Investec Champions Cup: Exeter Chiefs snatch win over Munster, Leicester Tigers edge Stade Francais after late drama

Exeter Chiefs scored three late tries to stun Munster and make it two wins from two in the Investec Champions Cup.

The visitors led 19-10 at the break and 24-13 with less than 20 minutes remaining before scores from Ross Vintcent, Jack Dunne and Henry Slade helped the Chiefs pull off another act of escapology in Europe.

The result saw Exeter keep pace with their fellow Northampton Saints at the top of Pool 3 and left Munster second from bottom without a win.

After drawing with Bayonne last week, Munster had appeared set to leave Sandy Park with a bonus-point victory to ignite their campaign.

The United Rugby Championship side went ahead in the seventh minute when Calvin Nash touched down and led until late in the second half.

Shane Daly’s try in the 50th minute gave the visitors an 11-point lead before the hosts launched a stunning comeback.

Two tries in three minutes - first from Vintcent and then from Dunne - put the Chiefs ahead before Slade completed the turnaround in the 79th minute after intercepting a Munster pass.

Slade was the hero last week, kicking a last-gasp conversion to seal a 19-18 win away to Toulon, and top scored at Sandy Park.

Exeter return to domestic action against Leicester Tigers next week, with pool games against Glasgow Warriors and Bayonne to come in January.

Munster now face an uphill battle to progress from the group with Northampton Saints and Toulon still to play.

In Pool 2, Toulouse put on an attacking masterclass to overwhelm Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop and claim a 47-19 bonus-point win.

The reigning Top 14 champions, who thumped Cardiff last week, ran in seven tries to lay down another ominous marker to the rest of the competition.

Outside-centre Pierre-Louis Barassi opened the scoring in the seventh minute and bagged himself a brace but there were standout performances all over the park from the likes of Emmanuel Meafou, Antoine Dupont, and Thomas Ramos.

Quins beat Racing 92 last week and played their part in a thrilling contest, particularly before the break, but were well beaten in the end and came up just short of picking up a bonus point they probably deserved.

Toulouse reclaimed top spot in Pool 2 ahead of fixtures with Ulster and Bath in January, while defeat saw Quins drop to fourth with games against Cardiff and Ulster to come.

In a pulsating opening 40 minutes, Pita Ahki weaved through a couple of Quins defenders before putting it on a plate for his centre partner Barassi to open the scoring.

The hosts levelled almost immediately when Andre Esterhuizen charged over the line but the might of Toulouse, the five-time champions, proved impossible to resist.

Further tries from Dimitri Delibes and Peato Mavaka made it 21-12 at half-time and the French outfit turned on the afterburners in the second period.

Matthis Lebel stretched for the line to secure the bonus point before Barassi scored his second and arguably the try of the tournament at the end of a move that started deep in the Toulouse half and featured some magnificent offloading and sublime handling.

Rodrigue Neti’s try in the 74th minute put the result beyond doubt and Ramos completed the scoring at the end of another free-flowing move.

Leicester Tigers survived a late onslaught to beat Stade Francais 27-24 after a dramatic finish at Stade Jean-Bouin .

An Archie Vanes hat-trick on his European debut and two Jamie Shillock penalties helped the Gallagher Premiership Rugby side make it two wins from two in Pool 4, but the hosts will be rueing a raft a missed chances late in the game.

Lester Etien dropped a pinpoint cross-field kick with the try line at his mercy before play was brought back for a deliberate knock-on in the build-up that gave the Top 14 side another opportunity and saw Mike Brown sin-binned.

They turned down the points and a draw in favour of a shot at ultimate glory but that decision backfired when Harry Wells secured a brilliant turnover with the clock in the red.

After victory against DHL Stormers, Tigers kept up their winning record and moved into second in the group, while a second successive defeat leaves Stade Francais rooted to the bottom of the table.

Leicester led 14-10 after a frantic first-half. Two tries from Vanes, both of which came at the end of dominant maul drives, flanked a Mathieu Hirigoyen try and Joris Segonds penalty for the hosts.

Stade Francais moved ahead less than a minute into the second half when Hugo Labalza spotted a two-on-one against Brown on the blindside and put Charlie Loloi in for a simple score.

Vanes then powered over for his hat-trick before a Jamie Shillock penalty made it 24-17 and put Leicester in sight of victory.

There was plenty more drama to come, though. Leo Barre collected his own chip from deep in his own half to score a stunning solo try and make it a level game before another Shillock three-pointer put Leicester back in front and set up a wild finale.

The hosts piled on the pressure in search of a much-needed win, refusing several chances to kick for a draw, and looked destined to delight a fervent home crowd when a cross-field kick sailed towards a wide open Etien.

But the winger fumbled his attempted catch to let Leicester off the hook.

Brown then saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on and still the hosts went for the corner. The game was briefly paused when another ball was thrown onto the pitch before Wells secured the winning turnover.

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