Leinster record commanding 57-0 win over Gloucester after scoring five first half tries; Bordeaux lose 16-19 to Sharks following Werner Kok’s key try.
Last Updated: 16/12/22 11:10pm
Leinster’s James Lowe goes over to score his side’s sixth try against Gloucester
Leinster cruised to a dominant victory over a depleted Gloucester in the Heineken Champions Cup, while Sharks narrowly beat Bordeaux to continue their strong start…
Leinster 57-0 Gloucester
James Lowe scored his 50th Leinster try during their dominant 57-0 win over a second-string Gloucester at the RDS.
Lowe, who hit the half-century on just his 68th appearance, and Ronan Kelleher both bagged braces as Leo Cullen’s men made it back-to-back bonus point pool wins.
Cullen’s men had five tries on the board by half-time, Kelleher and James Ryan’s late scores for a 31-0 lead coming after Gloucester hooker Henry Walker’s sin-binning.
Lowe, Josh van der Flier and Kelleher had contributed the earlier tries, and it was one-way traffic for most of the second half with Luke McGrath, Lowe, Jordan Larmour and Heineken star-of-the-match Caelan Doris making it a nine-try rout.
George Skivington’s squad rotation – only Lloyd Evans and Alex Hearle were retained as starters from their comeback victory over Bordeaux-Begles – saw him juggle his resources ahead of Gloucester’s Gallagher Premiership trip to Leicester.
Albert Tuisue and Giorgi Kveseladze were both prominent early on for the Cherry and Whites, but the hosts put a scrappy start behind them with a 12th-minute try courtesy of Lowe.
Bordeaux 16-19 Sharks
Werner Kok scored a crucial try as Sharks continued their winning start to life in the Champions Cup with a 19-16 victory over Bordeaux.
The South African franchise were marginal underdogs heading into the clash, despite debuting with a strong win against Harlequins, but once again showed they mean business as they successfully overturned a half-time deficit.
The French side were 13-9 ahead at the interval, with Renato Giammarioli going over for try after just seven minutes.
Jules Gimbert converted and added a couple of penalties as the hosts cashed in on some errors, but nine points off the boot of Curwi Bosch, including a drop goal, kept things tight.
The game broke open at the start of the second period, Kok smartly gathering Boeta Chamberlain’s offload to touch down from close-range and give his side a lead they never surrendered.
Bosch put over the extras and slotted two of his next three penalties, with Zack Holmes replying for Bordeaux.
There was a lengthy delay after Madosh Tambwe suffered an unintentional collision with Kok late on, but when play resumed the Sharks were able to settle in and protect their advantage.
