Heineken Cup round-up: Toulouse trek is fruitless for Ospreys
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Your support makes all the difference.Toulouse made it three successive wins to increase their lead at the top of Heineken Cup Pool Two with a comfortable 30-14 victory against Ospreys at Stade Ernest Wallon.
The four-time tournament winners had too much power and pace for the Welsh club whose team, were heavily depleted by injuries.
Florian Fritz, the experienced centre, put Toulouse ahead in the eighth minute, breaking through a hole in Ospreys' defensive line to score under the posts. Lewis Nyatanga then extended the lead with a simple try following a mistake by the Ospreys line-out.
Shortly before half-time, scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'i brought the visitors back into the match with some quick thinking from a tap penalty to make it 12-7. But the comeback proved short-lived as second-half tries from Vincent Clerc, Census Johnston and Yoann Huget secured the bonus point and put the French side out of sight.
Clerc's effort was his 34th in the competition, cementing his position as the Heineken Cup's all-time leading try-scorer. Ryan Bevington barged over for a late consolation score for Ospreys, who must now regroup for next week's return fixture at the Liberty Stadium.
Bath ran in eight second-half tries as they thrashed Italian side Calvisano 67-11 in the Amlin Challenge Cup. It was the hosts' third straight victory in Pool Four but there was no suggestion of the emphatic winning margin early on in the game. Luigi Ferraro's try put Calvisano ahead in the 17th minute and it was only 15-8 at half-time following Bath replies by debutant Nick Koster and Dominic Day.
However, the match was transformed in the second half by five tries in 16 minutes from Josh Ovens, Mark McMillan, Guy Mercer and two for Horacio Agulla. As the Italians capitulated, Bath added three more through a penalty try, Dave Attwood and Kane Palma-Newport. Tom Heathcote registered 10 conversions and a penalty for a 17-point haul.
In Pool Three, Ieuan Jones scored two tries as Newport Gwent Dragons overcame the 30th-minute dismissal of Jevon Groves to claim a 33-0 bonus-point win at Mogliano.
Centre Andy Tuilagi crossed early on before No 8 Jones and winger Will Harries put Dragons in control. Groves was then shown a red card for fighting but it did not affect the momentum as Jones and Tom Prydie completed the try-scoring in the second half.
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