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Saints put up a gigantic score in Challenge Cup rout
By Liam Blackburn
Northampton Saints demolished Timisoara Saracens 111-3 in a 17-try rout that booked their European Challenge Cup quarter-final spot.
The Premiership club claimed a record European win against the Romanian side, with Ollie Sleightholme running in four scores and Alex Mitchell bagging a hat-trick.
Saints, who face an away tie in the last eight, had secured a bonus-point victory as early as the 23rd minute but showed no mercy as 11 different men dotted down.
It was the second time Northampton had beaten Timisoara in the competition, though their victory in Romania was awarded to them after the contest was cancelled late on due to heavy snow.
Clermont Auvergne's victory over the Dragons was not quite as comprehensive but their 49-7 triumph ensured they finished top of Pool 1 with six wins from six.
The Top 14 club had actually delivered their bonus point one minute earlier than Northampton did, Pato Fernandez, Alexandre Fischer, Paul Jedrasiak and Remy Grosso all going over early.
France international Grosso and Jedrasiak would score further tries, while Peter Betham touched down for a seventh score for a Clermont side assured of a home quarter-final.
Harlequins joined them in the last eight with a 33-17 bonus point victory over Agen, with Danny Care playing a key role in two of Quins' five tries.
Scrum-half Care was a surprise omission from the squad for England's first Six Nations game when it was announced on Thursday and he delivered a timely reminder of his quality to Eddie Jones with two brilliant chips for Nathan Earle and Joe Marchant's scores.
Benetton Treviso beat Grenoble 39-7 and though they have 20 points, they must wait and see if they have done enough to secure a quarter-final berth courtesy of one of the three runners-up spots.
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Latest Comments
i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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