Defending champions Toulon, French rivals Clermont and former winners Munster all secured places in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup on Saturday.
The day’s results also ensured that Ulster and Leicester advance into the last eight.
A Jonny Wilkinson-skippered Toulon side had too much power for the Cardiff Blues in Pool 2, running out 43-20 winners thanks largely to a dominant scrum.
A bonus point for a fourth try at the death set Toulon atop their pool on 20 points, with the Blues in second on 13.
“We had a big point to prove after last week,” Toulon No 8 Steffon Armitage said, in reference to last week’s 22-21 Top 14 loss to Grenoble, which incensed coach Bernard Laporte.
Winger David Smith scored Toulon’s other try, with Wilkinson booting four penalties and conversions.
The Blues scored tries through Filo Paulo and Sam Hobbs, with British Lions fullback Leigh Halfpenny hitting two penalties and two conversions, but they paid for four yellow cards.
Clermont overcame a 10-point half-time deficit to claim a slim 16-13 away victory over Harlequins.
The win meant that the French giants will top Pool 4, having amassed 19 points from their five games, seven ahead of second-placed Quins with a game in hand.
Clermont came out firing and a frantic start saw fly-half Brock James notching up his first penalty in the third minute.
After No. 8 Fritz Lee broke away, James landed a crosskick, but Fiji winger Napolioni Nalaga could not hold it with the line begging and Lee putting down a try-scoring pass from the resulting line-out.
A piece of individual brilliance from Quins’ England scrum-half Danny Care then lit up the Stoop.
Care latched on to an unlikely chip ahead from skipper Chris Robshaw, but found himself bound for touch at a lick. Carefully avoiding the whitewash, Care threw a blind one-handed pass behind him, which Matt Hooper caught for a clear run-in.
The momentum swung the way of the London club, Evans booting a penalty after his own slick break, with Clermont left to rue their missed chances.
Munster booked their 15th appearance in the last eight as Pool 6 winners after an impressive 20-7 win at Gloucester.
In Pool 5, two-time Cup winners Leicester withstood an early onslaught from Italian outfit Treviso to run out 34-19 bonus-point winners.
The day’s results mean Pool 5 leaders Ulster and Leicester qualify as both are assured of at least finishing as best runners-up.
In other rugby news, Fiji’s cash-strapped rugby union yesterday pledged to be back on side with the International Rugby Board (IRB) in four months after its World Cup plans were dashed when all financial aid was cut.
The IRB on Saturday said it had axed all direct financial support because Fiji rugby bosses had failed to implement recommended measures to address “significant concerns regarding the administration and governance of the union.”
The Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) responded that it was dealing with the issues and would still go to the IRB for money if it needed to.
“Please note that all these issues were inherited by this current FRU board and the board expects to clear up all these issues by end of May 2014,” the FRU said.
The FRU said it had so far used £200,000 (US$329,000) of a £250,000 grant toward its 2015 World Cup campaign.
“The FRU Board will only ask for the further funding from IRB only if absolutely necessary or not at all, and reserve this funding for our World Cup preparations,” it added in a statement.
Although £50,000 remained in the World Cup kitty, Fiji coach Inoke Male said that “more funds from the IRB would have to be good for Fiji.”
The IRB said it committed “£1.1 million in direct funding to the FRU in 2013 and significant additional financial assistance to participate in international tournaments in 2013,” adding that it had expressed concerns that the “financial position of the [Fiji] union is unsustainable.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was