Wins for Benetton, Cardiff Blues, Munster and Ospreys

Benetton Rugby, Cardiff Blues, Munster and Ospreys overcame the Kings, Ulster, Scarlets and Leinster respectively in the PRO14 on Saturday.

Kings 35-36 Benetton

It was a game of two halves with the Kings dominating the possession and territory in the first with Benetton controlling proceedings in the second.

Benetton came flying out the blocks, racing into a 12-0 lead courtesy of tries from Tomas Baravalle and Marco Lazzaroni.

Soon after, the Kings hit back when Berton Klaasen put through a lovely grubber kick for Luzuko Vulindlu to race on to, collect and dive over. Kurt Coleman added the extras to cut the deficit to five at 12-7 with ten minutes gone.

Seven minutes later, the Kings took the lead after Godlen Masimla broke through but Marty Banks got the Italians back in front almost immediately.

With half an hour gone, Benetton outside centre Tomasso Iannone extended the visitors' lead with a well-taken try. Banks made it 26-14 with the conversion.

A Ruan Lerm try three minutes before the interval ensured the Kings would only trail by five points as the sides headed into the half-time break at 26-21.

Ten minutes after the interval, Braam Steyn went over at the back of a driving maul, with Banks converting as Benetton extended their lead to 33-21.

The momentum seemed to swing the Kings' way halfway through the second-half when they were awarded a penalty try after Benetton lock Federico Ruzza collapsed the maul, for which he was subsequently yellow-carded.

A 65th minute penalty from Banks after a Kings player was penalised for going off his feet made it an eight-point game, meaning the home side needed more than a converted try to get back in to the game.

Klaasen got himself on the scoresheet in the 73rd minute when he wriggled his way over after a sustained period of pressure from the Kings. Banda's conversion made it 36-35 to Benetton.

Tango Balekile was then sin-binned for a high tackle five minutes from time in a disappointing end to the game for the Kings as Benetton held on for the narrow victory.

The scorers:

For Kings:
Tries: Vulindlu, Masimla, Lerm, Penalty Try, Klaasen
Cons: Coleman 2, Banda 2
Yellow Card: Balekile

For Benetton:
Tries: Baravalle, Lazzaroni, Banks, Iannone, Steyn
Cons: Banks 4
Pen: Banks
Yellow Card: Ruzza

Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Bobby De Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 1 Schalk Ferreira (c)
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20 Lusanda Badiyana, 21 Rowan Gouws, 22 Martin Du Toit, 23 Jacques Nel

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Luca Sperandio, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Marty Banks, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Irné Herbst, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Matteo Zanusso, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Nasi Manu, 21 Ignacio Brex, 22 Michael Tagicakibau, 23 Andrea Bronzini

Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa), Rodney Boneparte (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Cardiff Blues 35-17 Ulster

Cardiff Blues picked up their tenth triumph of the PRO14 campaign on Saturday as they overcame Ulster 35-17 at Cardiff Arms Park.

The bonus-point win keeps them in touch with Munster and the Cheetahs, who are second and third respectively in Conference A.

The led 17-6 at the interval thanks to tries from Jarrod Evans and Blaine Scully, with Evans converting both tries and adding a penalty.

Ulster were living on John Cooney penalties and that continued after the break, with the Blues scoring the next try through Kristian Dacey.

Dave Shanahan did cross for Ulster five minutes from time but a late try from Dillon Lewis saw Cardiff Blues get their hands on a maximum.

The scorers:

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Evans, Scully, Dacey, Lewis
Cons: Evans 3
Pens: Evans 3

For Ulster:
Try: Shanahan
Pens: Cooney 4
Yellow Card: Herbst

Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Owen Lane, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Seb Davies, 4 George Earle, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c)
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Ben Murphy, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Steve Shingler, 23 Garyn Smith

Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Clive Ross, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O'Connor (c), 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Black, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Matthew Rea, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Peter Nelson, 23 Louis Ludik

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Dunx McClement (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew Cymene (Scotland)

Munster 19-7 Scarlets

Munster made a statement of intent with a 19-7 victory over defending champions the Scarlets in a physical PRO14 encounter at Thomond Park.

Tries from James Hart, Robin Copeland and Alex Wootton proved too much for Scarlets who scored through a sole Aled Davies crossing.

Scarlets showed plenty of ambition early on and were rewarded with the game's first try when Davies crashed over in the seventh minute. 

Munster hit back in the 27th minute when Hart managed to get it down despite the attentions of three defenders having made a sniping break off the back of a dominant, attacking scrum.

Scarlets took a 7-5 lead into the interval but in the 48th minute Munster got in front thanks to Copeland. And it looked like Dan Goggin had extended the lead in the 66th minute but his try was harshly disallowed by the TMO.

Wootton put the result beyond doubt with a try in the closing stages to wrap up a 19-7 victory for the men from Limerick.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: Hart, Copeland, Wootton
Cons: Keatley 2

For Scarlets:
Try: Davies
Con: Patchell

Munster: 15 JJ Hanrahan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 James Hart, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Dave O’Callaghan, 21 Jack Stafford, 22 Stephen Fitzgerald, 23 Dan Goggin

Scarlets: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Scott Williams (c), 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Will Boyde, 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Dylan Evans
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Hughes

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi, Manuel Bottino (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

Ospreys 32-18 Leinster

Ospreys picked up a 32-18 bonus-point win over Conference B leaders Leinster in an impressive showing at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

This is Ospreys' seventh win from seventeen PRO14 games this season and they were full value for the victory as they played well in Swansea.

Leinster, who have their Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens to come next week, named a weakened side with many of their Ireland internationals rested. They did however include Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Andrew Porter, Jordi Murphy and Joey Carbery in their line-up.

Ospreys led 19-8 at the break thanks to two tries from Dan Evans, the first coming following a free-flowing passage from the Welsh region. Tom Habberfield finished another interchange two minutes before the break, with Barry Daly having crossed, controversially, in the corner.

Ospreys cancelled that Daly score out nine minutes into the second-half when Justin Tipuric popped up in support to make it 26-8, but the Irish outfit hit back again shortly afterwards, Rory O'Loughlin sliding over before Carbery added a penalty to his conversion for 26-18.

However, a Dan Biggar penalty crucially gave Ospreys a two-score cushion to sit on and 29-18 became 32-18 with the final kick of the game.

The scorers:

For Ospreys:
Tries: Evans 2, Habberfield, Tipuric
Cons: Biggar 3
Pens: Biggar 2

For Leinster:
Tries: Daly, O'Loughlin
Con: Carbery
Pens: R Byrne, Carbery

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 Sam Cross, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Owen Watkin

Leinster: 15 Joey Carbery, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath (c), 8 Jack Conan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Dave Kearney, 23 Adam Byrne

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)