Leinster continued with their fine form with a PRO14 win over the Kings in Port Elizabeth while Cardiff Blues thrashed Zebre at home and Munster edged out the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Southern Kings 31-38 Leinster
The visitors, shorn of nearly a team of internationals to Ireland duty, were nevertheless at their most entertaining and outscored the hosts by six tries to five.
The Kings opened the scoring after just two minutes, with Yaw Penxe crossing, But Adam Byrne replied for Leinster after 15 minutes as the visitors worked their way into the game.
Leinster took the lead for the first time with a penalty try after 24 minutes as the Kings’ discipline wilted under pressure. Lock Stephan Greeff was sent to the bin for his part in the collapsed maul and Schalk Ferreira followed him four minutes later.
While Stefan Ungerer’s try and Masixole Banda’s conversion restored parity to the scoreboard, Leinster were busy taking full advantage of the numerical superiority in the playing staff numbers and the win was all but sealed in a crazy six minute spell just before the break, when tries from Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Leavy and Max Deegan, all converted by Noel Reid, put the visitors 33-12 up.
A further yellow card to Tienie Burger meant the Kings remained a man down for the first ten minutes of the second half as well.
Ungerer’s second try just after the break belied the numerical disadvantage and brought the Kings back to 33-19 adrift, but Leinster had clearly taken their foot off the gas and were sitting back and defending comfortably for the main part. Both sides made numerous substitutions around the hour mark as the game disintegrated.
Bryan Byrne scored Leinster’s sixth, but the Kings nabbed two losing bonus points when first Luphumlo Mguca and then Dries van Schalkwyk crossed, with Banda converting both. In between, Berton Klaasen was awarded the Kings’ fourth yellow card of the afternoon on a poor discipline day for the hosts.
The scorers:
For Southern Kings:
Tries: Penxe, Ungerer 2, Mguca, Van Schalkwyk
Cons: Banda 3
Yellow Cards: Greeff, Ferreira, Burger, B Klaasen
For Leinster:
Tries: Byrne, Gibson-Park, Leavy, Deegan, B Byrne, Penalty try
Cons: N Reid 3
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Stephan de Wit, 5 JC Astle (c), 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Justin Forwood, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Lupumlo Mguca, 18 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 19 Andries van Schalkwyk, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Berton Klaasen, 23 Meli Rokoua
Leinster: 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Conor O’Brien, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Noel Reid, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy (c), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Tom Daly
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse (South Africa), Paul Mente (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Cardiff Blues 37-0 Zebre
Cardiff Blues delivered an emphatic victory over a lacklustre Zebre at the Arms Park on Sunday.
11-0 up at the break through Tom Williams’ early try and a brace of Steve Shingler penalties, the Blues were untouchable after the break.
There were further tries from Kirby Myhill, Nick Williams and a late brace from Rey Lee-Lo, with Shingler converting three.
The only conversion missed was of the last try with the last kick of the game, a final word from Gethin Jenkins on his 195th and final game for the Blues as he took retirement after the game to a standing ovation.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: T Williams, Myhill, N Williams, Lee-Lo
Cons: Shingler 3
Pens: Shingler 2
Cardiff Blues: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Steve Shingler, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Seb Davies, 4 George Earle, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 James Down, 20 Samu Manoa, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Dan Fish, 23 Harri Millard
Zebre: 15 Giovanni D’Onofrio, 14 Gabriele Di Giulio, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Nicolas De Battista, 11 Paula Balekana, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Riccardo Raffaele, 8 Antoine Koffi, 7 Apisai Tauyavuca, 6 Jacopo Bianchi, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi (c), 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Luhandre Luus, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Samuele Ortis, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Maicol Azzolini, 22 Jamie Elliott, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Cheetahs 26-30 Munster
A late try from Mike Haley ultimately thwarted a courageous Cheetahs fightback at Free State Stadium on Sunday.
Munster were comfortably in control at the break when Kevin O’Byrne’s try and Bill Johnston’s conversion stretched the Munstermen to a 15-5 lead.
Johnston had opened the scoring with a penalty and Arno Botha’s try had given Munster an 8-0 cushion, but a yellow card for Chris Cloete and Joseph Dweba’s subsequent try had kept the Cheetahs in it.
Liam Coombes scored a try early in the second half, with Johnston converting to give Munster a comfortable 22-5 lead, but the Cheetahs began an epic fightback.
Ox Nche began the fightback with a score, and the free-running Dweba dotted down for a second, with Tian Schoeman proving composed from the tee on both occasions.
And on 65 minutes, Rhyno Smith charged through the Munster defence for a fourth try, with Schoeman converting to give the home side the lead for the first time at 26-22.
Haley’s score, unconverted by substitute Ian Keatley left the match delicately poised at 27-26 with ten to go, and both teams tore into each other in a frantic finish.
But it was Munster centre Rory Scannell who had the final word, with a booming kick to extend the lead to four and take Munster home.
The scorers:
For Cheetahs:
Tries: Dweba 2, Nche, Smith
Cons: Schoeman 2
For Munster:
Tries: Botha, O’Byrne, L Coombes, Haley
Cons: Johnston 2
Pens: Johnston, Scannell
Yellow Card: Cloete
Cheetahs: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Bernhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter (c), 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Sinthu Manjezi/Justin Basson, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Abongile Nonkontwana, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Louis Fouche
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Liam Coombs, 13 Shane Daly, 12 Tyler Bleyendaal (c), 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Bill Johnston, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Fineen Wycherley, 5 Darren O’Shea, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 John Ryan, 19 Sean O’Connor, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Rory Scannell
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Ruhan Meiring (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)