Montpellier top pool two after Newcastle cup win

European Challenge Cup, Kingston Park

Newcastle (7) 7

Tries: Hearle Cons: Wilkinson

Montpellier (7) 26

Tries: Bernadet, Serfontein, Akrab, Martins Cons: Darmon, Barreau 2

Montpellier won European Challenge Cup pool two with a bonus-point victory at Newcastle Falcons.

The French side had taken 14 from 15 available points in the opening three rounds and took five more from Kingston Park to seal a top seeding in the knockout stage.

Scrum-half Alexis Bernadet scored their first try after only two minutes but Newcastle replied through centre Alex Hearle.

But the French side dominated the second half with tries from centre Jan Serfontein, replacement hooker Lyam Akrab and flanker Nicolas Martins, also from off the bench.

They qualify as second seeds and will now have a home tie in the round of 16.

Newcastle were already eliminated having not taken a single point from their opening three pool matches and again rotated their squad.

Hearle's try, under the posts after taking Max Pepper's inside pass from the left wing, was all they had to show for their evening and they now return to the Premiership next week at Bristol Bears.

Montpellier, seventh in the Top 14, will have ambitions to win the competition but it took until the final quarter for them to see off the Falcons.

Serfontein put them ahead after the break as he ran a good supporting line and took an offload to score before Akrab, who was later sin-binned for a tip tackle, dived over from a rolling maul.

The bonus point was sealed after strong work from the Montpellier forwards and Martins' finish from close range.

Newcastle director of rugby Steve Diamond told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"It summed up our European adventure - it was pretty drab really.

"We could have scored at the end of the first half and then, I don't know why, but we didn't have the same zest about us in the second half.

"Our line-out faltered and our discipline didn't stay where it was."

Newcastle: Brown, Redshaw, Hearle, Spencer, Pepper, Wilkinson, Elliott; Rewcastle, Byrne, McCallum, van der Walt (c), Hawkins, Parsons, Leatherbarrow, Lockwood.

Replacements: Blamire, Connor Hancock, Callum Hancock, McDonald, Chick, Davis, Connon, Clark.

Montpellier: Tisseron, Lucas, Darmon, Serfontein, N'Gandebe, Miotti, Bernadet; Erdocio, Tolofua, Haouas, Soucouna, Tauleigne, Delemarle, Simmonds (c), Becognee.

Replacements: Akrab, Abuladze, Hounkpatin, Verhaeghe, Martins, Barreau, Cadot, Bouthier.

Sin-bin: Lyam Akrab (70).

Referee: Filippo Russo.