Kalaveti Ravouvou surges forward for Bristol Bears as Stravino Jacobs attempts a tackle. Photograph: Christiaan Kotze/Inpho/Shutterstock

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Kalaveti Ravouvou surges forward for Bristol Bears as Stravino Jacobs attempts a tackle. Photograph: Christiaan Kotze/Inpho/ShutterstockChampions CupChampions Cup roundup: Bristol stun Springboks-laden Bulls with 61-49 win

Bears score nine tries to clinch place in the last 16

Clermont Auvergne 21-33 Glasgow | Sale 26-10 Sharks

Bristol ran riot in a remarkable first half to secure their place in the Champions Cup knockout phase with a 61-49 victory over the Bulls in Pretoria. The South African hosts fielded 10 Springboks in their starting XV in the hope of registering a first win of the group campaign yet were still swept aside at Loftus Versfeld.

Bristol ran in three tries inside the opening 10 minutes and seven in total to build a 47-28 lead at the interval. Noah Heward crossed twice and there were also touch downs for Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Max Lahiff, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Kieran Marmion.

The Bulls offered more resistance in the second half but Bristol continued to fire shots with Heward completing his hat-trick, Pedro Rubiolo breaching the whitewash and Ravouvou running in his second.

A third win in three outings in the competition lifts Bristol to the top of Pool 4 above Northampton and Bordeaux, who meet at the Stade Chaban-Delmas on Sunday. On Saturday night in Pool 4, Scarlets host Pau in Llanelli.

Glasgow are guaranteed a spot in the last 16 after claiming a third bonus-point win on the spin by beating Clermont Auvergne 33-21. After edging out Sale in their Pool 1 opener and then hitting back from 21-0 down to stun Toulouse, the six-time champions, last month, Glaswgow took charge at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.

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Huw Jones scores Glasgow’s first try at Clermont Auvergne. Photograph: Lionel Hahn/Shutterstock

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. But Patrick Schickerling was shown a yellow card for offside then Horne joined 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 made sure of a spot in the knockout stages, Glasgow could claim top spot in their group by beating Saracens at Scotstoun next weekend.

A dominant second-half display gave Sale a 26-10 Pool 1 win over Sharks and a place in the last 16. The visitors went ahead through Siya Masuku’s penalty but Sale led 7-3 at half-time thanks to a try from Rekeiti Ma’asi-White.

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Tom O’Flaherty of Sale scores their second try. Photograph: Roger Evans/Action Plus/Shutterstock

Ten minutes into the second half Bevan Rodd popped up at the back of the maul to score. Five minutes later, George Ford and Obi Ene combined to put Tom O’Flaherty over in the corner.

Sharks responded when Manu Tshituka charged past Ford to score and Masuku’s conversion brought them to within nine points, but Sale went straight back up the other end with O’Flaherty scoring the bonus-point try and Ford adding his third conversion.

Harry Byrne kicked a last-gasp penalty as Leinster edged La Rochelle 25-24 to secure their place in the last 16. The replacement fly-half slotted a dramatic 82nd-minute kick in Dublin as the four-time winners move to the top of Pool 3 before they head to Bayonne in the final round of group games next weekend.

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Harry Byrne converts an 80th-minute penalty to snatch victory for Leinster. Photograph: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile/Getty Images

La Rochelle, who had beaten the Irish province when they met in the 2022 and 2023 finals, had retaken the lead with three minutes to go thanks to Nolann Le Garrec’s touchline conversion following Ihaia West’s second try.

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle welcome Harlequins next Sunday hoping to claim a spot in the next round.

In the same pool, the in-form English fly-half Billy Searle scored 25 points as Leicester hammered a second-string Bayonne 57-14 to keep their hopes of a last-16 spot alive.

Scarlets missed out on a first win in Pool 4 after a see-saw 47-38 defeat by Pau. The Welsh side led through a Joe Hawkins penalty but two minutes later they conceded the opening try to Toshi Butlin. After 10 minutes Butlin had his second from a long pass out from Axel Desperes, and shortly after Clement Mondinat went over for try number three.

Home captain Josh Macleod scored twice either side of former Scarlet Carwyn Tuipulotu barging his way over for Pau, and from 26-10 down Scarlets were just two points behind at half-time through Archie Hughes’ try. They edged ahead moments after the restart when Taine Plumtree burst through and Hawkins increased the lead to 12. But Pau hit back through Remi Seneca, Theo Attissogbe and Siate Tokolahi to secure the victory.