Beaten Laney applauds 'fantastic' Toulouse

One of Edinburgh's try-scorers, Brendan Laney, was quick to praise Toulouse's "fantastic" display after seeing their Heineken Cup hopes ended in France yesterday.

Toulouse eased their way to a 50-17 victory, thanks to two tries from stand-off Yann Delaigue, with further touchdowns coming courtesy of Vincent Clerc, Trevor Brennan, Xavier Garbajosa, Gregory Lamboley and Christian Labit.

"They are one of the slickest and sharpest teams I have ever come up against," Laney said. "Having played in the Super 12 in the southern hemisphere, I would say they would be good enough to compete at that level. They have fantastic backs and a top-class pack who always give them the ball going forward."

Newcastle produced their best performance of the season to overhaul a 19-point deficit and beat Treviso 35-5 at Kingston Park to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup. The Falcons scored five tries in their second round, second leg tie in driving wind and rain to set a quarter-final against Saracens next month.

Connacht squeezed into the quarter-finals of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup with a dramatic 23-7 win over Narbonne at Corinthian Park that gave them a 50-49 aggregate victory.

The Irish side went into the game trailing by 15 points following their 42-27 defeat in France in the first leg of their second round clash. But they turned the tables with hooker Marnus Uijs marking a stunning return from injury with a try. Darren Yapp also crossed the line, while Eric Elwood converted both tries to add to his hat-trick of penalties as Cannacht progressed by the narrowest of margins.

PARKER PEN CHALLENGE CUP Quarter-finals (home advantage yet to be decided): Newcastle v Saracens; Montauban v Bath; Wasps v Stade Francais; Connacht v Pontypridd. (Ties to be played over two legs, first leg on 10, 11 or 12 January).