Connacht, Ulster and Edinburgh win, Glasgow held at Dragons

Editor

There were wins for Connacht, Ulster and Edinburgh while Dragons and Glasgow drew in the four PRO14 games taking place on Friday.

Connacht 26-15 Ospreys

The first game under interim head coach Allen Clarke produced a relatively low scoring opening, just one try on behalf of Ospreys as they trailed by a single point. But a try for the hosts right on the whistle gave Connacht a 13-5 half-time lead.

Craig Ronaldson missed an early effort at the posts but almost immediately made up for that with a penalty that put his side three points ahead. But the post-Steve Tandy era got off to a good first 20, and Ospreys grabbed the first try. Having stretched the hosts backline, Will Jones and Kieron Fonotia played their part in allowing Dafydd Howells to find the line in the corner.

The conversion didn’t follow though, and Connacht struck a second penalty through Ronaldson in what was the last points scoring action of the half. Ronaldson and company had been on the back foot for much of the half, but Eoghan Masterson went through from close range, conversion following for a slightly generous 13-5 lead at the break. 

The visitors looked bright after the restart but were down a man as Hanno Dirksen found himself shown a yellow following a late challenge on Caolin Blade. Ronaldson immediately made him pay with a penalty to extend the lead.

Ospreys, having played so well for much of the first half, slipped right out of the game as Connacht made it 23-8 late in the second half. Thomas Farrell killed the contest for Ospreys, who didn’t have an immediate bounce back after Tandy’s departure.

They were given some hope late on with Reuben Morgan-Williams making the line, much to the annoyance of the home fans who felt he hadn’t grounded. Ronaldson increased the lead back to 11 points though, and there was no chance at a surprise comeback.

The scorers:

For Connacht:
Tries: Masterson, Farrell
Cons: Ronaldson 2
Pens: Ronaldson 4

For Ospreys:
Tries: Howells, Morgan-Williams
Con: Davies
Pen: Davies
Yellow Card: Dirksen

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Craig Ronaldson, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Naulia Dawai, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 James Cannon, 4 Andrew Browne, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Coulson
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 James Connolly, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Pita Ahki

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Dafydd Howells, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 Rob McCusker (c), 7 Will Jones, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 James King, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Guy Mercer, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Luke Price, 23 Joe Thomas

Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)

Ulster 59-10 Southern Kings

Under the first-time captaincy of Alan O’Connor, Ulster began a new era following the departure of Les Kiss prior to this game. And they couldn’t have had a better first 40, which started with a Craig Gilroy try seven minutes in. He took the line off John Cooney to go through, with the latter adding the extras.

Masixole Banda cut the gap down to four with what turned out to be the only points Kings would record in a disappointing half. Stuart McCloskey quickly extended the advantage in a well worked move, Gilroy having the final assist as he went from scorer to provider. Cooney again added the two and he had another opportunity before the whistle.

Gilroy was playing a big part and he got his second try of the night right on the break, Cooney making it 21-3 at the break. And the bonus point quickly arrived with a couple of memorable tries. The first came two minutes into the second half when Johnny McPhillips rounded off his first senior start with a well taken finish. And the second of the half came as possession was exchanged right across the pitch, with Rob Lyttle taking the score up to 35-3. 

Having been so pivotal in the first half, it was only right that Gilroy sealed his hat-trick early in the second. Cooney and McPhillips both did the work in the build up, before Gilroy rightly received the plaudits. Lyttle added yet another to make it 45-3, the Kings punished on the road yet again.

They did make double figures, their first try coming from Harlon Klaasen with 12 left to play. But it was barely even a consolation, especially as Kieran Treadwell took the hosts past the 50 points mark. Darren Cave completed the nine try rout, Ulster dominating throughout in a 59-10 win. 

