O’Flaherty almost got through a gap but when he was pulled down the ball was recycled and Louw showed good footwork to cross the whitewash, with Du Preez’s conversion making it 26-21 with 13 minutes remaining.

Glasgow’s Rory Darge told BBC Radio 5 Live:

“Last week I was talking about the importance of winning away in Europe. If you want to do well in this competition you have got to do well away from home and win, so we are delighted with that.

“We have come here before and done that (come back from 14-0 down) so that belief comes from having done it before. It’s not the end of the world but we don’t want to give every team a 14-0 head start, so there are things we can do better.

“The wind was a factor, the kicks were hanging in the air so the work in the first half against the wind paid dividends in the second.

Sale need to regroup ahead of a trip to Clermont next Saturday while Glasgow host six-time winners Toulouse.

Sale: Reed; O’Flaherty, Ma’asi-White, Louw, Wills; Du Preez, Quirke; McIntyre, Jibulu, John, Burrow, Bamber, Vermeulen, Van Rhyn, T Curry.

Replacements: Caine, Onasanya, Harper, Andrews, B Curry, Warr, Davies, Wehr.

Glasgow: McKay; Steyn, McDowall, Tuipulotu, Smith; Hastings, Horne; McBeth, Hiddleston, Z Fagerson, Williamson, Cummings, M Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey.

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco Baque (France) and Julien Caulier (France)

Investec Champions Cup

Sale (14) 21

Tries: Van Rhyn, Davies, Louw Cons: Du Preez 3

Glasgow (12) 26

Glasgow Warriors enjoyed a dream opening night in the Champions Cup with a bonus-point win away at Sale Sharks.

With the wind at their backs, Sale started the better of the two sides and raced into a 14-0 lead inside 20 minutes through Ernst van Rhyn and teenage debutant Ollie Davies.

But Glasgow responded well and hit back with two tries of their own before the break through Gregor Hiddleston and Rory Darge.

Further tries from Kyle Steyn and Stafford McDowall pushed Glasgow 26-14 ahead before Marius Louw replied as Sale threatened a late rally but the visitors held on for a precious away win.

Sale skipper Van Rhyn went over from close range to give the hosts the lead after only two minutes before Alex Sanderson’s men were forced into an early change when centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White was forced off with an injury.

That brought 19-year-old Davies into the action for a Champions Cup debut and his impact was immediate.

Slotting into fly-half with Rob du Preez going to centre, he ran a good supporting line to Arron Reed’s break and took the full-back’s offload to run in for a try just a few moments after coming on to make it 14-0.

With the wind and rain swirling around the CorpAcq Stadium, Glasgow went to the set-piece to get a foothold back in the game and after catching the line-out the visitors drove over the line with hooker Hiddleston the man to claim the score.

Glasgow reduced the deficit further just before the break when Darge bundled over and Adam Hastings slotted the conversion to make it 14-12 at half-time.

Glasgow took the lead for the first time two minutes into the second period after a poor Raffi Quirke box-kick was allowed to bounce then collected by number eight Jack Dempsey, who popped it back to Steyn for the skipper to burst through a weak tackle and race away to the line.

Now well in the ascendancy, Glasgow grabbed the bonus point on 54 minutes when McDowall ran through Du Preez’s attempted tackle to score on his 100th appearance as Franco Smith’s side racked up 26 unanswered points.

But just as Sale looked out of it they gave themselves a lifeline. Tom O’Flaherty almost got through a gap but when he was pulled down the ball was recycled and Louw showed good footwork to cross the whitewash, with Du Preez’s conversion making it 26-21 with 13 minutes remaining.

Glasgow’s Rory Darge told BBC Radio 5 Live:

“Last week I was talking about the importance of winning away in Europe. If you want to do well in this competition you have got to do well away from home and win, so we are delighted with that.

“We have come here before and done that (come back from 14-0 down) so that belief comes from having done it before. It’s not the end of the world but we don’t want to give every team a 14-0 head start, so there are things we can do better.

“The wind was a factor, the kicks were hanging in the air so the work in the first half against the wind paid dividends in the second.

Sale need to regroup ahead of a trip to Clermont next Saturday while Glasgow host six-time winners Toulouse.

Sale: Reed; O’Flaherty, Ma’asi-White, Louw, Wills; Du Preez, Quirke; McIntyre, Jibulu, John, Burrow, Bamber, Vermeulen, Van Rhyn, T Curry.

Replacements: Caine, Onasanya, Harper, Andrews, B Curry, Warr, Davies, Wehr.

Glasgow: McKay; Steyn, McDowall, Tuipulotu, Smith; Hastings, Horne; McBeth, Hiddleston, Z Fagerson, Williamson, Cummings, M Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey.

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco Baque (France) and Julien Caulier (France)