Montpellier pummel Quins
Trinh-Duc had been out of action since breaking his leg on November 20 and returned for the final six minutes. He made an immediate impact with a wonderful cut-out pass to 20-year-old centre Yvan Reilhac to put him through a hole in the Harlequins defence to crown his European debut with the bonus-point try.
Replacement hooker Charles Geli then added a fifth try at the death to give Trinh-Duc the chance to end the game with his second conversion in a matter of minutes. He hit the target with both kicks at goal and by the end it was a record defeat for the pool winners.
The Quins came into the game on the back of a perfect record of five bonus-point victories in a row and safe in the knowledge they had already bagged a home quarterfinal. The 42-9 final scoreline represented the biggest score conceded by the Quins in the Challenge Cup, overtaking the 37 they shipped against Toulon in 2011/12, and the losing margin of 33 points was greater than the 29 by which they went down to Toulon.
All the visitors' points came from the boot of flyhalf Ben Botica in the first half and they failed to score a point in the second 40 minutes. Twice he gave Quins the lead, but missed with a fourth kick at the start of the second half.
Australian fullback Jesse Mogg scored the first of the home tries and Montpellier led 15-9 at the break thanks to a second try from flank Wian Liebenberg and a penalty and conversion from the boot of flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis.
Catrakilis added a second penalty in the 54th minute, but the critical moment came 12 minutes later when the Quins' replacement No.8 Mat Luamanu became their first player this season to pick up a yellow card in Europe.
Montpellier notched a further 10 points while he was on the sidelines as Nic White dotted down the third try moments after coming onto the field and Catrakilis added the conversion and a third penalty. Then came the final, Trinh-Duc induced flourish that ensured Montpellier booked their quarterfinal ticket.
*In Friday's other matches, La Rochelle leapfrogged Worcester Warriors to ensure they didn't finish at the bottom of Pool Four as they piled on the points in the second half to win their second game of their European campaign 35-11.
Cardiff Blues racked up 12 tries in a thumping 74-6 victory over Rugby Calvisano, but their bid for a quarterfinal spot fell short after Montpellier's victory over Harlequins.
Castres ensured they finished their European Rugby Challenge Cup pool stage on a high with a 24-7 triumph over Top 14 rivals Pau.
All Friday's scores and scorers!
Montpellier 42-9 Harlequins
The scorers:
For Montpellier:
Tries: Mogg, Liebenberg, White, Reilhac, Geli
Cons: Catrakilis 2, Trinh-Duc 2
Pens: Catrakilis 3
For Harlequins:
Pens: Botica 3
Teams:
Montpellier: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Benjamin Fall, 13 Anthony Tuitavke, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Marvin O'Connor, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Akapusi Qera, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Robins Tchale Watchou, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Davit Kubriashvili, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Jacques du Plessis, 20 Antoine Battut, 21 Nic White, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yvan Reilhac
Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Jack Clifford (captain), 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 George Merrick, 3 Will Collier, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Mat Luamanu, 21 Danny Care, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Winston Stanley
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Jon Hardy (Wales)
TMO: Jonathan Mason (Wales)
Castres 24-7 Pau
The scorers:
For Castres:
Tries: Lamerat, Beziat
Con: Urdapilleta
Pens: Urdapilleta 2, Caminati, Fontaine
For Pau:
Try: Lespiaucq
Con: Slade
Teams:
Castres: 15 Julien Caminati, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Remi Lamerat, 11 Florian Vialelle, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Julien Seron, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Mathieu Babillot, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Benjamin Desroche, 4 Christophe Samson, 3 Eric Sione, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau
Replacements: 16 Julien Beziat, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Karena Wihongi, 19 Ibrahim Diarra, 20 Theo Hannoyer, 21 Francois Fontaine, 22 Romain Cabannes, 23 Valentin Mouysset
Pau: 15 Damien Traille, 14 Sireli Bobo, 13 Julien Fumat, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Mosese Ratuvou, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Paddy Butler, 6 Sean Dougall, 5 Daniel Ramsay, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Chris King, 2 Quentin Lespiaucq, 1 Julien Jacquot.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Geoffrey Moise, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Claude Dry, 20 Brice Monzeglio, 21 Samuel Marques, 22 Brandon Fajardo, 23 Watisoni Votu.
Referee: Ian Tempest (England)
Assistant Referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England), Kevin Stewart (England)
La Rochelle 35-11 Worcester
The scorers:
For La Rochelle:
Tries: Graham, Lapeyre, Murimurivalu, Qovu
Cons: Audy, Barraque 2
Pens: Holmes 2, Audy
For Worcester:
Tries: Baldwin
Pens: Symons 2
Teams:
La Rochelle: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Jean-Pascal Barraque, 12 Malietoa Hingano, 11 Elliot Roudil, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Julien Audy, 8 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 7 Romana Graham, 6 Romain Sazy, 5 Leo Cedaro, 4 Damien Lagrange, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Hikairo Forbes, 1 Jordan Seneca.
Replacements: 16 Maxime Gau, 17 Thomas Synaeghel, 18 Gagi Bazadze, 19 Zeno Kieft, 20 Benoit Guyot, 21 Ricky Januarie, 22 Pierre Aguillon, 23 Benjamin Lapeyre.
Worcester: 15 Ben Howard, 14 Andy Short, 13 Andy Symons, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Luke Baldwin, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Marco Mama, 5 Dan Sanderson, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Daniel George, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Bower, 17 Ben Sowrey, 18 Mike Daniels, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Max Stelling, 23 Perry Humphreys.
Referee: Elia Rizzo (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Bertelli (Italy), Luca Trentin (Italy)
Cardiff Blues 74-6 Calvisano
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: James 3, Allen 2, Navidi, Fish, Lewis, Cook, Cuthbert, Summerhill, Patchell
Cons: Anscombe 7
For Calvisano:
Pens: Vlaicu 2
Teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Cam Dolan, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Ethan Lewis, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Aled Summerhill.
Calvisano: 15 Ben De Jager, 14 Giacomo De Santis, 13 Alberto Chiesa, 12 Tommy Castello, 11 Marco Susio, 10 Florin Vlaicu, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Jim Tuivaiti, 7 Renato Giammarioli, 6 Matteo Archetti, 5 Davide Zanetti, 4 Michele Andreotti, 3 Rudy Biancotti, 2 Lorenzo Giovanchelli, 1 Luca Scarsini.
Replacements: 16 Gabriele Morelli, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Agustin Cavalieri, 20 Emilio Vezzoli, 21 Nicola Belardo, 22 Riccardo Raffaele, 23 Filippo Buscema.
Referee: Thomas Charabas (France)
Assistant Referees: Arnaud Blondel (France), Luc Ramos (France)
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