Emphatic win for Viadana

Viadana 20 Clermont Auvergne 59

Clermont Auvergne booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup with an emphatic 59-20 win over hapless Viadana in Italy.

The French side, who registered a convincing 27-7 win against Ospreys last week, knew that a bonus point win would see them through to the last eight and they were 7-0 ahead within two minutes thanks to a converted Morgan Parra try.

The away side then ran riot through the feeble Italian defence and had picked up the four tries required for a bonus point by half-time, with Napoleoni Nalaga and Aurelien Rougerie (twice) touching down.

Vern Cotter’s team then moved into a commanding 52-13 lead thanks to tries from Julien Malzieu, Elvis Vermeulen, Nalaga and a penalty try, while Brock James continued his fine form with the boot by kicking six-straight conversions.

Julio Garcia’s converted try had given the home side some hope and replacement Gareth Krause also went over for the Italian side to make the score 52-20.

But Clermont soon hit back thanks to a late try from number eight Julien Bonnaire.