Cardiff Blues 54 Pau 22

Cardiff Blues romped to their second win in Pool 5 of the Challenge Cup with a runaway 54-22 win over Pau at Cardiff Arms Park in Round 3.

Josh Adams had a night to remember on his Cardiff debut with a brilliant hat-trick of tries as the visitors had no answer to the Blues’ stunning approach work.

Fly-half Jarrod Evans crossed for two tries as well as landing five conversions while full-back Matthew Morgan, winger Owen Lane and centre Ben Thomas, also on his debut, also grabbed tries as the Pau defence struggled to contain the rampant home side.

Pau briefly led 10-7 in the first half when hooker Lucas Key went over for a try converted by Tom Taylor who also notched a penalty, but they were 28-10 down by half-time.

Centre Pierre Nueno scored for the visitors early in the second period but they had to wait until five minutes from time for their third try through replacement Sam Marques.

Worcester Warriors 34 Dragons 28

Worcester Warriors wrested Dragons’ 100 per cent record from them in a finely-balanced Pool 1 encounter in the European Rugby Challenge Cup – edging it 34-28.

Jamie Shillcock’s sixth-minute penalty put Warriors in front – but Dragons hit back thanks to a try from Aaron Wainwright, converted by Sam Davies.

Ryan Mills scored Warriors’ first try of the afternoon on 23 minutes – and Shillcock added the conversion and then a penalty shortly before the break

Skipper Rhodri Williams notched Dragons’ first try of the second half, moving them into the lead again – but a try from Noah Heward, converted by Shillcock, helped Warriors seize the advantage once more.

A Davies penalty gave Dragons a 21-20 lead – but Heward’s second of the afternoon, again converted by Shillcock, followed by a 72nd-minute try from Jono Kitto put Warriors ahead, and this time they did not let it slip.

Zebre Rugby Club 27 Brive 24

Zebre Rugby Club got their first points of the campaign in Pool 4 of the European Rugby Challenge Cup with a 27-24 victory in Round 3 – but Brive so nearly staged an incredible comeback.

Zebre were 24-3 up at half-time, with tries from Paula Balekana, Carlo Canna, Giovanni Licata and Jamie Elliott, two of them converted by Canna.

Brive’s only foray on to the scoreboard was an 11th-minute penalty from Tedo Abzhandadze.

But they nearly made up for it in the space of 13 second-half minutes, with a trio of tries from Eneriko Buliruarua, Francois Da Ros and David Delarue – and three fine conversions from Abzhandadze.

Marcello Violi’s 71st-minute penalty for Zebre ultimately made the difference as the Italians finished with a three-point margin of victory.

We are taking another trip down memory lane today as we look back at some of the most memorable matches in Round 3 of this season’s European Rugby Challenge Cup.