Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby in control of Champions Cup destiny - but Blair Kinghorn's Toulouse in trouble

Stade Marcel Michelin is one of European rugby’s landmark destinations but that did not perturb Warriors, who are now well versed in bloodying the noses of the game’s bourgeoisie. Last time it was Toulouse at Scotstoun who felt the force of Warriors. Another French Top 14 side was put to the sword a month on.

First-half tries from Euan Ferrie, Huw Jones, Kyle Steyn and Jack Dempsey, three converted by George Horne, helped the visitors establish a 26-7 lead at the break, with George Moala scoring for Clermont.

There was a spell of concern when Patrick Schickerling was yellow carded for offside, with Horne joining him in the sin bin for a deliberate knock on, with Clermont awarded a penalty try and Glasgow down to 13 men.

Clermont capitalised on the two-man advantage as Irae Simone touched down, closing the gap to five points just after the hour, but Steyn’s second try made sure of a Glasgow win. Having sealed a spot in the knockout stages, Glasgow will claim top spot in Pool 1 by beating Saracens at Scotstoun next weekend.

“I’m obviously very proud of the boys, they worked really hard for it,” said head coach Smith. “I always knew Clermont were going to come out in the second part of the game as they’re a proud team. In front of this crowd it’s always difficult and they did exactly what we thought, but I thought we handled the yellow cards well which allowed us to compete till the end.”

Glasgow round off their pool-stage fixtures at home to Saracens on Sunday, where a win would secure top spot in Pool 1. “They’re obviously a tough team,” said Smith. “We know what lies ahead next week. It’s a Sunday game, so we will make full use of this week’s recovery to make sure that we are ready.”

In Pool 1, Glasgow are on 15 points, Sale Sharks are on 11, Saracens are on 10 and Toulouse are on seven. The top four teams progress to the knock-out stages, with Hollywoodbets Sharks on five and Clermont yet to get off the mark.

Saracens produced a victory to rescue their season as they overcame Toulouse 20-14 in a heavyweight Champions Cup clash at StoneX Stadium.

Toulouse are in trouble

Two tries from Rotimi Segun and a third by Tom Willis placed Maro Itoje’s team in command after they were in danger of being swept away by a full-blooded start from the six-time champions.

Toulouse fought back in swirling winds and driving rain and while they threatened to reel in the deficit, the arrival of Owen Farrell and Ben Earl off the bench provided Saracens with the extra class they needed to get over the line. But the dominant figure on a famous night in north London was Willis, the England number eight who was a force of nature despite needing treatment for an early injury.

Scotland internationalist Blair Kinghorn played at stand-off for Toulouse and he scored the opening try of the match. However, the defending champions could crash out of the tournament next weekend should they lose at home to Sale Sharks and Hollywoodbets Sharks win against already eliminated Clermont in South Africa.

“A lot of people thought we were going to lose that game and probably rightly so because of some of our performances so far this season,” captain Itoje said. “The challenge for us now is to make sure we’re consistent. We’re not saying that we’re going to win every game, but the fight and the mentality needs to be consistent.

“For me, it actually wasn’t really about the result. It was about the character of the team and how we were going to show up. The frustrating thing this year from the Saracens’ point of view is that we haven’t been showing up in the manner in which we’ve been accustomed to, so when results don’t go your way, it’s even more frustrating.

“We just want to really go after it. It sounds somewhat basic, and as professionals we should do it anyway, but we just want to really attack each day.”

Edinburgh Rugby are also odds-on to join Warriors in the knockout stages after beating Gloucester 26-24 on Friday night. They take on Pool 2 top dogs Bath next week and a win would secure their passage.

Should they land a losing bonus point and a try bonus point, they would also go through, but anything less could leave them vulnerable to the chasing pack. It would require Gloucester to beat Toulon at home on Saturday, as that would move the Cherry and Whites above them, while the winner of Munster or Castres – the other teams in the pool – could move above Edinburgh.

As it stands in Pool 2, Bath are top on 11 points, Edinburgh second on 10, Toulon third on nine, Munster fourth on six, Gloucester fifth (also on six) and Castres bottom on five. The top four teams progress.

Munster made life difficult for themselves on Sunday after they slipped to a second Champions Cup defeat, going down 27-25 away to Toulon.

Jack Crowley put Munster in front with two penalty kicks, but they were reduced to 14 men in the 36th minute when Tadhg Beirne was sent to the sin bin. Toulon responded just before the break as Marius Domon crossed before converting his own effort to give them a one-point advantage at half-time.

Toulon were straight out of the blocks in the second half when Ben White touched down in the 43rd minute and Domon converted, but Munster responded three minutes later when a quick switch towards the right allowed Calvin Nash scored in the corner and Crowley added the extras.

A chaotic start to the half continued as Gael Drean scored for Toulon in the 49th minute with a try under the postsand Domon converted, while Munster were frustrated further six minutes later when Alex Nankivell was shown a yellow card.

Esteban Abadie was then sin-binned for Toulon, who still extended their lead further with a Domon penalty. Jack O’Donoghue touched down for Munster after edging over the line, but Crowley missed the resulting conversion attempt.

Charles Ollivon saw yellow for the French side, allowing the visitors to capitalise as Tom Farrell went over and Crowley’s conversion sent them ahead, but Domon’s penalty with five minutes to play wrapped up the win for Toulon.