Heineken Champions Cup: Leicester Tigers, Bristol Bears into last 16; Wasps beat champions Toulouse

Hosea Saumaki was the hero for Leicester with a last-gasp try to snatch victory over Connacht and secure a place in the knock-out stages; Bristol and Racing 92 also into last 16; Wasps scored a stunning win over cup holders Toulouse, while Exeter hammered Glasgow

Image: Alfie Barbeary and Pieter Scholtz celebrate Wasps' win over Toulouse with 14 men

A round-up of all of the action from Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup matches, which included Leicester Tigers and Racing 92 booking their last-16 spots, Wasps upsetting the reigning champions, and Exeter Chiefs routing Glasgow Warriors...

Pool A

Ospreys 10-25 Racing 92 (3.15pm)

Racing 92 qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup in a game played behind closed doors in Swansea.

It took some time for the French side to quell their spirited opponents but Ospreys' defeat leaves them pointless after three games, with their remaining fixture a difficult one at Sale.

Their only try came from Keiran Williams, with Gareth Anscombe kicking a penalty and a conversion to give the Welsh side a 10-8 half-time lead.

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But Racing 92 took charge in the second period, with Teddy Thomas and Virimi Vakatawa touching down, Antoine Gibert converting both and Finn Russell adding a penalty. Julian Imhoff's try and a Maxime Machenaud penalty had come in the first half.

"I thought we gave them a real fright," Ospreys director of rugby Toby Booth said. "We talked about doing stuff that we'd be proud of and we focused on that as a team.

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"But against the very best, if you don't finish what you create then the best are going to keep coming at you."

Exeter Chiefs 52-17 Glasgow Warriors (5.30pm)

Image: Try-scorers Jack Nowell and Tom O'Flaherty celebrate during Exeter's win over Glasgow

Exeter kept themselves firmly on course for a place in the knockout phase after comfortably beating Glasgow at Sandy Park.

The Chiefs emphatically avenged their defeat in the Glasgow fog just before Christmas, finding overdrive after trailing by three points with 50 minutes gone.

Exeter, European champions in 2020, cut loose with four quickfire tries to demolish Glasgow's victory hopes and secure a bonus-point success that brought the round of 16 within touching distance.

Wing Tom O'Flaherty scored a hat-trick, while there was a double for No. 8 Sam Simmonds before skipper Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell and Dave Ewers also scored. Fly-half Joe Simmonds kicked four conversions and centre Henry Slade two.

Glasgow, who now face a crunch clash against La Rochelle in their final pool game next weekend, posted tries through lock Kiran McDonald and flanker Matt Fagerson, both converted by Ross Thompson. But they had no answer to Exeter's pace and power once the Chiefs clicked into gear.

"You saw that emotional alignment in the team," Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter said.

"We had a relatively basic game-plan around creating pressure, going to the corner and creating as many five-metre opportunities as we could. We wanted to keep going and build our game around it.

La Rochelle 39-21 Bath (5.30pm)

Remi Picquette scored a brace of tries as La Rochelle recorded a thumping 39-21 victory over Bath at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre to record their second victory in the Champions Cup.

Despite a bright start from the visitors, the result was never in doubt from the moment Pierre Popelin registered a couple of early penalties, after Ben Spencer had failed to give Bath an early lead from the tee.

The penalties were followed by a first try courtesy of Jonathan Danty, followed by Picquette getting in on the act with his first. Gregory Aldritt, Dillyn Leyds and Raymond Rhule also crossed as last season's runners-up secured the bonus point.

Bath were not helped by having Tom Ellis and Johannes Jonker sent to the sin-bin, although they did rally in the second half with tries from Jonker, Joe Simpson and Ruaridh McConnochie.

Pool B

Wasps 30-22 Toulouse (1pm)

Wasps overcame two controversial refereeing decisions including a red card shown to Jacob Umaga (his second in two matches) to beat holders Toulouse.

England prospect Alfie Barbeary crossed for the crucial try in the 69th minute as Lee Blackett's side defied the odds at the CBS Arena to keep alive their ambition of reaching the knockout phase.

Umaga was sent off six minutes before half-time for his challenge on scrum-half Martin Page Relo, with referee Chris Busby stating there was head-to-head contact and no mitigation.

However, Umaga was attempting to wrap his arms around Relo, who was already falling downwards because of a low tackle from Charlie Atkinson.

Wasps boss Lee Blackett said about the sending off: "We'll look at ourselves. We've got to lower our height. It's difficult when people are changing direction but we've got to make sure we look at our height.

"As long as we lower our height we don't bring in the interpretation of the referee."

Connacht 28-29 Leicester Tigers (3.15pm)

Hosea Saumaki's last-minute try completed a memorable 19-point comeback from Leicester Tigers at the Sportsground as the Gallagher Premiership side booked their place in the last 16.

Image: Leicester Tigers' Hosea Saumaki scores the winning try late

This nine-try thriller ended in a chorus of boos from the home fans but replays showed replacement Saumaki did not have a foot in touch as he put Tigers through to the knockout rounds.

An early Leicester surge, which saw Joe Heyes and Kini Murimurivalu both touch down, was eclipsed when Connacht hit back to lead 14-10 at half-time.

Captain Jack Carty converted scores from Tiernan O'Halloran and Cian Prendergast, and Tom Reffell's early second-half yellow card was punished by seven-pointers from Kieran Marmion and O'Halloran for a 28-10 scoreline.

However, the Gallagher Premiership leaders rallied superbly, completing a pool double over the stunned westerners thanks to closing tries from Murimurivalu and the newly-introduced Charlie Clare and Saumaki.

"We don't want to be 18 points down, but the character of the players and spirit is incredible," Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick said. "There's lots for us to improve upon, but to have that spirit is a real asset for us.

"We want to be proud of our performance and we want to make our supporters proud of our performance and I think our supporters back home will be proud of our team tonight."

Bristol Bears 28-17 Stade Francais (8pm)

Piers O'Conor scored two tries as Bristol qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup last 16 with a hard-fought win over Stade Francais at Ashton Gate.

The French visitors, who presently lie 10th in the Top 14, offered stubborn resistance but bore no resemblance to their predecessors, who reached the final of the tournament on three occasions.

Image: Harry Randall was among the try-scorers for Bristol against Stade Francis

Bristol's other tries came from Henry Purdy and Harry Randall with Callum Sheedy kicking four conversions, while Joe Joyce's 150th appearance for the club ended with him celebrating a victory.

Leo Barre and Antoine Burban crossed for the French outfit as Nicolas Sanchez converted both and added a penalty.

"We are pleased that we are through to the next round but we need to get as many points as we can to get the highest ranking for the quarter-finals," Bristol head coach Pat Lam, whose side travel to Scarlets next week, said.

"There will obviously be an edge to the game but it's a good pitch down there so with the crowd now allowed in, it should make for a great atmosphere."

What's next?

The fourth and final round of pool-stage matches in this season's Champions Cup takes place next weekend, but there are still four more games in Round 3 to come on Sunday...

Pool A: Leinster vs Montpellier (1pm), Northampton Saints vs Ulster (3.15pm), Clermont Auvergne vs Sale Sharks (5.30pm UK time).

Pool B: Bordeaux-Begles vs Scarlets (3.15pm UK time).

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