Gloucester thrash Brive in Challenge Cup opener

Charlie Sharples crossed for a hat-trick of tries as Gloucester demolished French side Brive 55-0 at Kingsholm last night in the opening round of the inaugural Challenge Cup.
The winger got the scoreboard ticking after 15 minutes for the Cherry and Whites with his first try of the night but they only led 10-0 at the break as Greig Laidlaw kicked the conversion a penalty on the half-hour.
Brive thought they had hit back after Sharples’ first score but the try was ruled out for a knock-on in the build-up.
The game was there for the taking but Gloucester left nothing to chance scoring six more tries in the second half.
Sharples completed his hat-trick while James Hook, Darren Dawidiuk and Dan Robson also crossed to go with a penalty try in the dying minutes of the game.