Scotland Six Nations stars shine in Challenge Cup wins for Gloucester and Edinburgh

Planet Rugby
Edinburgh's Duhan van der Merwe celebrates scoring their side's third try of the game during the EPCR Challenge Cup match at the Parc y Scarlets and Gloucester's Adam Hastings during the EPCR Challenge Cup match at the Kingsholm Stadium.

Edinburgh's Duhan van der Merwe celebrates scoring their side's third try of the game during the EPCR Challenge Cup match at the Parc y Scarlets and Gloucester's Adam Hastings during the EPCR Challenge Cup match at the Kingsholm Stadium.

Gloucester and Edinburgh claimed victories in Friday’s Challenge Cup action, defeating Castres and Scarlets, respectively.

The Cherry and Whites ran in four tries en-route to a comprehensive 35-5 win over Castres while Edinburgh dotted down five times in their 31-19 victory over the Scarlets.

Friday’s action will have pleased Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who saw plenty of his stars in action and on form, particularly after Glasgow Warriors’ Investec Champions Cup win over Toulon.

Click here for scorers

George Skivington’s Cherry and Whites have struggled in the Premiership but have been in fine form in the Challenge Cup and they continued in that fashion with a comprehensive victory over Castres at Kingsholm.

Gloucester had already qualified for the round of 16 but ran in four tries to secure a bonus-point win with Scotland fly-half Adam Hastings starring.

Seb Atkinson went over for an eighth-minute score converted by Hastings, who added a penalty as the hosts went into the break 10-5 up, Josaia Raisuqe going over for the French outfit.

But it was one-way traffic after the interval, with tries from Freddie Clarke, Hastings and Albert Tuisue ensuring a comfortable night’s work for Gloucester.

Hastings finished with 15 points from a try, two conversions and two penalties, while Santiago Carreras added a late conversion and penalty.

Edinburgh on the brink of qualification

Meanwhile, Edinburgh ran in five tries as they moved to the brink of qualification from the pool, defeating Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets.

Ben Vellacott and WP Nel both went over in the first six minutes as the Scots raced into a 14-0 lead.

Joe Roberts crossed to get Scarlets back into it, but further Edinburgh scores from Duhan van der Merwe and Hamish Watson had the bonus point secured by half-time.

Pierre Schoeman put the game to bed three minutes after the restart, and – after Edinburgh lock Grant Gilchrist was shown a red card in the 72nd minute – Ryan Conbeer and a penalty try gave some respectability to the score for the home side, who have lost all four games to exit the competition.

READ MORE: Connacht keep qualification hopes alive with maximum against 14-man Bristol Bears

Line-ups and officials

Gloucester: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Ruan Ackermann (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Albert Tuisue, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Josh Hathaway

Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Martin Laveau, 13 Adrien Seguret, 12 Andrea Cocagi, 11 Nathanael Hulleu, 10 Pierre Popelin, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Abraham Papalii, 7 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 6 Mathieu Babillot (c), 5 Tom Staniforth, 4 Gauthier Maravat, 3 Aurelien Azar, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 1 Wayan de Benedittis
Replacements: 16 Pierre Colonna, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Esteban Talalua, 19 Florent Vanverberghe, 20 Yann Peysson, 21 Jeremy Fernandez, 22 Vilimoni Botitu, 23 Josaia Raisuqe

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Tomás O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Scarlets v Edinburgh

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Ben Williams, 5 Jac Price, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ryan Elias (c), 1 Steff Thomas
Replacements: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Shaun Evans, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Tomi Lewis

Edinburgh: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Chris Dean, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott (cc), 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (cc), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Tom Dodd, 22 Ali Price, 23 Cammy Scott

Referee: Sara Cox (England)
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Cayre (England), tbc
TMO: Dean Richards (England)

Challenge Cup