ZCZC
BSP-04
RUGBYU-EUR-CUP
Ulster pile pressure on Racing as rugby honours tragic Chauvin
PARIS, Dec 15, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Ulster closed in on Racing 92 on Friday
with a bonus-point 30-15 win over Scarlets as clubs paid tribute on Friday to
Nicolas Chauvin, the young Stade Francais player who died after breaking his
neck in a youth match last Sunday.
John Cooney was the star for Ulster as he scored 15 points, including a
66th-minute try, as they moved level on 14 points with Racing at the top of
Pool 4.
In Pool 2 Exeter Chiefs moved into second place with a pulsating 29-17 win
at Gloucester that saw them leapfrog the home side into second place.
Exeter were winless coming into Friday’s match but put in their best
performance of the Champions Cup campaign to bag a bonus point win thanks to
four tries from Sam Skinner, Don Armand, Jack Yeandle and Harry Williams.
Exeter are level on eight points with Gloucester, three behind Munster, who
travel to Castres on Saturday.
Both matches — and the three Challenge Cup matches played on Friday —
began with minute’s silences for teenager Chauvin, the third young French
player this year to die after being injured during a match.
In August Louis Fajfrowski, 21, died following a heavy tackle playing for
Aurillac. Three months earlier a 17-year-old died a day after receiving a
blow to the head playing for amateur club Billom.
The deaths has prompted France’s sports minister to call on rugby
authorities to make the game safer.
Stade Francais honoured Chauvin by running out shock 12-3 winners over
Challenge Cup Pool 2 leaders Ospreys, a result which doesn’t change the
Parisians’ position at the bottom of the group.
In Pool 3 Connacht triumphed 36-21 at Perpignan, while in Pool 5 Agen moved
level on nine points with Grenoble after a 14-10 win over the second-placed
away side.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0759 hrs