European Rugby Challenge Cup: Aviva Premiership and PRO12 sides cruise on

Newcastle Falcons, Exeter Chiefs, London Irish, Cardiff Blues and Connacht all recorded bonus-point wins in the final round of European Rugby Challenge Cup pool stage matches.

Falcons soarings

Newcastle Falcons claimed their place in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup after thrashing Bucharest Wolves 52-10 in Romania.

After suffering back-to-back defeats to Stade Francais and Newport Gwent Dragons in their previous two Pool 3 matches, Newcastle needed a bonus-point victory at the Cluj Arena to guarantee themselves qualification.

And the Aviva Premiership side had the extra point sewn up by half-time as they ran in four of their eight tries in the first period.

In the end, Rob Vickers, Alex Tait and Jean Socino all picked up two tries apiece for the Falcons, with an Andy Davies score, a penalty try and six conversions from Tom Catterick completing the scoring for the visitors as Newcastle earned themselves one of the best runners-up spots.

Newport Gwent Dragons finished top of Pool 3 and secured a home quarter-final after beating Top 14 side Stade Francais 30-19 at Rodney Parade.

James Thomas' try plus 17 points from the boot of Tom Prydie (five penalties and a conversion) gave the Dragons a 22-7 half-time lead, and the hosts added a second try from Thomas Rhys Thomas and a late penalty form Rhys Jones in the second half.

Stade Francais actually outscored their hosts three tries to two, Krisnan Inu, Zurabi Zhvania and Remi Bonfils the men on the scoresheet, but Prydie's efforts in the first half - when he slotted over six out of seven shots - proved decisive.

Hat-trick

In Pool 1, flanker Ofisa Treviranus scored a hat-trick of tries as London Irish downed Rovigo 34-6 to claim top spot ahead of Cardiff Blues.

Both Irish and Cardiff saw their berths in the last eight secured courtesy of Edinburgh's win over Bordeaux on Friday night but were still battling for first place heading into Saturday's final round of fixtures.

Irish and Cardiff each picked up comfortable wins, but it was the Exiles who came out on top after comfortably seeing off group whipping boys Rovigo.

The bonus point proved crucial in the end as Irish only narrowly edged out Cardiff for first place, with both clubs finishing level on 24 points after the Welsh outfit recorded a 28-3 bonus-point win over Grenoble in testing conditions in France.

After Lloyd Williams' try gave them a 7-3 half-time lead, Cardiff eased clear in the second half though a brace of penalty tries before Josh Navidi crossed for their fourth try two minutes from the end.

All four tries were converted with Gareth Anscombe successfully notching three efforts before replacement Gareth Davies slotted over from Navidi's score as Cardiff ensured they avoided a showdown with top seeds Gloucester in the knock-out stages. Grenoble's solitary score came from James Hart's first-half penalty.

Premiership clash

Newcastle will now face Exeter Chiefs in an all-Premiership quarter-final after the Devon-based outfit thrashed Bayonne 45-3 at Sandy Park. 

Jack Nowell, Matt Jess, Dave Ewers, Carl Rimmer, Kai Horstmann and Dean Mumm all scored in a six-try demolition of the French side, whose lone points came via the boot of Martin Bustos Moyano.

Meanwhile, Irish province Connacht also ended their pool stage campaign with a 30-20 bonus-point triumph over Top 14 side La Rochelle in France on Saturday.

Kieran Marmion, Eoin McKeon, Niyi Adeolokun and Matt Healy all crossed the whitewash as Connacht booked a quarter-final date with Premiership side Gloucester. 

La Rochelle fly-half Jean Pascal Barraque kicked 10 points in a losing cause for the hosts, who were also awarded a penalty try before No 8 Albain Meron touched down. 

Quarter-finals:

Gloucester v Connacht

Exeter v Newcastle

Newport Gwent Dragons v Cardiff Blues

London Irish v Edinburgh 

Ties to be played April 2-5