Racing 92 nab bonus point in Glasgow thrashing

Sport360 staff 22:00 09/01/2016
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  • Victory: Juan Imhoff.

    Racing 92 pummelled Glasgow in a bonus-point 34-10 victory on Saturday to put themselves firmly in the driving seat of Pool 3 of the European Champions Cup.

    The Parisian club proved far too powerful up front for the Scottish side, scoring four converted pushover tries.

    Victory at home to already-eliminated Scarlets next weekend will secure Racing’s progress into the knock-out stages.

    “The first objective was to win the match, put on a great performance and take the five points if we could,” said Racing coach Laurent Labit.

    “In this European Cup we’ve had three bonus-point victories and a draw away from home in four matches, it’s a competition that suits us.

    “Now we have a last match here against Scarlets to go to make sure of qualification.”

    Glasgow’s Finn Russell missed his first penalty effort at a wind-swept Stade Yves-du-Manoir, but the fly-half was on target with his second attempt to hand the visitors an unlikely lead after a quarter of an hour.

    Racing’s star man Dan Carter drew the scores level 10 minutes later with his own penalty and the one-way traffic continued when former Chiefs prop and one-time All Black hopeful Ben Tameifuna, weighing in at 134kg (21 stone), crashed over from short range.

    Carter, the record points scorer in international rugby with 1,598 points from 112 caps, kicked the conversion and a second penalty shortly before half-time.

    Racing opened the second period in complete control, skipper and hooker Dimitri Szarzewski driven over for the Parisian club’s second try, Carter making no mistake with the extras.

    More forward power saw prop Eddy Ben Arous crash over as all three front-row forwards got on the scoresheet.

    Glasgow’s outstanding Fijian lock Leone Nakawara claimed a try back after a smart lineout play following a rare foray into Racing territory, Russell kicking the conversion.

    But Racing refocused and had the last laugh when Argentina lock Manuel Carizza was driven over the line for a bonus-point fourth try that leaves the Parisians top of the pool on 17 points, with just two games left, at home to Scarlets on January 17 and away to Glasgow on January 23.

    Racing’s cross-city rivals Stade Francais host Munster in Saturday’s other game, in a round of matches rearranged in the wake of terror attacks in the French capital in November that left 130 people dead.

    Last year’s runners-up Clermont stayed on course for the quarter-finals on Friday with a 28-10 win over Bordeaux-Begles.

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