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: Gilroy 3, McCloskey, McPhillips, Lyttle 2, Treadwell, Cave
Cons: Cooney 7

For Kings:
Try: H Klaasen
Con: Janse van Rensburg
Pen: Banda

Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rob Lyttle, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 John  Cooney, 8 Nicl Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Matthew Rea, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O'Connor (c), 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andy Warwick 
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Louis Ludik

Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Anthonie Volmink, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Bobby De Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira 
Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Dayan Van der Westhuizen, 19 Jurie Van Vuuren, 20 Eital Bredenkamp, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Barend Janse van Rensburg, 23 Harlon Klaasen

Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Kieran Barry (Ireland), Shane Kierans (Ireland)

Dragons 15-15 Glasgow Warriors

With a 15-15 score at the break, the evidence was there that this was quite a tightly fought encounter. It began with a perfect Dragons start as they struck the first try within just a couple of minutes. The visitors lost possession from their own line-out and having gifted away the ball, Liam Belcher got the scoring underway.

Warriors looked dangerous though and they levelled the scoring through Brandon Thomson. An eloquent chip over the top by George Horne set Thomson on his way and he dotted down, though the conversion didn’t follow to keep it five apiece.

The Scottish side took the lead for the first time with an Adam Hastings penalty, and the lead increased with a second try coming from Horne. He continued his fine form with a finish that was made by Nick Grigg’s dominant foray forward. The two followed, but Dragons hit back.

Zane Kirchner reduced the arrears with a penalty five minutes before the break, and Dragons bounced right back to level courtesy of Jared Rosser. The conversion made it level pegging at the break. 

The second half largely belonged to Warriors as they continued to pound the Dragons backline, without ever finding their way through. And even though it was an all-action second 40, neither side could make the most of decent positions and it finished the same way as the first half, 15-15.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Belcher, Rosser
Con: Kirchner
Pen: Kirchner

For Glasgow:
Tries: Thomson, Horne
Con: Hastings
Pen: Hastings

Dragons: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Adam Warren, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Zane Kirchner, 9 Dan Babos, 8 Harri Keddie (c), 7 James Benjamin, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Ellis Shipp, 17 Gerard Ellis, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Henri Williams, 20 Lennon Greggains, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Gavin Henson, 23 Jarryd Sage 

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Brandon Thomson, 11 Ratu Tagive, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Rob Harley (c), 3 Siua Halanukonuka, 2 James Malcolm, 1 Alex Allan
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Paddy Kelly, 23 Niko Matawalu

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ireland), Dewi Phillips (Wales)

Edinburgh 29-24 Leinster

Edinburgh were able to call on John Hardie following his three-month ban, as he started on the bench for the visit of Leinster. He must have been raring to go, especially after a quickfire Leinster start that produced the opening try inside a couple of minutes. Max Deegan profited from a line-out to barge through, Ross Byrne making it a seven-point lead early on.

Luke Crosbie stopped that lead in his tracks though, charging down an attempted hoof downfield and going in from halfway. Jaco van der Walt drew Edinburgh level, in what was a frantic first 40. 

Crosbie’s try spurred the hosts on and they quickly had a second when Nathan Fowles went through. Having seen Mark Bennett ripping possession away, Fowles collected the loose ball for a second try in three minutes. Leinster levelled though soon after with Scott Fardy being utilised as the overlap, Byrne kicking his side two points ahead. 

It was all starting to untangle for the hosts, and they conceded a third try after Barry Daly found himself in all sorts of space to increase the lead to 19-12. But fresh from making his Scotland bow, Murray McCallum found the line right on half-time to narrow the half-time lead to 19-17.  

And Edinburgh took the lead on the hour as Duhan van der Merwe charged through challenges, only for Leinster to immediately swing momentum back their way. Daly made it 24-22 in the visitors favour only two minutes after that Edinburgh try, with a thrilling finale set up.

It was a memorable ending and Edinburgh stole the win when Bennett received the ball from a pat back by Glenn Bryce to break the line and steal a 29-24 victory. 

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Crosbie, Fowles, Van der Merwe, McCallum, Bennett
Cons: Van der Walt, Hidalgo-Clyne

For Leinster:
Tries: Deegan, Fardy, Daly
Cons: Byrne 2

Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Nathan Fowles, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Lewis Carmichael, 4 Fraser McKenzie (c), 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Cameron Fenton, 1 Jordan Lay
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Matt Shields, 19 Magnus Bradbury, 20 John Hardie, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Junior Rasolea, 23 Glenn Bryce

Leinster: 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Richardt Strauss (c), 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Óisín Heffernan, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Peadar Timmins, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Adam Byrne

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)