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| - Racing 92 ran in seven tries as they routed Edinburgh 56-3 in their round-of-16 Champions Cup match on Sunday in Paris. Last season's runners-up Racing will visit either Top 14 rivals Bordeaux-Begles or English Premiership leaders Bristol Bears in the quarter-finals next weekend. The Scots came close twice in the opening four minutes on Sunday. First, Duhan van der Merwe passed forward with the line at Edinburgh's mercy. Then, James Johnstone's slashing touchdown was ruled out because of a knock-on at the start of the move. After those scares, Racing, coming off two straight losses in the Top 14 and without suspended Scotland star Finn Russell, took control. "Really proud effort from our boys today," Racing fullback Kurtley Beale told British broadcaster BT Sport. "Great way to turn round from a disappointing loss in the Top 14 last week." Hooker Camille Chat crashed over under the posts for the first Racing try after 28 minutes. Five minutes before the break, Racing carved Edinburgh open with pace, power and slick handling. Centre Virimi Vakatawa drew a defender and flipped a backhanded pass to the surging No.8 Jordan Joseph on the wing. He passed inside to Louis Dupichot and the centre immediately flipped the ball on to scrum-half Maxime Machenaud who trotted over for a try. Joseph bludgeoned over after 64 minutes to start a burst of five tries in the final 16 minutes. Replacement prop Guram Gogichashvili plunged under the posts. A minute later France winger Teddy Thomas recovered an Edinburgh fumble in his own half and trotted up the field to score. Thomas, set free by a clever offload from Dupichot, scored again. Veteran back Francois Trinh-Duc added the final try in added time. For Racing, Machenaud kicked 10 points, Teddy Iribaren kicked eight and Antoine Gibert, starting in place of Russell, three. Blair Kinghorn scored Edinburgh's points with a penalty. "We fired some early shots," said Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill. "But we lost out on the physical battles. Ultimately, we got what we deserved, they're too good a side." Racing paid a possible price for their victory. Henry Chavancy was carried off in the first half, Dominic Bird in the second and both Chat and Vakatawa also went off injured. For next week's quarter-final, they will again be without Russell when they face either Bordeaux or Bristol, who play later on Sunday. pb/jc
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