Champions Cup round-up: Holders Toulouse thrash Ulster as Leicester lose in Bordeaux

Champions Cup round-up: Holders Toulouse thrash Ulster as Leicester lose in Bordeaux

A round-up of Sunday's Investec Champions Cup action, where both Ulster and Leicester Tigers suffered defeats to French opposition.

Investec Champions Cup holders Toulouse swept past Ulster 61-21 at Stade Ernest-Wallon in their opening clash in the competition this season.

The hosts had set the tone when Matthis Lebel went over in the corner inside two minutes before Romain Ntamack barged across from Antoine Dupont's pass.

Ulster responded with a 12th-minute try from James McCormack, but Toulouse soon scored again through lock Emmanuel Meafou before Italy international Ange Capuozzo capped off a fine move and Dupont touched down a fifth try.

Stewart Moore raced clear to get Ulster on the board again, but there was little respite as Meafou's second try made it 40-14 at the break.

Santiago Chocobares continued the onslaught in the second half from another flowing attack and Capuozzo went over after collecting a fine kick from Dupont.

Iain Henderson barged over for Ulster's third try with 13 minutes left before Toulouse completed a comprehensive win with a penalty try from the final action of the match, Thomas Ramos having kicked seven conversions.

Bordeaux-Begles made it a French double in Pool One as they mounted a second-half fightback to beat Leicester 42-28 at Stade Chaban-Delmas.

The Tigers had built a seven-point lead by half-time, but the hosts recovered with four tries as France international Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored twice.

Despite resting several players for the European tie, Leicester made a positive start with two tries in the opening 15 minutes through lock Harry Wells and Josh Bassett's close-range touchdown.

Bordeaux had replied with a sixth-minute try from forward Pete Samu before Guido Petti went over from a counter-attack to level things up ahead of the half-hour mark.

Frenchman Come Joussain then crafted a try on his Tigers debut to put the English side 21-14 ahead at the break.

Bordeaux, though, regrouped during the interval and produced a lightning start to the second half as Bielle-Biarrey scored from his own kick before Samu went over for his second to put the home side in front.

Bielle-Biarrey touched down again between the posts before Nicolas Depoortere ran in a sixth try, with Izaia Perese bundling over late on to at least secure Leicester a bonus point.

Premiership high-fliers Bristol were brought crashing down to earth in their Investec Champions Cup opener as tournament heavyweights Leinster beat them 35-12 at Ashton Gate.

Bristol had no answer to a second-half scoring blitz that saw four-time competition winners Leinster score three tries in six minutes.

The west country club had collected 36 touchdowns across just seven Premiership games this season, but their free-scoring style stalled on northern hemisphere club rugby's biggest stage.

Leinster had three players yellow-carded and were reduced to 13 men at one stage, yet Sam Prendergast's 20-point haul - two tries and five conversions - underpinned an outstanding success that saw them cruise away from a 7-7 interval scoreline.

New Zealand international Jordie Barrett touched down on his Leinster debut, and there were also scores for wing Jordan Larmour and flanker Josh van der Flier in an emphatic bonus-point win.

Bristol struck first through a Max Lahiff try that Benhard Janese van Rensburg converted, while wing Gabriel Ibitoye crossed late on, but Pat Lam's team must now pick themselves up for a testing assignment against twice-Champions Cup winners La Rochelle in France next Saturday.

Newcastle launched their European Challenge Cup campaign with a 32-19 defeat in Pau after taking the lead three times.

Ollie Fletcher's two tries, the first of which was converted by Kieran Wilkinson, had the visitors 7-3 and 12-11 ahead at the Stade de Hameau.

Freddie Lockwood also crossed on the hour - despite Falcons wing Ben Stevenson being in the sin bin at the time - with Brett Connon's conversion making it 19-18 to Newcastle, but they could not hold on in the south of France.

Tries from Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, Jimi Maximin, Youri Delhommel and Eliott Roudil, coupled with 12 points from the boot of Axel Desperes, ultimately saw the hosts across the line.

Dan Edwards' late try sealed a 30-14 victory for Pool Two rivals Ospreys over the Lions at Parc y Scarlets.

Jac Morgan, Keelan Giles and Kieran Hardy had crossed earlier with Owen Williams kicking 10 points to ensure converted tries from Lions duo Franco Marais and Erich Cronje counted for little.

Meanwhile, over in Pool One, Antoine Aucagne's late penalty dragged Perpignan back from the brink of defeat against the Cheetahs in Amsterdam as he ensured the game ended 20-20. Jeandre Rudolph, Louis van der Westhuizen and Daniel Maartens went over for the South African outfit and Aucagne, Seta Toganiyadrava and Job Poulet for the French side.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app - giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Stream The new EFL season, Test cricket and more top sport with NOW.