Ospreys beat Zebre 22-8, Leinster claimed a 20-3 victory over Connacht, Scarlets thrashed the Southern Kings 54-14, Munster thumped Ulster 64-7 and Glasgow beat the Dragons 29-13 in Saturday’s PRO14 action.
Zebre 8-22 Ospreys
Ospreys made it back-to-back wins over Italian opposition as they saw off Zebre 22-8 in their PRO14 fixture at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.
This result takes the Welsh region provisionally top of Conference A, with Glasgow expected to move back to the summit later this evening.
Ospreys led 16-3 at the break thanks to wing Luke Morgan’s try and a conversion, penalty and drop-goal from assured pivot Sam Davies.
The fly-half opened the scoring on three minutes off the tee before Morgan claimed a well-taken try that Davies converted to make it 10-0.
Davies decided to take a snap drop-goal on the half-hour mark before Carlo Canna responded. But Davies cancelled that out before half-time.
He kept the scoreboard ticking over with his third penalty of the game 15 minutes into the second period for a 19-3 lead, which was how it stayed until Zebre flanker Jimmy Tuivaiti crossed from the back of a driving maul to cut the gap to 11 points with nine minutes to play.
Ospreys comfortably held on, though, as that man Davies stepped up to nail a fourth penalty of the afternoon on 75 minutes to seal victory.
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Try: Tuivaiti
Pen: Canna
For Ospreys:
Try: Morgan
Con: S Davies
Pens: S Davies 4
Drop Goal: S Davies
Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Gabriele Di Giulio, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 5 Apisai Tauyavuca, 4 David Sisi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Samuele Ortis, 21 Marcello Violi, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Giulio Bisegni
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Olly Cracknell, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 James Hook, 23 Cory Allen
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Eddie Hogan-O’Connell (Ireland), Vincenzo Schipani (Italy)
Television match official: Alan Falzone (Italy)
Connacht 3-20 Leinster
Leinster travelled across Ireland to Galway and produced a performance befitting a continent conquering side.
Connacht had proved something of a nuisance for Leinster last term when they won comprehensively at home, but there was to be no repeat on Saturday night.
20 unanswered points following an early Connacht penalty set the champions on their way with Johnny Sexton contributing heavily with the boot.
Garry Ringrose opened the try-scoring early in the second-half and that gulf in the scoreline only widened as the contest went on.
An attritional first 40 saw nine points shared between the two provinces. Jack Carty kicked the first points after two minutes before two Sexton penalties in the final six minutes of the half sent the European champions in 6-3 up at the interval.
It took seconds of the second-half for Leinster to really stamp their authority on the scoreline, centre Ringrose scoring and Sexton adding the extras.
Sean Cronin’s try 15 minutes later all but sealed the contest for the Dubliners, the hooker wriggling clear from the back of a driving maul to dive over.
Connacht pressed to get back into the game but their underwhelming night was compounded when replacement Dominic Robertson-McCoy was sent-off 10 minutes from the end after consultation with the TMO.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Pen: Carty
Red card: Robertson-McCoy
For Leinster:
Tries: Ringrose, Cronin
Cons: Sexton 2
Pens: Sexton 2
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan (c), 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 James Cannon, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Niyi Adeolokun
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O’Loughlin
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
Television match official: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Scarlets 54-14 Southern Kings
It was raining tries in Llanelli as the Scarlets, and Jonathan Davies in particular, put in a virtuoso performance to comfortably see off the Southern Kings.
The South African side won’t have enjoyed their most recent trip into the northern hemisphere – not that their away record suggests they enjoy away trips of any form for that matter. Nevertheless, this was an impressive outing by the former champions.
Davies opened the scoring down the blindside after he received the ball a metre or so out before forcing his way over. His centre partner Paul Asquith doubled the Scarlets lead five minutes later, with a simple show and go deceiving the visitors’ defence and allowing him to race clear and dive over.
Bjorn Basson did pull his side back into the contest with a try on 20 minutes to make it 14-7 but Davies scored his second try of the night minutes later. Scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne ran across the defence before popping to Davies who hit an excellent line to break the line and go clear.
Basson scored his second of the night to make it five tries in the opening 33 minutes of the contest, and south Wales was being treated to a belter in the first-half. Masixole Banda added his second conversion of the evening to make it 21-14.
The second-half saw Scarlets begin to dominate. Davies breached the Kings line and sent the supporting Ioan Nicholas for a walk-in. With the backs playing so elegantly the forwards were keen not to miss out. They certainly claimed credit for Scarlets’ try number five with Dan Davis the beneficiary at the back of a driving maul.
35-14 on the hour and the Welsh side were effectively home and dry, bouncing back impressively from last weekend’s reverse in Ireland. Replacement Simon Gardiner got try number six following a TMO review, Rhys Patchell missing his first conversion attempt of the evening.
