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Europe`s clubs warming up

Monday 18th August 2008

Tom Voyce: Opened his pre-season account

After a welcome 2/3 month break - depending upon your international player status - Europe's clubs and players have got back to work over the past few days, with a number of pre-season friendlies.

French nearly-men Clermont have been busy. With many of the Top 14 teams opting for altitude training camps for the pre-season, Clermont followed suit, but theirs was in America rather than some Alpine paradise.

The Auvergnats beat an American national selection 37-14 last weekend, scoring five tries, before returning home and beating Guinness Premiership newcomers Northampton Saints 14-5 in Vichy on Saturday.

Gonzalo Canale and Brock James scored the tries for Clermont, with James converting both, while Bruce Reihana scored the only try for Saints.

Wasps also travelled to France, to take on Dax on Thursday. They triumphed 13-3 in heavy rain, with Tom Voyce the only try-scorer for the Guinness Premiership champions.

Elsewhere in France, Toulon were beaten 19-12 by Heineken Cup runners-up Toulouse, a match in which Sonny Bill Williams did not play in.

The home side scored two tries, through prop Mathieu Larrouy and centre Tusi Pisi, while Toulouse scored three, from Greg Lamboley, Bertus Swanapoel, and Yannick Nyanga.

Sale Sharks, after pulling off a draw in Perpignan, fared less well at Montpellier's Stade Yves du Manoir, going down 42-21.

The Sharks were 21-0 down at the break, but rallied briefly in the second period with tries from David Doherty and two from young winger Nick Royle, all of which were converted by Luke McAlister. However, Montpellier proved far too strong for what was a younger Sale side than had taken the pitch in Perpignan.

Perpignan themselves have not fared so well wince that draw either. A 10-6 defeat at Castres was followed on Friday by a 29-16 defeat to Stade Fran�ais in which star international centre David Marty left the field after three minutes with an ankle injury.

The Dragons also lost on Friday, with the parade of five new players derailing in a 32-20 defeat to England National one side Bedford.

Grant Webb, James Arlidge, Rory Sidey and Marc Stcherbina all debuted, while the side was captained by Tom Willis.

Also on Friday, Bath got their season off to a winning start, coming away from a washed-out Ravenhill with a 15-7 victory. Young Bath signing Rhys Crance scored both tries for Bath, while Ulster replied with a try from young centre Darren Cave.

Leicester Tigers played out a thrilling match in Biarritz on Friday, eventually going down to a 37-35 defeat in a match which made a mockery of the teams' defensive reputations.

Both sides scored five tries and gave a debut to a number of players. Ben Woods featured well on his debut with a try for the Tigers, as did Julien Dupuy who landed several kicks at goal.

Leicester's other tries came from Sam Vesty and academy wing Will Hurrell with a brace each, while prop Eduard Coetzee, centre Laurent Tranier with two, American wing Takudzwa Ngwenya and hooker Denoyelle scored for Biarritz.

Connacht beat Harlequins 24-8 on Saturday, while Bristol slumped to a rusty-looking 15-6 defeat at National division One side Exeter.

Worcester Warriors fared better on Sunday, with a strong second-half showing handing Doncaster a 32-9 defeat, while Leeds Carnegie gained a modicum of revenge for their relegation from the top flight last season with a 25-21 defeat of Newcastle.