Cheetahs, Ulster, Cardiff Blues and Leinster secured wins over Edinburgh, Benetton, Connacht and Dragons in PRO14 action on Friday.
Cheetahs 33-13 Edinburgh
Free State Stadium
The Cheetahs claimed a hard-fought 33-13 victory over Edinburgh in PRO14 action at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Friday evening.
Tries from Craig Barry, Rynier Bernardo, Junior Pokomela and Makazole Mapimpi proved too much for Edinburgh who scored through Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Despite both sides playing enterprising rugby, the first points of the match only came in the 26th minute and it came as the Cheetahs opted for a scrum penalty after Edinburgh were penalised for taking too long to throw into the lineout. From the scrum, the home side took the ball wide and a perfectly weighted grubber from Clayton Blommetjies allowed substitute Barry to race on to the ball having run the perfect line to dot down. Fred Zeilinga added the extras.
And the hosts scored again just before the half-time whistle to take a 14-0 lead in to the interval. It was that man Blommetjies again who made the initial break. The ball was recycled to the right where William Small-Smith produced a long pass out to the touchline for Bernardo to dot down.
But the visitors began to claw their way back after the break first through a Sam Hidalgo-Clyne penalty after the Cheetahs were penalised for not rolling away.
Then the nippy scrum-half waltzed over at the back of an attacking scrum completely unchallenged. He converted his try and after adding another penalty the deficit stood at only one with half an hour to go.
The Cheetahs showed their forward power with a dominant five-metre scrum which they pushed all the away over the try-line with Pokomela the man to exert downward pressure on the ball and claim the score. Zeilinga added the extras to make the score 21-13 to the Cheetahs with twenty minutes to go.
Mapimpi put the game beyond doubt with the bonus-point try as he consolidated his position as the PRO14's top try-scorer with his ninth try of the campaign. It was a brilliant team move from the Cheetahs who took the ball through the phases showing showing patience and ball retention before Mapimpi eventually dotted down in the far left-hand corner.
And subsitute scrum-half Meyer put the icing on the cake profiting from quick Cheetahs turnover ball and Zeilinga converted as the home side ran out 33-13 winners
The scorers:
For Cheetahs:
Tries: Barry, Bernardo, Pokomela, Mapimpi, Meyer
Cons: Zeilinga 4
For Edinburgh:
Try: Hidalgo-Clyne
Con: Hidalgo-Clyne
Pen: Hidalgo-Clyne 2
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luther Obi, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Makazola Mapimpi, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Junior Pokomela, 7 Rynier Bernardo, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Hugo, Reniel, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten Van Jaarsveld (c), 1 Charles Marais
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Jasper Wiese, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Tertius Kruger, 23 Craig Barry
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Lewis Carmichael, 5 Fraser McKenzie (c), 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Michele Rizzo
Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Kevin Bryce, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Junior Rasolea
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Archie Sehlako (South Africa), Jaco Coetzee (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Cardiff Blues 36–30 Connacht
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Blues held off a late fight back to seal a 36-30 win over Connacht.
With changes aplenty in the Cardiff side, they fell behind after a strong start by the visitors, with Jack Carty sending a penalty through. They were soon on terms though with Jarrod Evans dispatching a three pointer.
And they didn’t have to wait long before grabbing the opening try. Olly Robinson got his first for the side after good initial work from Willis Halaholo, and Evans converted. The lead quickly became 10 when he sent another three through, Blues 13-3 to the good.
Halaholo was soon at fault at the other end though as Connacht narrowed the lead. His pass was cut out by Niyi Adeolokun, with the conversion followed by a levelling penalty. But Cardiff Blues did take a three point advantage into the break thanks to a last minute three points from Evans, 16-13 at half-time.
The first points of the second half went the hosts way, especially after Eoin Griffin saw yellow. This produced a quick fire try from Matthew Morgan in the corner, the lead heading to double figures.
Connacht were quickly back into it after a drive saw Shane Delahunt go through, but a third from Owen Lane came after neat handling from Gareth Anscombe. He in turn added two, 30-18 the lead.
It was a frantic finale, all spurred by a yellow shown to Nick Williams for a shove on a Connacht man. That soon led to a third try for the visitors, coming from Delahunt again to make it 30-23.
