Jonathan Sexton powers Racing Metro to victory while Clermont coast against Sale

Jonathan Sexton kicked 16 points as Racing Metro defeated Benetton Treviso 26-10 at Stadio Comunale di Mongio yesterday. The Ireland outhalf was on target four times from the penalty tee and converted tries from centre Henry Chavancy and flanker Wenceslas Lauret as Racing maintained their perfect start in the tournament.

Ludovico Nitoglia scored the only try of the game for hosts Treviso, with full-back Jayden Hayward converting the 62nd-minute score to add to a successful penalty midway through the first half.

The result puts Racing at the top of Pool Five with two wins from their opening two fixtures, while Treviso are bottom of the pool and still in search of their first point.

Racing led the match from start to finish, with Sexton opening the scoring with a ninth-minute penalty. He then traded shots on goal with Hayward as the Top 14 side took a narrow 6-3 lead into the break. However, Racing came out firing in the second half and Chavancy crossed the whitewash to score the first try of the game in the 43rd minute, which Sexton converted, before adding another penalty to stretch the French side’s lead. Nitoglia scored and Hayward added the extras in the 62nd minute for Treviso, but another Sexton penalty and Lauret’s converted try five minutes from the end put Racing out of reach.

Emphatic victory

Sale suffered a second successive European

Champions Cup

defeat as French heavyweights Clermont Auvergne powered to an emphatic 35-3 victory at Stade

Marcel Michelin

yesterday.

An early try by Clermont's full-back Nick Abendanon put the home side in charge, before wing Napolioni Nalaga claimed two second-half touchdowns and substitute Aurelien Rougerie also scored, while outhalf Camille Lopez's 15-point haul kept his team firmly in Pool One contention.

Sale, though, have fallen off the quarter-final pace in a punishing group that also includes Saracens and Munster. Outhalf Danny Cipriani scored their points through a first-half penalty, but the Sharks were mauled in the second period as Clermont posted 22 unanswered points.

Abendanon's score was created by centre Jonathan Davies, but he suffered a suspected shoulder injury in the process, which will be a major cause of concern for Wales coach Warren Gatland. Davies' early exit comes just a fortnight before the opening autumn Test against Australia and less than 24 hours after another of Gatland's leading midfield players – Scarlets' Scott Williams – limped off with hamstring trouble during a Champions Cup clash against Leicester.

On Saturday, George North’s quartet of tries reinvigorated Northampton’s European campaign, but the 34-6 victory over the Ospreys came at a cost, with England centre Luther Burrell departing early through injury.

North struck twice in each half but saved the best for last, stripping the ball in the tackle, escaping down the left wing before chipping ahead and touching down over the whitewash.

The Wales star was crowned man of the match as Northampton celebrated the try-scoring bonus point that thrusts them back into contention.