Northampton were brought back down to earth after they suffered a 50-28 loss away to Champions Cup holders Bordeaux Bègles in a repeat of last season’s final.
Northampton are already through to the next round after two wins in the competition and despite a double by Henry Pollock, they lost for the first time in Europe this season.
Champions Bordeaux crossed over eight times in a scintillating display, but Northampton were able to leave with a bonus point.
A ding-dong battle in a repeat of the 2025 showpiece appeared on the cards when Pollock instantly replied in the 10th minute to the first try by Bordeaux wing Salesi Rayasi.
Ill-discipline proved costly for Saints as a raft of first-half sinbins meant it was 24-7 to Bordeaux at the interval and Rayasi completed his treble two minutes after the restart.
Cameron Woki joined Rayasi in scoring a hat-trick after he bundled over in the 50th minute. Pollock added to a Tommy Freeman score late on before Fischetti clinched a losing bonus point,
Saracens produced a victory to rescue their season as they overcame Toulouse 20-14 in a heavyweight Champions Cup clash at StoneX Stadium.
Two tries from Rotimi Segun and a third by Tom Willis placed Maro Itoje’s team in command after they were in danger of being swept away by a full-blooded start from the six-time champions.
It was another shaky night from Antoine Dupont’s Toulouse who were humbled 28-21 by Glasgow in their last Champions Cup outing and the top 14 leaders look set for an away last 16 match should they make it there.
Toulouse started well with Blair Kinghorn’s 18th-minute try, but a lazy Dupont box kick launching a counter attack was finished by Segun in the left corner.
Lozowski set up Segun up for his second try, a show and go sweeping him through the midfield before releasing his wing, who used his footwork to score. Then the excellent Willis muscled over in the right corner after a lineout drive, building a 17-7 interval lead.
Toulouse’s fightback began in the 47th minute when Matthis Lebel touched down in the left corner with Kinghorn, playing off a strong forward drive, releasing the wing with a long pass.
Willis stopped a certain try with a turnover and Owen Farrell, who was back from a hamstring injury, landed a penalty to give Saracens the 20-14 win.
Saracens’ Owen Farrell. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho
Rampant Harlequins returned to form in style by blowing away previously unbeaten Stormers 61-10 at the Twickenham Stoop to secure their place in the Champions Cup knockout stages with one group game remaining.
Stormers had won all their 10 competitive fixtures so far this season, two in this competition and eight in the United Rugby Championship, but left their first-choice team in Cape Town and paid the price with a desperately poor display.
Quins, with Marcus Smith and Tyrone Green pulling the strings, scored nine tries. Nick David touched down for three of them, with Jack Kenningham, Cadan Murley, Alex Dombrandt, Chandler Cunningham-South, Zach Carr and Jarrod Evans bagging the others. Smith converted eight.
Bristol ran riot in a remarkable first half to secure their place in the Champions Cup knockout phase with a 61-49 victory over the Bulls in Pretoria. The South African hosts fielded 10 Springboks in their starting XV in the hope of registering a first win of the group campaign yet were still swept aside at Loftus Versfeld.
Bristol started like a freight train, running in three tries inside the opening 10 minutes and seven in total to build a interval 47-28 lead. Noah Heward crossed twice and there were also touch downs for Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Max Lahiff, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Kieran Marmion.
The Bulls offered more resistance in the second half but Bristol continued to fire shots with Heward completing his hat-trick, Pedro Rubiolo breaching the whitewash and Ravouvou running in his second.
Glasgow, who staged a remarkable comeback to beat Toulouse in the last round of matches, were too strong for another French side, Clermont Auvergne, who were bottom of Pool 1 after losing their two openers.
There were three more wins for English teams – Leicester Tigers, Bath and Sale – this weekend, while Pau and Edinburgh also secured victories.