Connacht thump Ulster, Benetton and Edinburgh win

Editor

Benetton were winners in the early PRO14 game, seeing off Zebre, while 14-man Edinburgh beat Glasgow and Connacht thumped Ulster.

Benetton 27-14 Zebre

Benetton picked up their fourth victory of the PRO14 season as they battled past Italian rivals Zebre 27-14 at Stadio Monigo on Saturday.

In contrast, this loss is defeat number eight for Zebre as the home side claimed a bonus-point try to go with the four points they accrued.

Benetton went 5-0 up in the 18th minute when numbers were created wide on the right where Angelo Esposito was sent over by Jayden Hayward. That was to be the only crossing of the half though as Marcello Violi’s penalty for Zebre cut the lead down to two points at the interval.

The hosts came out firing in the second-half and had their second try 60 seconds in when Hame Faiva slipped over from close range.

It was 12-6 when Carlo Canna struck off the tee but Zebre were then down to 14 when Johan Meyer was red carded, Dean Budd being issued a yellow. Marty Banks landed the resulting penalty to make it 15-6, but Zebre hit back through Giulio Bisegni’s well-worked try on 50 minutes.

Banks would then set up Esposito for his second crossing of the day on the right wing, which gave Benetton a 20-14 lead on 65 minutes.

And Edoardo Gori added welcome breathing space on 70 minutes when he dotted down at the back of a dominant scrum to seal the five.

The scorers:

For Benetton:
Tries: Esposito 2, Faiva, Gori
Cons: Banks, McKinley
Pen: Banks
Yellow Card: Budd

For Zebre:
Try: Bellini
Pens: Violi, Canna 2
Red Card: Meyer

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Marty Banks, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Whetu Douglas, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Cherif Traore, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Giulio Bisegni, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Maxime Mbandà, 5 George Biagi, 4 David Sisi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D’Apice, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Jacopo Sarto, 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Serafin Bordoli, 23 Ciaran Gaffney

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)

Edinburgh 18-17 Glasgow

Glasgow Warriors suffered a first defeat this PRO14 campaign after they lost to a 14-man Edinburgh side, going down 18-17 at Murrayfield.

When Edinburgh’s Simon Berghan was sent off for a stamp to the head of Fraser Brown in the fifth minute, a win looked highly unlikely.

But the hosts somehow got the victory with a late try from Chris Dean seeing them stun the Conference leaders in front of over 20,000.

The Warriors did not have things their own way after that fifth minute red card as their lead at the interval was only 7-3 in their favour.

They scored that try on two minutes when Tommy Seymour’s superb line off a line-out led to him sending Huw Jones in for the run-in.

Edinburgh though frustrated their visitors and it remained a four-point ball game at 10-6 until the 56th minute as Pete Horne and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne traded shots. Glasgow would then turn to duo Finn Russell and Niko Matawalu off the bench in the hope of seeing off their hosts.

But it was their pack that conjured their second try when Stuart Cummings crossed in odd style, as the lock backed over from a line-out.

Edinburgh, to their credit, refused to give up and Nathan Fowles’ close-range try on the hour got them back into it at 17-13 before Dean scored the match-winner. Glasgow appeared to have stopped playing as Dean went over with a surprised look on his face for an incredible victory.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Fowles, Dean
Con: Van der Walt
Pens: Hidalgo-Clyne 2
Red Card: Berghan

For Glasgow:
Tries: Jones, Cummings
Cons: Horne, Russell
Pen: Horne

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Viliame Mata, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Murray McCallum, 18 Matt Shields, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Darcy Graham

Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Ali Price, 8 Samu Vunisa, 7 Matt Smith, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jonny Gray (c), 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Niko Matawalu

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Television match official: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)

Connacht 44-16 Ulster

Connacht were the dominant side in their inter-provincial derby against Ulster as they hammered their visitors 44-16 in the late fixture.

Ulster were given a harsh lesson by Kieran Keane’s outfit, who ran in six tries to pick up only their fourth victory of the PRO14 season.

Connacht were 20-6 ahead at the break thanks to tries from flank Eoghan Masterson, centre Bundee Aki and full-back Tiernan O’Halloran.

They continued their dominance in the second stanza too, as Ultan Dillane’s pushover try and Jarrad Butler’s simple finish made it 37-6.

Ulster thought they had crossed on 65 minutes when replacement Johnny McPhillips’ grubber through found Louis Ludik, but he fumbled it. However, they scored soon after through wing Craig Gilroy, who finished strongly to give their travelling supporters something to cheer.

But just as Ulster were looking for their second crossing of the evening, an intercept from replacement Eoin Griffin led to fellow substitute Darragh Leader taking on the baton before lock Dillane finished off under the posts for try number six. Jack Carty added the final gloss.

Ulster did however have the final say when Rob Lyttle scored but it didn’t change what was a record win for Connacht over their rivals.

The scorers:

For Connacht:
Tries: Masterson, Aki, O’Halloran, Dillane 2, Butler
Cons: Carty 4
Pens: Carty 2
Yellow Card: O’Halloran

For Ulster:
Tries: Gilroy, Lyttle
Pens: Cooney 2
Yellow Cards: Warwick, Ludik

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeleokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Coulson
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 James Cannon, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Eoin Griffin, 23 Darragh Leader

Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Louis Ludik, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Peter Nelson, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Iain Henderson (c), 5 Robbie Diack, 4 Matthew Dalton, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andy Warwick
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Matthew Rea, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Rob Lyttle

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Joy Neville (Ireland), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)