Round 13 Recap: Leinster produce statement win, Glasgow rout Scarlets
Leinster laid down a significant marker to their Vodacom United Rugby Championship rivals with a statement victory over Vodacom Bulls in Dublin.
The Irish province ran in seven tries to register an 11th win from 13 matches while Glasgow Warriors moved above the Bulls into second after thrashing Scarlets.
Champions Munster remain fourth after beating Cardiff and DHL Stormers came from behind to edge out Ulster in Cape Town.
Zebre Parma replaced Dragons at the bottom of the table after losing to the Welsh side, with Hollywoodbets Sharks overcoming Edinburgh.
Benetton and Ospreys boosted their play-off hopes with home wins over Connacht and Emirates Lions respectively.
Here, we take a closer look at all the action from Round 13.
Leinster 47-14 Vodacom Bulls
Jack Conan was one of five second-half try scorers for Leinster in a dominant win in the top-of-the-table clash at the RDS.
Johan Goosen impressed with three penalties and a try assist as the Bulls led 14-12 at half-time. Leinster captain Luke McGrath was sin-binned for a high tackle on try scorer Kurt-Lee Arendse.
However, having touched down initially through Josh van der Flier and Ronan Kelleher, the home side secured their bonus point by the 48th minute.
James Lowe and replacement Michael Milne did the damage, with Dan Sheehan, Conan and Liam Turner adding further tries past the hour mark. Harry Byrne and Ross Byrne each landed three conversions.
Leo Cullen (Leinster)
“Overall, it’s a great win for us. Bulls have been going well and have a lot of quality and picked a very strong team.
“They have a lot of power, a strong kicking game and a good bit of speed as well.
“When they catch you on the break, they’re very dangerous and some of the individuals they have, the ability to step and you’ve seen them at international level as well. They have some serious quality.
“To get a win, when you play first and second, you’re trying to maximise the points. To get five for us and none for them, that’s a perfect world. We’re pleased with the outcome.”
Dragons 20-13 Zebre Parma
Dragons moved off the bottom with their third win of the season at the expense of their fellow strugglers at Rodney Parade.
The Welsh region began slowly but two breakaway tries in quick succession gave them increased confidence to dominate the game.
Aneurin Owen, Jared Rosser and Elliot Dee scored tries for Dragons, with Cai Evans adding a penalty and a conversion.
Muhamed Hasa scored a try for Zebre, with Tiff Eden kicking two penalties and a conversion.
Dai Flanagan (Dragons)
“The resilience pleased me the most. Think back to Edinburgh here, Cardiff here, and we couldn’t get over the line. We got over the line and that should breed confidence now.
“We are frustrated they got a bonus point but we have a lot of games left yet and there is a bigger picture for us. We wanted to climb off the bottom and target some Welsh clubs above us. To do that we need to get more wins.
“It’s a step forward, it’s four points on the board. To get over the line is a positive and we need to build on this. We have four games left in Wales and one away and we need to put on a show for our fans.”
Benetton 18-14 Connacht
Flanker Alessandro Izekor powered over with just seconds remaining to snatch Benetton a vital victory at Stadio Monigo.
It ended a run of three defeats for the Italians and saw them replace Connacht in the play-off places.
Ignacio Mendy also crossed for Benetton, with Jacob Umaga adding a conversion and two penalties.
Niall Murray and Cian Prendergast scored Connacht’s tries, with Jack Carty converting both.
Pete Wilkins (Connacht)
“There will certainly be a ripple effect from the game.
“One or two moments we will certainly review and hold players to account on but the effort and fight within the team is exactly what this club is about and that is our benchmark – that is the reminder of what we are about.
“We can always layer the rugby on top of that but we don’t drop from that type of work ethic and intensity.
“If we ensure that is the case between here and the end of the season, we will be in those play-offs and be in control of our destiny.”
Hollywoodbets Sharks 23-13 Edinburgh
The Sharks secured back-to-back victories for the first time this season to move off the foot of the table.
Full-back Aphelele Fassi was the star of the afternoon after running in a dazzling solo try that was one of several eye-catching breaks while also pinning back the visitors with his pinpoint left boot.
Lukhanyo Am and Phepsi Buthelezi also crossed for the South Africans with Siya Masuku tagging on a conversion and two penalties.
Edinburgh are still firmly in contention for a play-off spot but they struggled to leave any meaningful mark on the South African province beyond two Ben Healy penalties and an overtime touch down from Boan Venter, converted by Healy.
Sean Everitt (Edinburgh)
“To win you’ve got to have territory and we didn’t win that battle. We only got to fire three shots in the first half, got into the 22 once and kicked a penalty.
