Premiership Rugby Cup: Sale Sharks and Bristol Bears enjoy resounding wins
- Published
Sam Dugdale was on form as Sale crushed Ampthill
Sale and Bristol warmed up for their league campaigns with dominant wins over second-tier sides in their final Premiership Rugby Cup pool games.
Sam Dugdale scored four tries as Sharks crushed Ampthill 64-0 to move up to second in Pool B.
Daniel Thomas also crossed four times, allied to Harry Thacker and Gabriel Ibitoye hat-tricks, as 16-try Bristol demolished Cambridge 98-14 to go second in Pool D.
Elsewhere, Cornish Pirates beat Championship rivals London Scottish 50-14.
Bristol's hugely one-sided win - a third straight victory - was the end of their cup journey and may not be much of an indicator for next Friday, when Leicester head to Ashton Gate for the Premiership opener.
Early tries from Harry Thacker, Rich Lane, Magnus Bradbury and Josh Caulfield wrapped up the bonus point for the Bears inside 16 minutes as they mixed forward power with attacking flair.
Cambridge, newly promoted to the Championship this season, were down to 13 players by the 24th minute when Benji Hoppe joined Kieran Frost in the sin-bin, and Bristol took advantage.
Thomas crossed and Thacker completed a first-half hat-trick either side of Matt Dowson's consolation score as the Bears tore into a 39-7 half-time lead.
Fitz Harding marked his first game as skipper by getting the ball rolling after the break - the first of nine second-half tries.
Lane got a second before Thomas completed his hat-trick, either side of Kieran Marmion waltzing in to polish off a superb team try.
Thomas added his fourth try, and Ibitoye became the third Bears player to claim a treble.
Daniel Thomas' four tries helped Bristol chalk up a massive victory
The winger completed his hat-trick with a last-gasp score to deny Cambridge the scant consolation of the final word after Steff James had gone over late on.
Cambridge, who conceded 307 points in their five pool defeats, will open their Championship season on 21 October at Ampthill.
Sale had already seen their semi-final hopes ended but made the perfect start at the AJ Bell Stadium against Ampthill and led within 90 seconds through Sam James.
But it was Dugdale who stood out in the first half as the flanker benefited from a dominant Sharks pack to complete a 21-minute hat-trick of close-range scores.
Tommy Taylor added a similar finish, and Sam Bedlow finished off a neat backs move for a sixth try to send the Bears in 38-0 up at half-time.
Ampthill kept the hosts at bay for 20 minutes after the break as Sharks rang the changes, before Pat Lam's side added four tries in the final quarter.
Dugdale added his fourth in familiar fashion, Bedlow grabbed his second score, and Joe Carpenter went over, before Tom Roebuck capped the win with a stylish team try.
Last year's Premiership runners-up will begin their league campaign at home to Northampton on Sunday, 15 October, while Ampthill host Nottingham in their Championship opener six days later.
Cornish Pirates laid down a marker to London Scottish with a comfortable victory at The Rag ahead of their Championship opener against the Exiles in Penzance on Friday, 20 October.
Ben Grubb's break teed up a ninth-minute score for Harry Dugmore, before a first Pirates try for Ioan Evans and a Will Trewin score put the visitors 19-0 up inside the first quarter.
After the interval, Morgan Nelson helped himself to two quick tries off the back of the maul before Luke Mehson's stunning length-of-the-field score got Scottish on the board.
Pirates pulled further away, with three tries in the final 10 minutes through a Matt McNab double and Hugh Bokenham's last-gasp score after Will Panday's late consolation.
A second win of the competition moved Pirates up to third in Pool C despite their match with Jersey Reds being cancelled when the Channel Islanders went into liquidation.