It was a thriller in the early PRO14 game as the Scarlets defeated the Southern Kings, while there were also wins for Zebre, Ulster and Ospreys.
Southern Kings 34-41 Scarlets
Madibaz Stadium
Scarlets scored three late tries to come from behind and snatch a narrow triumph over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.
The South Africans were impressive in the opening 20 minutes and took a 17-3 advantage via Masixole Banda and Yaw Penxe tries, but the Welsh region responded impressively. Dafydd Hughes’ effort got them back in the contest before Will Boyde also touched down to leave them just 20-15 in arrears at the break.
Ioan Nicholas then took the Scarlets ahead early in the second period, but the Kings regained their advantage via Harlon Klaasen and Bjorn Basson. They were 12 points clear heading into the final quarter but tries from Werner Kruger, Kieran Hardy and Taylor Davies secured a narrow win for the away team.
Scarlets boss Wayne Pivac was forced to make a number of changes due to the absence of their internationals and the hosts immediately took advantage. Although the visitors could call on plenty of experience, there was a lack of continuity and Banda scythed through their defence to open the scoring.
The full-back then added a penalty before Dan Jones hit back with a three-pointer of his own as Pivac’s charges began to cause problems for the home side.
They started to create opportunities and took play into the opposition 22 but, when Andisa Ntsila crucially stole the ball on the five-metre line, the Kings produced an incisive counter-attack. Good hands from the forwards sent Banda free and his grubber through was collected by Penxe, who touched down under the posts.
Down 14 points, last season’s runners-up decided to go back to basics, scoring twice via powerful mauls as Hughes and Boyde went over.
Banda’s second penalty was sandwiched in between those tries but the tide had seemingly turned and the Welsh side took the lead for the first time when Nicholas crossed the whitewash after good work from Boyde and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne.
However, to the South Africans’ immense credit, they responded well to that setback and went back in front through Klaasen before Basson followed minutes later.
The Scarlets were not done there, though, and made it a nervous final few minutes when Kruger barrelled over from close range. Going into the latter stages, the hosts were still 34-29 in front but they yielded under pressure as Hardy and Davies touched down to snatch the win.
The scorers:
For Kings:
Tries: Banda, Penxe, H Klaasen, Basson
Cons: Banda 4
Pens: Banda 2
Yellow Card: Mguca
For Scarlets:
Tries: Hughes, Boyde, Nicholas, Kruger, Hardy, Davies
Cons: Jones 4
Pen: Jones
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 Stephan de Wit, 5 JC Astle (c), 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Justin Forwood, 18 Luphumlo Mguca, 19 Stephan Greeff, 20 Martinus Burger, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Tertius Kruger, 23 Meli Rokoua
Scarlets: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Paul Asquith, 12 Steff Hughes (c), 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Will Boyde, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Steve Cummins, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Dafydd Hughes, 1 Phil Price
Replacements: 16 Taylor Davies, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Tom Price, 20 Josh Helps, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Morgan Williams, 23 Ed Kennedy
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Berry (South Africa), Paul Mente (South Africa)
TMO: Sean Veldsman (South Africa)
Zebre 34-16 Edinburgh
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Zebre fought back from a 10-point half-time deficit to down Edinburgh at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Friday.
Edinburgh looked well in control during a rugged first half and slowly built up what looked to be a comfortable lead.
An early penalty from Simon Hickey put them ahead and Darcy Graham’s 20th-minute try, converted by Hickey, gave the visitors a deserved 10-0 lead.
Hickey extended the lead to 13 just before the half hour and the fly-half could have extended it further but sent an easy-looking kick wide of the mark.
Zebre finally got on the board with a Carlo Canna penalty just before half-time, but the game changed completely after the break.
It took the hosts just moments to get back into the game properly after lock David Sisi crashed over and Canna converted.
Canna and Hickey traded shots at goal as the clock ticked towards 50 minutes and then it was wing Gabriele di Giulio who scored the crucial try for Zebre, with Canna once again adding the extras for a 20-16 lead, during a frantic third quarter of the match.
