Cardiff fly-half Jarrod Evans knocked over the decisive penalty to seal his side’s passage to the last-eight of the Challenge Cup with a tense 28-27 victory over Sale Sharks.
The narrow margin was a fitting reflection of two evenly matched teams, who pushed each other to the limit on an emotional night at Cardiff Arms Park following the recent passing of Life President Peter Thomas CBE.
Akker van der Merwe bustled over for the first try as the Sharks took the early initiative, with George Ford’s conversion and a long-range kick putting the English outfit 10-3 in front.
Cardiff’s response was emphatic, Corey Domachowski getting over the line before wing Josh Adams finished up two fine attacking moves.
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Ford’s boot and a score from Ewan Ashman put Sale back in front by two points, but Evans slotted between the posts in the 71st minute to steal the victory for Cardiff.
Elsewhere, Johnny Matthews ran in five tries as Glasgow Warriors hammered the Dragons 73-33 at Scotstoun Stadium.
The hooker was in irrepressible form as he touched down four times in the first half and returned for one more at the start of the second.
(14′) Scored a try 🏉
(22′) Scored a try🏉
(26′) Scored a try🏉
(33′) Scored a try🏉
(42′) Scored a try🏉
(46′) Substituted 🔄⚔️ What a shift from Glasgow Warriors hooker Johnny Matthews! pic.twitter.com/QB5qdNU0aM
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 1, 2023
Dragons were hamstrung after just over half-an-hour’s play when Aki Seiuli’s high tackle earned him a red card and gave the hosts the numbers advantage. They had already proven their superiority, with George Horne grabbing the first try in just the second minute.
He added the extras himself, the first of eight successful conversions. Dragons responded with five tries in a high-scoring affair but Glasgow’s second successive quarter-final spot was never in doubt.
Defending champions Lyon are also safely through to the final eight, defeating Stade Francais 41-24 in Paris.
Stade were 21-9 ahead at one stage points but tries from Baptiste Couilloud, Guillaume Marchand and Ethan Dumortier pushed the 2022 winners over the line.
Connacht go down to Benetton
Connacht were ousted by Benetton at Stadio Comunale di Monigo, the Italian side bouncing back from 12-0 behind to post a 41-19 victory.
Marcus Watson and Edoardo Padovani both scored two tries as the Irish side’s early momentum dissipated.
There was a big win for the Lions as they beat Racing 92 51-28 in Johannesburg, winning their first Challenge Cup knockout game despite losing Emmanuel Tshituka to a red card after just 18 minutes.
They scored six tries, including two from Marius Louw, as they coped well with 14 men.
🚨 #ChallengeCupRugby quarter-finals (KOs local time):
🔴 Scarlets v Clermont 🟡 (Friday, 20:00pm)
🔴 Toulon v Lyon ⚫️ (Saturday, 13:30pm)
🟢 Benetton v Cardiff 🔵 (Saturday, 16:00pm)
⚔️ Glasgow v Lions 🦁 (Saturday, 20:00pm)— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 1, 2023
In France, Toulon ended the Cheetahs’ first campaign in the competition with a 36-21 win at home, Thomas Salles banking a try and three conversions.
The Challenge Cup quarter-finals see Cardiff travel to Benetton, Scarlets take on Clermont, Lyon heading to Toulon and Glasgow hosting the Lions.
READ MORE: Challenge Cup: Damian Penaud double sees Clermont past Bristol Bears while Scarlets get better of Brive
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