Biarritz roll over Gloucester, Toulouse battle past Quins

AFP - European Cup superpowers Munster and Leicester put Italian opponents to the sword on Saturday as American winger Takudzwa Ngwenya grabbed a stunning hat-trick to steer Biarritz closer to the quarter-finals.

Double champions Munster, defeated by Northampton in their opening Pool One clash, saw off Treviso 41-10 but only after surviving a major scare when the Italians, who stunned French champions Perpignan last week, took a 10-0 lead.

Australian winger Brendan Williams and England Sevens captain Andy Vilk scored for Treviso to send shockwaves through Thomond Park.

But Munster hit back with tries from Paul Warwick and Ian Dowling to take a 12-10 interval lead.

The Irishmen then stretched their lead after the interval taking their try total to seven with Denis Leamy, Denis Fogarty, David Wallace, Ian Dowling and Jean de Villiers all crossing.

Leicester, also former double European champions, followed up their 32-32 draw with the Ospreys with a bonus-point 46-11 victory over Viadana in Pool Three.

Kiwi full-back Scott Hamilton grabbed a hat-trick while Johne Murphy, Tom Croft, Lucas Amorosino and a penalty try handed the Tigers victory.

"We have probably played better than what we have shown here," said Hamilton.

"But we came here for five points and that's what we have got - we're pleased with our work.

"Viadana were really good and I was impressed by their forwards. They carried the ball well and their big boys took a lot of stopping."

Triple champions Toulouse came back from 14-0 down to hand Harlequins a second defeat in Pool Five with a 23-19 win.

England winger Ugo Monye scored both of Harlequins' tries with Yves Donguy and Shaun Sowerby crossing for the French.

Biarritz secured their second successive win in Pool Two with a 42-15 win over Gloucester.

The French side defeated Glasgow 22-18 in their group opener and now have nine points to lead Newport-Gwent Dragons who saw off the Scots 22-14 on Friday.

Ngwenya was the star of the show, sprinting 40 metres for his spectacular first try.

Ayoola Erinle and Valentin Courrent also scored for Biarritz with Tom Voyce and Jake Boer scoring Gloucester's two tries.

"Ngwenya is international class but he can only achieve those exploits by giving him the right ball. It augurs well for the rest of the season," said Biarritz manager Laurent Rodriguez.

Defending champions Leinster got the defence of their title back on track with a 36-13 victory in Brive to bury the nightmare of their opening Pool Six defeat at home to London Irish.

Kevin McLaughlin (2) and Rob Kearney scored tries for Leinster with the confident boot of Jonathan Sexton contributing 19 points.

Scarlets lead the group with a second successive victory, a tense 27-25 win at London Irish sealed by Stephen Jones' last-gasp penalty.

Trailing 21-18 with 15 minutes to go, Samoan winger Sailosi Tagicakibau ran in his seventh try of the season to give the Exiles sight of victory.

But with little over a minute remaining, substitute Peter Richards conceded a penalty in front of the posts and Jones landed the decisive kick.

Wales fly-half Jones was in commanding form, kicking 17 points.