Glasgow, Ulster, Munster and Benetton opened the PRO14 with wins on Saturday as they beat Connacht, Scarlets, the Cheetahs and Dragons respectively.
Connacht 26-27 Glasgow Warriors
The Sportsground
In an evenly contested match, in which the lead changed hands several times, the visitors eventually outscored Connacht by four tries to two although the Irish province will be kicking themselves as they were in front for large periods.
Glasgow Warriors were fastest out of the blocks and two minutes into the match Tommy Seymour collected a perfectly-weighted kick from Stuart Hogg before crossing for the opening try.
10 minutes later, Jack Carty opened Connacht’s account when he slotted a penalty after the Warriors were blown up for collapsing a maul illegally.
Shortly afterwards, Carty launched a cross-field kick which was gathered by Cian Kelleher, who cantered in for the home side’s first try which Carty converted to give his team a 10-5 lead.
The visitors struck back in the 19th minute courtesy of a try from George Turner, who did well to exploit a gap in Connacht’s defence before crossing the whitewash. George Horne slotted the conversion which meant the Warriors held a slender 12-10 lead midway through the opening half.
That lead did not last long though as shortly afterwards Finlay Bealham went over for Connacht’s second try after Tiernan O’Halloran laid the groundwork with a powerful run in the build-up.
The topsy turvy nature of this game continued when Glasgow’s co-captain, Ryan Wilson, powered through a tackle before dotting down which meant the sides were deadlocked at 17-17 before two penalties from Carty gave Connacht a six-point lead at half-time.
The second-half was a more subdued affair as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy but Connacht extended their lead when Carty added his fourth penalty three minutes after the restart.
The next 25 minutes was a slugfest but the Warriors suffered a setback in the 58th minute when Adam Hastings was yellow carded for a high tackle on Caolin Blade.
But despite Hastings’ stint on the sidelines, Glasgow did not surrender and narrowed the gap in the 65th minute when Adam Ashe dotted down after a rolling maul deep inside Connacht’s 22.
Hogg slotted the conversion which gave Connacht a two-point lead before landing his drop goal from 30 metres out to secure a memorable away win for the Warriors.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Kelleher, Bealham
Cons: Carty 2
Pens: Carty 4
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Seymour, Turner, Wilson, Ashe
Cons: Horne, Hogg
Drop goal: Hogg
Yellow Card: Hastings
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Paul Boyle, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Cillian Gallagher, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Niyi Adeolokun
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Ryan Wilson (cc), 7 Callum Gibbins (cc), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Adam Ashe, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Alex Dunbar, 23 Niko Matawalu
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Eddie Hogan-O’Connell
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Ulster 15-13 Scarlets
Kingspan Stadium
Ulster pipped Scarlets 15-13 thanks to a last-gasp John Cooney penalty in a hard-fought PRO14 Round One encounter at Kingspan on Saturday.
Scarlets would score as early as the fifth minute. A penalty ensured the visitors got up to the Ulster five-metre line, then following several bruising phases fly-half Rhys Patchell darted over in the left corner before adding his own touchline conversion.
But three Cooney penalties (’14, ’17, ’25) meant Ulster would take a 9-7 lead into the interval.
Dan Jones’ 55th minute penalty edged the visitors in front after the break but Cooney would respond four minutes later only for Jones to edge the away side in front again at 13-12 after 62 minutes.
Scarlets replacement forward Ed Kennedy would receive a yellow card, making it a tense final 12 minutes for the men in red.
And Cooney would confirm Scarlets’ worst fears when he slotted a penalty after the hooter to snatch a dramatic last-gasp 15-13 victory.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Pens: Cooney 5
For Scarlets:
Try: Patchell
Con: Patchell
Pens: Jones 2
Yellow Card: Kennedy
Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Angus Kernohan
Scarlets: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Kieron Fonotia, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Josh Macleod, 7 James Davies, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 David Bulbring, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Ed Kennedy, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Ioan Nicholas
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy), John Carvill (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Munster 38-0 Cheetahs
Thomond Park
Munster opened their PRO14 campaign in emphatic fashion, blanking the Cheetahs six tries to zero and 38-0 at Thomond Park on Saturday.