Gardiner’s fellow replacements Steff Evans and Kieran Hardy both scored in the final 10 minutes to make it eight tries for the Scarlets.
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: Davies 2, Asquith, Nicholas, Davis, Gardiner, Evans, Hardy
Cons: Patchell 5, O’Brien 2
For Kings:
Tries: Basson 2
Cons: Banda 2
Yellow card: Banda
Scarlets: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Tom Price, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Steff Evans
Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Henry Brown, 5 JC Astle, 4 Bobby de Wee, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Justin Forwood, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Tristan Blewett
Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Simon Rees (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Munster 64-7 Ulster
Munster ran away with their first Irish derby of the season in a nine-try romp against Ulster.
29 unanswered points for the men from Limerick all but ended the contest at the interval, Tommy O’Donnell and Dan Goggin grabbing a brace each with Joey Carbery kicking a further nine points to leave their Irish rivals without an answer at Thomond Park.
Goggin’s opener after five minutes owed much to Andrew Conway and Alex Wootton who combined before setting him free. O’Donnell scored his first three minutes later when he showed a great turn of foot to beat the Ulster defence. Carbery converted both and added a penalty to make it 17-0.
O’Donnell’s second came after he had broken away from the driving maul but had enough momentum to bundle over. The fourth try came three minutes before the interval after some patient play eventually found its way to the backs with Goggin crossing.
Ulster came out in the second 40 with more freedom given the contest looked beyond them. Darren Cave ignited the lamest glimmer of hope when he scored on 46 minutes. The visitors went through the phases before Billy Burns sent the centre over.
No sooner had Ulster opened the door ever so slightly Munster slammed it back shut. Peter O’Mahony scored his side’s fifth try with Carbery adding the extras.
The former Leinster man scored his new side’s sixth and his first in front of the Thomond Park faithful, with Wooton sending him clear to make it 43-7 with a quarter of an hour remaining. Carbery’s try sparked a Munster hat-trick of scores in 11 minutes.
Replacement Sammy Arnold had only been on the pitch a matter of moments before he scored Munster’s seventh of the evening, Wootton chipping in behind for Arnold to gather. His fellow replacement Ian Keatley kicked the conversion.
And Keith Earls got his first try of the season on his first start this term, with Duncan Williams and Billy Holland combining well before sending the winger over. Earls’ wing colleague Wootton scored the hosts’ ninth of a superb evening to round off the scoring.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Goggin 2, O’Donnell 2, O’Mahony, Carbery, Arnold, Earls, Wootton
Cons: Carbery 5, Keatley 3
Pen: Carbery
For Ulster:
Try: Cave
Con: Burns
Yellow Card: Andrew
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Alex Wootten, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 James Cronin, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Sammy Arnold
Ulster: 15 Peter Nelson, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Angus Curtis, 11 Angus Kernohan, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jean Deysel, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matthew Rea, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Ross Kane, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Michael Lowry, 23 James Hume
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Nigel Correll (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Glasgow Warriors 29-13 Dragons
Glasgow returned to the top of Conference A as they won a topsy-turvy encounter at Scotsoun.
Some poor kicking, needless penalties and basic errors ensured the visiting Dragons were always in touch, but five tries, including two for the opportunistic Lee Jones, eventually saw Glasgow home.
Prop Oli Kebble scored his first try in Glasgow colours when he powered over from close range, Adam Hastings kicking the extra two.
The Warriors conceded a quick penalty from the restart before Arwel Robson kicked a further three-pointer to cut the gap to 7-6. A try on the stroke of half-time from the aforementioned Jones certainly sent the home side into the sheds with the momentum, the winger owing much to an excellent bit of individual play from Hastings who span out of the tackle before sending wing Jones clear.
He got his second less than five minutes into the second 40, Huw Jones with the initial break before the Glasgow forwards went through the motions. Hastings released Dunbar and he found Lee Jones to race clear.
17-6 then became 17-13 less than five minutes after that score, Dragons centre Adam Warren benefitting from a Ryan Wilson knock on. The ball was hacked through and Warren won the foot race. Josh Lewis kicked the conversion to cut the deficit.
This see-saw affair then swung back the way of the hosts. Ali Price upped the pace and the ball eventually found Huw Jones whose show and go saw him break the line and cross for the bonus-point score.
Alex Dunbar scored with three minutes to go for Dave Rennie’s men, George Horne offloading to the centre who crossed despite he best efforts of two covering defenders.
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Kebble, L Jones 2, H Jones, Dunbar
Cons: Hastings 2
For Dragons:
Try: Warren
Con: Lewis
Pens: Robson 2
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (cc), 6 Ryan Wilson (cc), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Adam Nicol, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 George Horne, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Nick Grigg
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Arwel Robson, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard (c), 1 Ryan Bevington
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 James Thomas, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Will Talbot-Davies
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Dunx McClement (Scotland)
Television match official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)