Canna then set the seal on the win with a try of his own, converting it as well, to give Zebre their match-winning 27-16 lead with 10 to go, and the bonus-point was sealed by Tommaso Castello with the final play, converted again by the impeccable Canna.
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Tries: Sisi, Di Giulio, Canna, Castello
Cons: Canna 4
Pens: Canna 2
For Edinburgh:
Try: Graham
Con: Hickey
Pens: Hickey 3
Zebre: 15 Francois Brummer, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Gabriele Di Giulio, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Jacopo Bianchi, 5 George Biagi, 4 David Sisi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luhandre Luus, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Apisai Tauyavuca, 21 Riccardo Raffaele, 22 Tommaso Boni, 23 Paula Balekana
Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Bill Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Callum Atkinson, 20 Mungo Mason, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jason Baggott, 23 Juan Pablo Socino
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)
Ulster 36-18 Dragons
Kingspan Stadium
Ulster put a wretched run of recent form behind them with a convincing 36-18 win over the Dragons at Kingspan Stadium on Friday.
The hosts had the bonus-point wrapped up just after the break when centre Stuart McCloskey powered over, a score which put Ulster 29-13 ahead and effectively ended the game as a contest.
Henry Speight, fresh back from injury, wasted no time in making up for his enforced absence with the opening try of the game after 10 minutes and Jonny McPhillips’ conversion – added to his early penalty – put Ulster 10-0 up.
Jason Tovey, handed his first start since re-signing for the visitors this week, hit back with a penalty of his own, but Ulster scrum-half Dave Shanahan put healthy daylight between the teams with a try, McPhillips again converting.
Tovey converted Huw Taylor’s try and added another penalty as the visitors fought gamely, but the pace of Ulster’s attack was too much, with full-back Michael Lowry scoring on half-time, and McPhillips converting, to put Ulster 24-13 ahead at the break.
McCloskey’s effort killed the game off, although a late try by Jarryd Sage ensured Ulster didn’t switch off too much. McCloskey doubled his tally late on to put the game out of sight and keep Ulster in touch in Conference B.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Speight, Shanahan, Lowry, McCloskey 2
Cons: McPhillips 4
Pen: McPhillips
For Dragons:
Tries: Taylor, Sage
Con: Tovey
Pens: Tovey 2
Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Dave Shanahan, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Sean Reidy, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Eric O’Sullivan,
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Angus Kernohan, 23 Peter Nelson
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Will Talbot-Davies, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Huw Taylor, 5 Lewis Evans, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard (c), 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Ryan Bevington, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jack Dixon, 23 Zane Kirchner
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: John Carvill (Ireland), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Ospreys 22-17 Connacht
Brewery Field
The Ospreys got off to a blistering start but spent much of the rest of the match trying to find the same rhythm as they eked out a 22-17 bonus-point win over Connacht on Friday.
Keelan Giles scored a brace of tries in the first 10 minutes as the hosts threatened to run riot, but a Jack Carty drop goal settled the visitors down and it remained 10-3 until the break.
With Rob McCusker sent to the bin, the Ospreys were having their patience tested but Harri Morgan finally made their superiority count even while they were still down to 14 men and Sam Davies nailed the conversion this time.
At 17-3 the Ospreys ought to have been done and dusted but they were still looking slightly disjointed and a trademark Bundee Aki surge, with Carty converting, brought Connacht back into the game with 17 to go.
With 10 to go, storming back-row Jarrad Butler crashed over, with Carty again converting, to tie things up at 17-all. But Ospreys full-back Dan Evans finished off a rare moment of flow from the home side to notch both the win and the bonus-point with seconds left on the clock.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Giles 2, Morgan, Evans
Con: Davies
Yellow Card: McCusker
For Connacht:
Tries: Aki, Butler
Cons: Carty 2
Drop goal: Carty
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Harri Morgan, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 Olly Cracknell (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 James King, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 James Ratti, 20 Guido Volpi, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 James Hook, 23 Tom Williams
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Cian Kelleher, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Conan O’Donnell, 18 Conor Carey, 19 James Cannon, 20 Colby Fainga’a, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Kyle Godwin
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)