Eight-try Gloucester overwhelm Benetton

Gloucester Rugby’s eight-try rout of Benetton Rugby in Pool B at Kingsholm Stadium was arguably the pick of the Round 2 games, with the hosts running out 54-25 winners.

Jack Singleton, Ben Meehan and Jordy Reid all crossed inside 30 minutes for Gloucester, while Benetton stayed in touch through efforts from Rhyno Smith and Sebastian Negri.

But the Gallagher Premiership side ran riot in the second half, with Matías Alemanno, Stephen Varney, Jonny May and Jack Clement all dotting down in addition to a penalty try, though Benetton did notch a third score through Luca Morisi.

Lyon and Toulon cruise home

The round’s other Pool B encounter produced another seven tries as eventual champions Lyon recorded a thrilling 41-28 win at Dragons.

Ethan Dumortier scored a try brace for the visitors, who also went over through Alfred Parisien and Jonathan Pélissié.

Dragons were well in the game midway through the second half thanks to scores from Mesake Doge, Aki Seiuli and Aaron Wainwright, but Leo Berdeu kicked four penalties in the final 20 minutes – taking his match tally to 21 points - to secure a win for the French side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqIPh5sCarI&list=PLPvhV-spCrYgJC5BfIKaTFjEGyC3Wqnmh&index=35

Meanwhile, Toulon got off the mark in their opening Pool A clash, tallying four tries to Zebre Parma’s two as they picked up a 28-14 win.

The three-time European champions’ scores came through Emerick Setiano, Quinn Roux, Baptiste Serin and a penalty try, while Asaeli Tuivuaka and Jacopo Bianchi hit back as Zebre proved hard to beat.

Round 2 results:

RC Toulon 28 Zebre Parma 14

Gloucester Rugby 54 Benetton Rugby 25

Dragons 28 Lyon 41

Section Paloise 28 Saracens 0 *

Worcester Warriors 0 Biarritz Olympique 0 *

London Irish 0 CA Brive 0 *

* Match cancelled

We continue our review of the EPCR Challenge Cup season with a look at the Covid-hit Round 2, when only three games were possible – but that didn’t stop it being a try fest.