Duhan van der Merwe stars for Edinburgh while Lions beat Premiership opposition in Challenge Cup

There were wins claimed by Edinburgh, Lions, Benetton, Zebre Parma and Pau in the five Challenge Cup matches that took place on Saturday.

Here is a round-up of all of the games.

Duhan van der Merwe stars for Edinburgh

Duhan van der Merwe led the way with a brace of tries tries as Edinburgh clinched a 34-21 victory against Castres in their Challenge Cup match at Hive Stadium on Saturday.

Edinburgh suffered a defeat against Clermont in their tournament opener last weekend but they came to the fore with a spirited all-round performance against this weekend’s French opposition.

Sean Everitt’s troops took advantage of an early red card for Castres centre Andrea Cocagi and held an edge throughout.

Wing Van der Merwe’s double highlighted the win, with Wes Goosen, Ali Price and Matt Currie also touching down, while Ben Healy kicked three conversions and a penalty in a bonus-point win.

Castres, despite Cocagi being dismissed after just nine minutes, posted tries from Antoine Bouzerand, Wayan de Benedittis and Leona Nakarawa.

Five-try Lions too good for Newcastle

The Lions continued with their impressive recent form when they claimed a 35-13 triumph over Newcastle Falcons in their encounter in Johannesburg.

The home side were full value for their win as they were the dominant side for most of this clash and they eventually outscored their opponents by five tries to one with Emmanuel Tshituka leading the way with two well-taken tries.

The home side’s other tries were scored by PJ Botha, JP Smith and Marius Louw while their other points came via the boot of Sanele Nohamba, who finished with a 10-point haul courtesy of five conversions.

For Newcastle, Brett Connon succeeded with a couple of penalties while Freddie Lockwood crossed for their only try.

Rhyno Smith shines as Benetton win

Benetton got their Challenge Cup campaign on track when they notched a deserved 28-7 triumph over Perpignan at Stadio Monigo.

It was a momentous occasion for the home side’s South African full-back Rhyno Smith as he scored a brace of tries which makes him Benetton’s all-time leading try-scorer in European Professional Club Rugby competitions.

Smith crossed for his first try in the 15th minute and and also dotted down in the game’s dying moments which earned his team a bonus point.

The Italian outfit’s other points came via tries from Bautista Bernasconi and Alessandro Izekor while Jacob Umaga succeeded with three conversions and a penalty.

Victor Montgaillard sored a late try for Perpignan which was converted by Matteo Rodor.

Zebre get the better of Oyonnax

Elsewhere, Zebre Parma were made to work hard but got the job done as they beat Oyonnax 21-14 in their clash at the Stade Charles Mathon.

The visitors made up for last week’s home defeat to the Cheetahs with fly-half Geronimo Prisciantelli their hero as he contributed 11 points in their victory via three penalties and a conversion.

Their other points came courtesy of second-half tries from Matteo Canali and Gonzalo Garcia after the home side had the better of the early exchanges and held a 7-3 lead at half-time.

For Oyonnax, Teddy Durand and Darren Sweetnam crossed the whitewash which were both converted by Justin Bouraux.

Dragons fall to Pau in France

Finally, the Dragons, victors over Oyonnax last weekend, went within touching distance of an impressive double against French opposition as they suffered an agonising 24-21 defeat against Pau at Stade du Hameau.

Pau replacement Theo Attissogbe’s try in the final minute denied the Dragons, who had to be content with a losing bonus-point.

James Benjamin and George Young claimed touchdowns for the Welsh side, with Cai Evans adding three penalties and a conversion.

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