“At 7-3 we were still in the game and showing a fight. At 12-6 we were still in the game and we got ascendancy in the set-piece but we put ourselves under pressure unfortunately.
“That’s a learning experience for guys coming over to South Africa.”
Ospreys 36-21 Emirates Lions
Ospreys kept alive their hopes of an end-of-season play-off spot with an impressive bonus-point win in Swansea.
The hard-fought victory saw them move up to seventh and firmly back into the play-off mix but some difficult tasks await them, with a trip to Leinster and two back-to-back games in South Africa.
Tom Botha, Sam Parry, Morgan Morris, Lewis Lloyd and Keiran Williams scored their tries, with Owen Williams kicking three conversions and a penalty. Jack Walsh added a conversion.
Lions could not repeat last week’s notable 38-14 success at Connacht but managed three tries from PJ Botha, Quan Horn and Richard Kriel, all of which Jordan Hendrikse converted.
DHL Stormers 13-7 Ulster
Ulster were unable to hold out in a desperate rearguard action as Stormers came from behind to triumph in Cape Town.
A Nick Timoney try meant the Irish province led from the seventh until the 74th minute, at which point number eight Evan Roos rewarded his side’s complete dominance in the second half by rounding off a maul.
What the score lacked in artistry it made up for in importance as for all their control after their interval the 2022 champions wasted chance after chance.
The Stormers’ defence looked heavy legged when it was exposed in the seventh minute by a simple attack that saw Nathan Doak slip Timoney between two tacklers for an easy run in, which John Cooney converted.
But the decisive score finally came in the 75th minute when Roos crashed over the line from a line-out maul with Manie Libbok nailing a tricky conversion and then adding his second penalty in overtime.
Richie Murphy (Ulster)
“You come to South Africa, you know it’s going to be tough. To come away with one point is disappointing. We’d have probably expected to get a little more than that.
“I thought our players were brilliant. Their work-rate, their hunger, their ability to work back to cover each others’ backsides, I was really happy with that part of our game.
“We’ve still five games left in the league so we’re in the mix and we can still make this top eight.”
Scarlets 3-45 Glasgow Warriors
Scotland wing Kyle Rowe scored a hat-trick of tries as Glasgow climbed into second place with a commanding display in Llanelli.
The win moved the Warriors above the Bulls and to within five points of leaders Leinster, with five rounds of the regular season to go.
George Hiddleston, Scott Cummings and Johnny Matthews also crossed, with Duncan Weir converting four of them, and there was also a penalty try.
Ioan Lloyd kicked a penalty for Scarlets, who lost three players to the sin bin.
Munster 20-15 Cardiff
Jack Crowley scored a second-half try and kicked the clinching 74th-minute penalty for Munster.
Ben Thomas and replacement Thomas Young both crossed, one converted by Tinus de Beer, to give Cardiff a 12-10 lead on the hour mark but they could not avoid a fifth straight league loss.
A lone Crowley penalty had Munster leading 3-0 at half-time, with the hosts frustrated by nine handling errors across the opening 35 minutes.
Munster captain Tadhg Beirne and Thomas swapped tries, with the latter running in a fine intercept effort, before Young profited from John Ryan’s sin-binning to score from a maul.
Crowley scrambled over and finished with 15 points, albeit replacement Jacob Beetham’s late penalty gave Cardiff a deserved bonus point.
Jack Crowley (Munster)
“I’m delighted we could get the win. It means a lot for us in terms of going forward and ending this block on a high.
“There are definitely a few things we’ll look at in terms of our attack and whatnot, where we’d be quite disappointed with a few errors we made and opportunities we didn’t take.
“I think Cardiff’s last number of games have come right down to the wire so it’s a credit to them. They’re a side that’s growing massively and they’re putting it up to everyone and they’re performing.”
Matt Sherratt (Cardiff)
“We can probably copy and paste nine of the last 10 games really.
“First and foremost it’s disappointing. We want to win games and I know there’ll be a little bit of frustration.
“But I think if you let the dust settle, to come to Glasgow away, Munster away, two top-four teams, stacked with all their internationals back, British Lions coming off the bench, to come here and get a point is pretty impressive for a young group.
“It’s probably a repeat message but what an effort from a young group to have a last receiving kick off, last kick of the game when we’re right in the game.
“We’re in a decent place, we’ve got a good base to build on, a very, very good base and the coaches here will turn these narrow losses into wins but, as I said before, there needs to be a bit of patience.”
>>>Story courtesy of www.unitedrugby.com<<<