A penalty made the lead 10 again but Connacht piled on more pressure with a try from John Muldoon making it just a three point Cardiff lead. But a late penalty from Anscombe sealed the 36-30 win.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Robinson, Morgan, Lane
Cons: Evans, Anscombe 2
Pens: Evans 3, Anscombe 2
Yellow Card: Williams
For Connacht:
Tries: Adeolokun, Delahunt 2, Muldoon
Cons: Carty, Crosbie
Pens: Carty 2
Yellow Card: Griffin
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Tom James, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Damian Welch, 4 George Earle, 3 Taufa’ao Filise, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Anton Peikrishvili, 19 James Down, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Harri Millard
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 James Cannon, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Steve Crosbie, 23 Pita Ahki
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Leinster 54-10 Dragons
RDS Arena
Eight tries sealed a dominant 54-10 Leinster win at the RDS Arena.
Leinster were able to welcome back skipper Isa Nacewa and a number of other first teamers for their tie with Dragons on Friday night. And if they were to keep the pressure on Scarlets, victory was a must.
It was Dragons who got the ball rolling though, with Gavin Henson sending a drop goal through within the first three minutes at the RDS. And that lead was strengthened in an incredible opening for the visitors.
James Benjamin went over for try number one, coming after a strong passage of play. Henson converted, but Leinster were soon back in contention.
Jamison Gibson-Park soon cut the lead with the hosts' first try, bouncing back from the unexpected early deficit. And normal service was resumed when Nacewa found the line, marking his triumphant return and putting Leinster ahead.
Dragons half was getting worse as it went on and before the break, they’d shipped four tries. The third came when Josh Murphy was given the all clear by the TMO, not a bad way to mark his first home bow. And the fourth produced the bonus point, with Max Deegan leaving Dragons with a mountain to climb, 28-10 behind.
Dragons woes continued as they saw Angus O’Brien shown a yellow for an intentional knock on, and his absence quickly produced a penalty try as Leinster put the 14 men to the sword. Nacewa got his second try as number six was chalked up, Dragons already consigned to defeat with 25 minutes on the clock still.
Two more tries followed as Leinster destroyed the Welsh side, Rory O’Loughlin grabbing the eighth to compound Dragons woes in a 54-10 result.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Gibson-Park, Nacewa 2, Murphy, Deegan, Penalty Try, O’Loughlin, Larmour
Cons: Byrne 6, Marsh
For Dragons:
Try: Benjamin
Con: Henson
Drop Goal: Henson
Yellow Card: O’Brien
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Isa Nacewa (c), 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Conor O’Brien
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 James Benjamin, 7 Ollie Griffiths (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Ellis Shipp, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Rynard Landman, 20 Ben Roach, 21 Dan Babos, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Connor Edwards
Referee: Sam Grove White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Dunx McClement (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew Cymene (Scotland)
Ulster 23-22 Benetton
Kingspan Stadium
A final minute conversion from Christian Lealiifano spared Ulster blushes in a 23-22 win for the hosts.
Paul Marshall was forced to wait from the bench for his 200th Ulster appearance, in what was widely expected to be a straight forward victory against Italian opposition. Tommaso Allan did give the visitors an early lead thanks to a brace of penalties, but the lead didn’t last too long.
Tommy Bowe went through for the first try after a scrum, with John Cooney helping him along the way before the former found the right corner. Cooney himself added the two, and followed it with a wonderful kick from distance to make it 10-6. A further kick from each side made it a slender 13-9 Ulster lead at the break.
Another kick from Allan had Ulster looking over their shoulders, with just a single point separating the two sides with half an hour still on the clock. The lead switched hands as Treviso got their first try, Robert Barbieri claiming a loose ball and nipping through, the Italians taking a surprise six point advantage.
Christian Lealiifano reduced that back down to three as a frantic final 20 looked assured. Marty Banks pushed it back to six, but a second Ulster try from Andrew Trimble allowed Lealiifano to kick them a single point ahead right at the death and seal an unconvincing 23-22 win.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Bowe, Trimble
Cons: Cooney, Lealiifano
Pens: Cooney 2, Lealiifano
For Benetton:
Try: Barbieri
Con: Allan
Pens: Allan 4, Banks
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Louis Ludik, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Peter Nelson, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Aaron Hall, 6 Clive Ross, 5 Alan O’Connor, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Ross Kane, 2 John Andrew, 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Andy Warwick, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Andrew Trimble
Benetton: 15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Andrea Bronzini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Giorgio Bronzini, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Nasi Manu, 6 Whetu Douglas, 5 Irné Herbst, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Giuseppe Di Stefano, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Cherif Traore
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Alberto De Marchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Luca Crosato, 22 Marty Banks, 23 Luca Morisi
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Shane Kierans (Ireland)
TMO: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
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