Scarlets got Saturday’s PRO14 action underway with a 20-17 victory over the Ospreys before Cardiff Blues beat the Dragons 23-15, Leinster claimed a 30-22 triumph over Munster and Benetton Rugby secured a 28-5 win against the Southern Kings.
Scarlets 20-17 Ospreys
Scarlets picked up their fourth win of the PRO14 season on Saturday as they beat Ospreys 20-17 to climb into second place in Conference B.
Ospreys led 12-10 at the break after recovering well following Johnny McNicholl’s 16th minute try, which came after Kieron Fonotia’s break.
The visitors responded with two quick-fire tries in the 30th and 33rd minute, with centre Cory Allen and wing George North’s crossings helping push the Ospreys into a 12-7 advantage. However, a late penalty from Leigh Halfpenny brought down the curtain on the half with Scarlets three down.
Halfpenny would strike again off the tee 12 minutes into the second period to move his team 13-12 in front before Rhys Patchell’s converted score extended the lead to eight points on 58 minutes. Ospreys were suddenly two scores down and needing to halt the Scarlets momentum.
They soon responded through Luke Morgan, who finished off Justin Tipuric’s break, as the scoreline was now 20-17. But Scarlets held on to claim the four points and the derby bragging rights.
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: McNicholl, Patchell
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny 2
For Ospreys:
Tries: Allen, North, Morgan
Con: Davies
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Tom Price, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Paul Asquith
Ospreys: 15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Sam Cross, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Joe Thomas, 23 Hanno Dirksen
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Simon Rees (Wales)
Television match official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Dragons 15-23 Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues got the better of the Dragons in their Welsh derby at Rodney Parade but they were made to work hard before claiming a 23-15 win.
The home side were the dominant team for large periods and raced into a 12-0 lead midway through the opening half and led 12-5 at half-time before Cardiff fought back in the second period and eventually secured a deserved win.
The Dragons opened the scoring in the 12th minute courtesy of a Josh Lewis try after Jordan Williams did well in the build-up.
In the 19th minute, Adam Warren made a brilliant line break before offloading to Jared Rosser, who crossed for the Dragons’ second try and Williams added the extras to give his team a 12-0 lead.
The Blues struck back when Owen Lane did well to dot down in the right-hand corner but on the balance of play, the Dragons deserved their lead at the break.
The visitors showed improvement after the interval and two penalties from Gareth Anscombe narrowed the gap to a point by the 56th minute, but Williams added a penalty of his own which meant the Dragons led 15-11.
The final quarter saw Cardiff upping the ante on attack and they took the lead in the 61st minute via a Kristian Dacey try before Lane crossed for his second try five minutes later which secured the result for Cardiff Blues.
The scorers:
For Dragons:
Tries: Lewis, Rosser
Con: J Williams
Pen: J Williams
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Lane 2, Dacey
Con: Anscombe
Pens: Anscombe 2
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Tyler Morgan, 23 Will Talbot-Davies
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harris, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 George Earle, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Garyn Smith
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Gareth Newman (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Leinster 30-22 Munster
Leinster claimed bragging rights in their derby with Munster after securing a deserved 30-22 victory at the Aviva Stadium.
Despite being on the back foot for long periods, Munster fought back bravely on several occasions and both sides would eventually score three tries apiece.
The home side made the brighter start and were awarded a penalty try in the 11th minute, after the television match official ruled that there was early contact from Keith Earls on James Lowe deep inside Munster’s 22, and Earls was also sent to the sin bin for his indiscretion.
Five minutes later, Lowe showed great determination before crossing for Leinster’s second try which was converted by Ross Byrne, but the visitors struck back with tries from Tadhg Beirne and CJ Stander which meant Leinster held a slender 14-12 lead by the half-hour mark.
Byrne added two penalties which gave Leinster a 20-12 lead at the interval and another converted try from Lowe, early in the second half, meant the home side were in control of proceedings.
Munster narrowed the gap via a Joey Carbery penalty in the 56th minute and in the 67th minute Alby Mathewson crossed for their third try after selling the defence a dummy deep inside Leinster territory.
Leinster finished stronger though and sealed their win the 70th minute when Byrne succeeded with his third penalty.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Penalty try, Lowe 2
Cons: Byrne 2
Pens: Byrne 3
For Munster:
Tries: Beirne, Stander, Mathewson
Cons: Carbery 2
Pen: Carbery
Yellow Card: Earls
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Seán O’Brien, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Dave Kearney
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 James Cronin, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Rory Scannell
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Mike English (Wales)
Television match official: Jon Mason (Wales)
Benetton Rugby 28-5 Southern Kings
Benetton Rugby returned to the victory trail when they claimed a 28-5 bonus-point triumph over the Southern Kings in Treviso.
As the scoreline suggests, the home side dominated for long periods and they eventually outscored the Kings by four tries to one with two of those five-pointers penalty tries.
Benetton Rugby were fastest out of the blocks and took the lead as early as the fourth minute when Luca Bigi crashed over off the back of a driving maul deep inside the Kings’ 22.
Tommaso Allan added the extras and the visitors were dealt another blow in the 12th minute when Justin Forwood was yellow carded for a cynical defensive foul. The hosts made full use of their numerical advantage and were rewarded when Dewaldt Duvenage crossed for their second try in the 17th minute and Allan’s conversion gave his side a 14-0 lead.
In the 23rd minute, Benetton Rugby extended the gap courtesy of a penalty try which gave them a 21-0 lead, but the Kings narrowed the gap when Yaw Penxe scored their only try in the 32nd minute.
Benetton Rugby went further ahead via another penalty try in the 53rd minute that also marked the end of Forwood’s game as he received his second yellow card for his part in the indiscretion which led to the try.
The rest of the match was a scrappy affair although the Kings did well to prevent the home side from adding to their tally.
The scorers:
For Benetton Rugby:
Tries: Bigi, Duvenage, Penalty try 2
Cons: Allan 2
For Southern Kings:
Try: Penxe
Yellow Card: Oelofse
Red Card: Justin Forwood (two yellow cards)
Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Robert Barbieri (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Alberto De Marchi, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Irné Herbst, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Alberto Sgarbi
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Justin Forwood
Replacements: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Lupumlo Mguca, 18 Rossouw De Klerk, 19 Bobby De Wee , 20 Marthinus Burger, 21 Ruan Van Rensburg, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Tristan Blewett
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
Television match official: Alan Falzone (Italy)