PRO12: Scarlets, Ulster pick up wins

Editor

Friday’s PRO12 action saw victories for the Scarlets and Ulster respectively over Edinburgh and Newport Gwent Dragons.

Scarlets 26-10 Edinburgh
Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli

Rhys Patchell starred as the Scarlets kept up the pressure in the race for the play-offs following a comfortable 26-10 bonus-point triumph over Edinburgh.

While most of the attention was on the returning Six Nations players, it was the fly-half, featuring in his first match in over three months, who showed his qualities.

Patchell scored two tries and three conversions before he was taken off after 50 minutes with the Welsh region 16 points up.

Wyn Jones and James Davies were the others to cross the whitewash in a superb first half display, but they struggled to build on that after the break.

Phil Burleigh’s opportunist touchdown and Duncan Weir’s penalty had kept the Scottish outfit in the contest, but the visitors also lacked creativity in the second period.

The hosts, who eased off the gas, duly held out easily to condemn Edinburgh to a 14th PRO12 defeat of the campaign.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Patchell 2, W Jones, James Davies
Cons: Patchell 3

For Edinburgh:
Try: 
Burleigh
Con: Weir
Pen: Weir
Yellow Card: Mata

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes (capt.), 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Will Boyde, 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Tom Price, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 John Barclay, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 DTH van der Merwe

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Viliame Mata, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Ross Ford (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Murray McCallum, 18 Kevin Bryce, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Viliami Fihaki, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Glenn Bryce

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Gary Conway (Ireland), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Kevin Briggs (Ireland)


Newport Gwent Dragons 17-27 Ulster
Rodney Parade, Newport

A late surge helped Ulster maintain their position in the PRO12 top-four after a battling 27-17 victory over a determined Newport Gwent Dragons.

The Irish province struggled to assert their authority throughout against a resilient Welsh region, who managed to force the visitors into a number of mistakes.

Les Kiss’ men did go into the interval 10-3 ahead thanks to Craig Gilroy’s converted try and Ruan Pienaar’s three-pointer, but it was not a convincing performance.

Those issues continued for the away team in the second half and it was the Dragons – buoyed by their display in the opening 40 minutes – that equalised through Rynard Landman, adding to Angus O’Brien’s earlier three-pointer.

Jared Payne and Ollie Griffiths then traded efforts as the teams went into the final stages locked at 17-17.

Experience told in the end, however, as Paddy Jackson kicked Ulster in front and John Andrew secured the victory, despite Rodney Ah You’s late red card for a shoulder charge.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: 
Landman, Griffiths
Cons: O’Brien 2
Pen: O’Brien

For Ulster:
Tries: 
Gilroy, Payne, Andrew
Cons: Pienaar 2, Jackson
Pens: Pienaar, Jackson
Yellow Card: Gilroy
Red Card: Ah You

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Sam Beard, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Lewis Evans (c), 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Ollie Griffiths, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Nick Crosswell, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Rhys Buckley, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Darran Harris, 17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Adam Warren

Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Stuart Olding, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Sean Reidy, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Alan O’Connor, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring (c), 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Black, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Jacob Stockdale

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)