Munster’s first try came from a piece of Darren Sweetnam magic, as the winger showed his dazzling footwork before releasing Rory Scannell out on the right flank for the finish in the corner.
That 16th minute score was the only action of a low-scoring opening 32 minutes as the Cheetahs attempted to stretch a Munster defence that stood firm.
As the half went on, the Cheetahs began to tire and inevitably ended up giving Munster more front-foot advantage. The pressure was too much for the visitors when prop Dave Kilcoyne powered over from close range, JJ Hanrahan converted for the 12-0 lead with eight minutes to go until half-time. It was a sweeping move that spanned the length of the field with new recruit Arno Botha prominent in the build-up with a typically rambunctuous carry.
The second-half saw much of the same of the first, with Munster in complete control of proceedings and the Cheetahs brave on defence but offering very little on attack.
Having to endure a period of 12 minutes of sustained pressure from Munster, the visitors’ defence finally cracked 12 minutes after the break. After the hosts won a turnover penalty five metres from the Cheetahs’ try-line, Neil Cronin took the quick tap and go with the Cheetahs defence unable to recover in time as Tommy O’Donnell sauntered through a gap and over as the lead became 17-0.
14 minutes later, Munster had their fourth through Hanrahan and in the 71st minute, the icing was all but on the cake when Dave O’Callaghan bashed over after excellent hands by replacement back Joey Carbery.
And with seven minutes to go, Sweetnam got in on the act with an intercept try, running in under the posts from 60 yards out, while Hanrahan added the simple conversion for a commanding 38-0 victory.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Scannell, Kilcoyne, O’Donnell, Hanrahan, O’Callaghan, Sweetnam
Cons: Hanrahan 4
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Dave O’Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Brian Scott, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 James Hart, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Sammy Arnold
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 William Small-Smith, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Oupa Mohoje (c), 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Ernst Stapelberg, 23 Ryno Eksteen
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Mark Patton (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Dragons 17-21 Benetton Rugby
Rodney Parade
Benetton Rugby began the new PRO14 season with an impressive 21-17 victory over a disappointing Dragons side at Rodney Parade on Saturday.
This win takes the Italians second in Conference B after Round One.
Benetton were 11-7 ahead at the turnaround thanks to a try from Alessandro Zanni and two penalties from fellow Azzurri player Tomasso Allan.
However the Italians had to come from behind to lead at the break, this after Dafydd Howells crossed with just over one minute played, with the wing intercepting a pass on the visitors’ 22 and strolling over the whitewash for the perfect opening to the game for the Welsh region.
It did not take long for Benetton Rugby to hit back though as in the sixth minute second-row Zanni went over after they kicked to the corner.
Gavin Henson would cut the scores to 11-10 in Benetton’s favour five minutes into the second-half, but when Braam Steyn crossed in the 52nd minute suddenly the Italians were 16-10 in front. They now had just under half-an-hour to hold on and join Zebre in claiming an opening win.
That prospect became even more likely four minutes after flanker Steyn’s crossing when lock Zanni grabbed his second try, making it 21-10.
Dragons scrum-half Rhodri Williams gave the home side hope in the 75th minute when he scampered in for a converted try that made it 21-17, but it was too little too late as Benetton held on for an away win.
The scorers:
For Dragons:
Tries: Howells, Williams
Cons: Henson, Lewis
Pen: Henson
For Benetton:
Tries: Zanni 2, Steyn
Pens: Allan 2
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Aaron Wainwright, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Huw Taylor, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Adam Warren
Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Marco Lazzaroni, 22 Giorgio Bronzini, 23 Tommaso Iannone
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy, Simon Rees (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)