Leicester lose to Pau but earn home quarter-final; Cardiff Blues thrash Calvisano but go out
Saturday 18 January 2020 18:50, UK
Tom Hardwick slotted a last-minute penalty to earn Leicester Tigers a crucial losing bonus point in a 24-17 defeat to Pau.
The Tigers went down for the first time in six pool games, but Hardwick's kick ensured they secured home advantage for the quarter-finals.
They had already won Pool Five but only the best four pool winners are at home in the last eight. Ben White and Noel Reid grabbed tries for the Tigers, who trailed 24-7 at the break.
In the other Pool Five game, Cardiff Blues routed Calvisano 64-3, but still went out.
Lewis Jones scored a hat-trick and Lloyd Williams got two, with Olly Robinson, Shane Lewis Hughes, Will Boyde, Aled Summerhill and Ethan Hughes all going over. But Pau's win against the Tigers took the qualifying spot away from the Blues.
Bordeaux routed already-eliminated Wasps, made 10 changes against the unbeaten pool winners for their final game, 27-0 at the Ricoh Arena.
Nans Ducuing, Ulupano Seuteni and Beka Gorgadze scored tries for the visitors as Wasps finished third in Pool Three, with Edinburgh winning 36-0 against bottom side Agen.
In Pool Four, Harry Randall's late converted try earned Bristol Bears a 7-7 draw against 14-man Zebre, with the hosts playing the final 16 minutes a man down after flanker Johan Meyer was dismissed.
Elsewhere in the pool, Brive beat Stade Francais 33-29.
On Friday, Worcester Warriors crashed out of the Challenge Cup after squandering a 27-12 lead to go down 33-27 to Castres at Sixways.
The turning point came when Worcester were reduced to 14 men with the sin-binning of Gerrit-Jan Van Velze and the French side took full advantage.
It means Castres finish top of Pool One and are joined in the quarter-finals by Dragons, who ended their round-robin campaign with a 47-5 rout of struggling Russian outfit Enisei-STM at Rodney Parade.
Dragons ran in seven tries through Ross Moriarty, Jared Rosser, Harri Keddie, Tyler Morgan, Adam Warren (two) and Aaron Wainwright, while fly-half Sam Davies converted six of the seven tries.
