Anglo-Welsh Cup
Quins sweep Wasps aside in Abu Dhabi
ESPNscrum Staff
January 30, 2011

Harlequins remain on course for the Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-finals following their 38-13 bonus point victory over London Wasps in Abu Dhabi.

The match was the first domestic fixture to be staged overseas and was played in perfect conditions in the luxurious grounds of the Emirates Palace Hotel. Designated home side Wasps agreed to move the fixture between the two Aviva Premiership sides from Adams Park, but perhaps quickly came to regret that decision as they found themselves on the back foot under the floodlights of the temporary 5,000-seat stadium.

Two tries from scrum-half Karl Dickson and further scores from centre George Lowe, prop Ceri Jones and winger Sam Smith powered Quins to victory in the showpiece clash. Fly-half Nick Evans kicked 11 points with Rory Clegg adding the final conversion as the 'visitors' moved to the top of Pool 4. Winger Tom Varndell and replacement Joe Launchbury crossed for Wasps but they were second best by some way to their in-form rivals.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Gloucester moved to the top of Pool 3 with a comfortable 30-16 bonus-point victory over Leeds Carnegie at Headingley. Gloucester's defeat here on New Year's Day had given Leeds their only domestic win of the campaign to date, but there seemed little chance of a repeat as tries from Lesley Vainikolo and Tom Voyce plus a conversion and penalty from Freddie Burns gave the visitors a 15-9 lead, with Ceiron Thomas kicking three penalties for the hosts. Burns further extended Gloucester's lead with another penalty and, despite a fine try for Leeds from Scott Mathie, Nick Wood and Tim Molenaar crossed to give the west-country side the extra point and leave them knowing a win over London Irish next weekend will put them into the semi-finals for the third year running.

London Irish collected their first Anglo-Welsh Cup win of the season by convincingly defeating the current holders Northampton 37-20 in an entertaining game at the Madejski Stadium. Even allowing for a very slow start, Irish were always the more powerful and penetrative side against an under-strength Saints line-up with a brace from hooker Brian Blaney and further scores from replacement George Stowers, flanker Steffon Armitage and centre Dan Bowden carried the Exiles to victory. A second half try for Saints hooker Brett Sharman threatened to make a game of it but they failed to cross again until Scott Armstrong's last minute score. Victory kept alive Irish's remote hopes of qualification for the semi-finals, with Northampton's progress hinging on them defeating Leeds at Franklin's Gardens next week and hoping other results go in their favour.

Matt Stevens returned to competitive rugby for the first time since his two-year ban for drug taking as Saracens trounced a young Scarlets side 34-7 at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday. The former England prop Stevens came as a 48th minute replacement but by then his side had gone a long way to sealing victory with tries from winger James Short and lock Hayden Smith. Further scores from replacement Ben Ransom, hooker Jamie George and winger Noah Cato hammered home their advantage. Despite this heavy defeat the Scarlets, who were missing 20 players through injuries and call-ups, can still qualify for the semi-finals if they beat the Dragons next week.

Exeter made it third time lucky against Leicester as they outscored the visitors by five tries to two in a 35-10 victory to go top of Pool 4 at Sandy Park. The home side had narrowly lost their two Premiership meetings against the Tigers but they had this game sewn-up by half time having scored four converted tries without reply to secure the a bonus point. Exeter broke the deadlock after as a series of pick and drives saw lock Chad Slade score in the right corner with fly-half Gareth Steenson adding the extras. The hosts increased their lead with wing Andrew Higgins and No.8 James Phillips setting up a try for blindside flanker Dave Ewers, before hooker Neil Clark crossed after good work by Haydn Thomas.

Leicester finally got on to the scoreboard eight minutes into the second period after a break from scrum-half Sam Harrison put centre Dan Hipkiss over the line, but 17-year-old fly-half George Ford was off target with the conversion. The Tigers were then reduced to 14 men as lock Ed Slater was yellow carded and the Chiefs took advantage of the extra man to score their fifth try through prop Ben Moon, converted by Steenson. But the visitors kept going and captain Boris Stankovich got the game's final try touchdown from a rolling maul.

Ospreys overcame Cardiff Blues at the home of their rivals with a 29-7 victory despite going down to 13 men. Forwards Ian Evans and Cai Griffiths were sin binned early in the second half but their absence did not derail the Ospreys who moved off the bottom of Pool 4 after the victory. Cardiff enjoyed a great start with Gavin Evans crossing and fly-half Joe Griffin converting in the third minute. But a penalty try and a try from Morgan Allan along with four penalties and a conversion from Matthew Morgan helped the visitors to a 24-7 half-time lead. Cardiff then failed to take advantage of the two yellow cards and it was left to Hanno Dirkson to confirm the win with a 69th minute try.

Bath mounted a strong second-half performance to steal an 11-6 victory from Newcastle at a packed Recreation Ground. The only try of the game came on the half-hour as Bath tight-head prop Aaron Jarvis finished off some impressive driving play from the home pack. But it was late in the game before Olly Barkley kicked two penalties to settle matters. Newcastle's points came from two successful kicks by Jimmy Gopperth in the first half.

Sale Sharks' unbeaten start to their campaign came to an end on Friday night as they slumped to a surprise 20-28 defeat at home to Newport Gwent Dragons. The Dragons had led by three points at the end of a turgid opening 40 minutes, with fly-half Matthew Jones having responded to an early penalty from opposite number Rob Miller with two of his own. The Welsh, who arrived in Stockport without their suspended head coach Paul Turner because of an internal disciplinary matter, then took command of the contest with a brace of tries from winger Adam Hughes in the opening ten minutes of the second half. Aled Brew then crossed for a converted try which put 25 points between the sides. Sale prop Henry Thomas breathed new life into the game when he crashed over twice in the space of six minutes but even they notched again through replacement Aston Croall in the dying minutes, the Sharks came away from the game empty handed as Nick Macleod failed to convert his side's final two scores.

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