Connacht 49 Dax 3:Michael Bradley's side stormed into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals on the back of a seven-try mauling of their French opponents at the Sportsground tonight.
It was a fine turnaround after last weekend’s hammering against London Irish with winger Fionn Carr and centre Niva Ta’auso leading the charge with two tries apiece.
Ireland international Gavin Duffy, Liam Bibo and Sean Cronin all got over to touch down against a shadow Dax outfit .
Carr got the ball rolling in the fifth minute before fullback Duffy got over approaching the midpoint of the half.
Five minutes before the break they gave the Galway crowd plenty to shout about after a blistering break from Duffy saw Bibo touch down as Connacht took a 22-3 lead into the interval.
Carr claimed his second after 50 minutes with Samoan Ta’auso claiming two tries in the final quarter before hooker Sean Cronin came back from a spell in the sin-bin to dot down.
Bradley’s side now hold the sixth qualification spot, but are likely to be sent down to seventh as Newcastle will jump above them with an expected bonus-point win over El Salvador in Spain on Sunday.
Saracens secured a home quarter-final with a convincing 24-3 victory over Stade Montois.
In soaking conditions, England centre Andy Farrell crashed over for his first try of the season in the 17th minute to set Saracens on track in the rain-lashed south of France.
Matias Aguero and Donald Barrell sealed an emphatic Pool Five win which took Saracens into the knock-out stages in Europe for the sixth time in seven years.
Bourgoin beat Bucuresti 50-10 in Pool Three, although that result looks to be too little too late in their bid to reach the knock-out stage.
CONNACHT:G Duffy; F Carr, A Ta'auso, K Matthews, L Bibo; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris, A Browne, A Farley, M McCarthy, R Ofisa; J Muldoon (capt). Replacements:A Dunne for Keatley 48, T Nathan for Matthews 58, K Campbell for Murphy, R Loughney for Wilkinson, M Swift for Farley, C Rigney for Muldoon all 64
DAX:D Bortolussi; L Diaz, F Argel, F Aramburu, B Hiriart; M Petit-Jean, J Pezet; K Lealamanua, J Jaen, N Decamps, A Mazel, J Cros, B Adrillon, J Pendanx; J Bornman. Replacements:J Castex for Decamps 34, G Williams for Aramburu 38, N Nanuku for Hiriart 66
REFEREE:N Patterson (Scotland).
