BRISTOL BEARS BOOKED their place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup with a stunning 61-49 win over South African franchise Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria in Saturday’s early game.
Scottish side Glasgow Warriors later stamped their passage to the knockout stages with a 33-21 bonus-point win at French side Clermont.
Wing Noah Heward scored a first-half hat-trick for Bristol, and there were two tries for Fijian flyer Kalaveti Ravouvou as Bristol ran in nine in total to secure the bonus-point win.
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Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs also went over twice as the South Africans touched down seven times to take a bonus point, which keeps them in with a chance of reaching the last 16.
Victory takes the English club to the top of Pool 4, leap-frogging Bordeaux-Begles and Northampton, who meet in France on Sunday in a re-run of last season’s final.
Centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg, who was born in Pretoria, got the ball rolling, going over for Bristol’s opening try in just the second minute.
The Bears chalked up another six tries, including three from Heward, to four from Bulls to take a 47-28 lead at the break.
The rampage continued in the second half as Bristol stretched the lead to 61-35 before Bulls closed the gap with two tries in the last seven minutes from Sebastian de Klerk and Willie le Roux.
Bulls are now bottom of the table after young Australian winger Toshi Butlin crossed twice to help Pau overcome the Scarlets 47-38.
Glasgow, who staged a remarkable comeback to beat six-time champions Toulouse in the last round of matches, were too strong for another French side, Clermont, who were bottom of Pool 1 after losing their two openers.
Flanker Euan Ferrie got the opener after 10 minutes before Scotland centre Huw Jones, playing his first game of the season, sliced through the midfield to dot down.
Scotland wing Kyle Steyn — another who was born in South Africa — made it 19-0, and despite George Moala’s response, Glasgow took the bonus point when No. 8 Jack Dempsey scored the Warriors’ fourth six minutes before half-time.
Trailing 26-7 at the break, Clermont closed the gap to just five points with a penalty try and a score by Irae Simone, but Steyn’s second six minutes from time sealed the match.
“We’ve just got a really good group that’s been together for a number of years now, and we are just really keen to play for each other,” Steyn told Premier Sports.
“We were obviously very nervous, and you don’t want that, but we had a clear plan of what we had to do if something like that (the two yellow cards) happened,” he added.
Elsewhere, Sale also advanced to the knockout stages with a 26-10 win over the Sharks in pool 1 thanks to a stand-out performance from winger Tom O’Flaherty.
In-form English fly-half Billy Searle scored 25 points as Leicester Tigers hammered a second-string Bayonne 57-14 to keep their hopes of a last-16 spot alive.
Sunday’s highlight is Toulouse’s trip to three-time winners Saracens as superstar Dupont captains his side in north London.
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Bristol win 110-point thriller in Pretoria to reach last 16; Glasgow advance after win at Clermont
Updated at 22.31
Champions Cup results on Saturday:
Pool 1
Pool 3
Pool 4
BRISTOL BEARS BOOKED their place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup with a stunning 61-49 win over South African franchise Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria in Saturday’s early game.
Scottish side Glasgow Warriors later stamped their passage to the knockout stages with a 33-21 bonus-point win at French side Clermont.
Wing Noah Heward scored a first-half hat-trick for Bristol, and there were two tries for Fijian flyer Kalaveti Ravouvou as Bristol ran in nine in total to secure the bonus-point win.
Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs also went over twice as the South Africans touched down seven times to take a bonus point, which keeps them in with a chance of reaching the last 16.
Victory takes the English club to the top of Pool 4, leap-frogging Bordeaux-Begles and Northampton, who meet in France on Sunday in a re-run of last season’s final.
Centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg, who was born in Pretoria, got the ball rolling, going over for Bristol’s opening try in just the second minute.
The Bears chalked up another six tries, including three from Heward, to four from Bulls to take a 47-28 lead at the break.
The rampage continued in the second half as Bristol stretched the lead to 61-35 before Bulls closed the gap with two tries in the last seven minutes from Sebastian de Klerk and Willie le Roux.
Bulls are now bottom of the table after young Australian winger Toshi Butlin crossed twice to help Pau overcome the Scarlets 47-38.
Glasgow, who staged a remarkable comeback to beat six-time champions Toulouse in the last round of matches, were too strong for another French side, Clermont, who were bottom of Pool 1 after losing their two openers.
Flanker Euan Ferrie got the opener after 10 minutes before Scotland centre Huw Jones, playing his first game of the season, sliced through the midfield to dot down.
Scotland wing Kyle Steyn — another who was born in South Africa — made it 19-0, and despite George Moala’s response, Glasgow took the bonus point when No. 8 Jack Dempsey scored the Warriors’ fourth six minutes before half-time.
Trailing 26-7 at the break, Clermont closed the gap to just five points with a penalty try and a score by Irae Simone, but Steyn’s second six minutes from time sealed the match.
“We’ve just got a really good group that’s been together for a number of years now, and we are just really keen to play for each other,” Steyn told Premier Sports.
“We were obviously very nervous, and you don’t want that, but we had a clear plan of what we had to do if something like that (the two yellow cards) happened,” he added.
Elsewhere, Sale also advanced to the knockout stages with a 26-10 win over the Sharks in pool 1 thanks to a stand-out performance from winger Tom O’Flaherty.
In-form English fly-half Billy Searle scored 25 points as Leicester Tigers hammered a second-string Bayonne 57-14 to keep their hopes of a last-16 spot alive.
Sunday’s highlight is Toulouse’s trip to three-time winners Saracens as superstar Dupont captains his side in north London.
– © AFP 2026
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