Winger James Stokes notched a brace of tries as he helped Irish secure a 26-17 home victory over Pau on Sunday. He opened the scoring with 10 minutes played before adding his second five minutes before the interval.

Phil Cokanasiga and Tom Parton also touched down for the Gallagher Premiership side as they moved to the top of the preliminary stage table on points difference from Ospreys.

The Welsh region made it two bonus-point victories from two matches thanks to tries from Sam Parry, Morgan Morris, George North and a penalty try, plus 16 points from Stephen Myler, which clinched a 38-29 win on Saturday at Worcester Warriors.

Leicester Tigers are a point behind the leading pair – along with Cardiff Blues – after a 28-20 success at Bayonne, who were sunk by tries from Tommy Reffell, Cameron Henderson and Kini Murimurivalu.

Meanwhile, Newcastle Falcons kept their hopes of advancing in the competition alive with 26-17 win on Friday at Castres Olympique, their first European success of the season.

Eleven points from the boot of Brett Connon coupled with second-half tries from Sam Stuart, Tom Arscott and Josh Basham secured victory for the Premiership club.

On the same night Italian outfit Zebre edged home 18-16 at Brive thanks to tries from Pierre Bruno and Marcello Violi, plus eight points from Carlo Canna, including a match-winning penalty in the 79th minute.

The Challenge Cup returns on January 15, 2021, when the Round 2 fixtures are reversed.

London Irish and Ospreys lead the way after two rounds of the European Rugby Challenge Cup as the only teams to take a maximum 10 points from their first two matches of the 2020/21 campaign.