Big wins for PRO14 conference leaders

Leinster, Glasgow Warriors and Scarlets each recorded comfortable victories over Ospreys, Cardiff and Ulster in Friday’s PRO14 action.

Glasgow Warriors 40-15 Cardiff Blues
Scotstoun Stadium

Conference A leaders Glasgow Warriors saw off Cardiff Blues 40-15, having gone into the break 28-3 in front.

Cardiff drew first blood through a Jarrod Evans penalty, but they were then hit by a Glasgow onslaught which knocked the wind out of their sails.

Adam Ashe scored the first try of the game in the 11th minute off a counter-attack after Ruaridh Jackson set him up for the finish.

With the floodgates finally open, Niko Matawalu scored Glasgow’s second try in the 17th minute, breaking through the defence and stepping outside Tom Williams to finish.

Things went from bad to worse for the Blues when Callum Gibbins finished off a fantastic team move to score another try just before the half-hour mark.

Tommy Seymour secured the bonus-point in style seven minutes afterwards, giving the ball to Nick Grigg, who sprinted more than half the field before passing back for the finish.

Kristian Dacey pulled a try back three minutes into the second half, profiting from a driving maul. However, Glasgow soon hit back through Rory Hughes, who got on the end of an Ali Price grubber to score.

Evans put Cardiff back in the game an hour in, scoring a try after breaking a tackle before adding the extras with his conversion.

However, it was to be Warriors who had the last laugh, with Matawalu going over for his second try in the 68th minute to seal the win.

The scorers:

For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Ashe, Matawalu 2, Gibbins, Seymour, Hughes
Cons: Horne 5

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Dacey, Evans
Con: Evans
Pen: Evans

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Pete Horne, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Rob Harley, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Kevin Bryce, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Rory Hughes

Cardiff Blues: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams (c), 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Seb Davies, 4 George Earle, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 James Down, 20 Sion Bennett, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Harri Millard

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Ian Kenny (Scotland)
TMO: Charles Samson (Scotland)

Leinster 52-7 Ospreys
RDS Arena

Leinster ran in seven tries in a convincing 52-7 victory over Ospreys (half-time 24-0).

The first half was all one-way traffic, with the hosts showing why they sit comfortably on top of Conference B.

Skipper Scott Fardy led from the front, initiating the break which led to the first try of the game. His offload set Conor O’Brien up to finish the job 11 minutes in.

Leo Cullen’s outfit continued their dominance thereafter, finally crossing the try-line again thanks to a driving maul in the 32nd minute. This time, it was debutant Scott Penny who profited.

Shortly after a James Hook try was disallowed due to an obstruction from Johnny Kotze, Nick McCarthy added to the hosts’ tally by stretching over for their third try shortly before half-time.

Four minutes after the break, Leinster picked up where they left off, with Fardy crashing over from close range at the base of the posts after a sustained spell of pressure.

With the bonus-point in the bag, tries each side of the hour mark from Ed Byrne and Max Deegan followed before the former set up his brother, Bryan, for one of his own, bringing up 50 points.

There was to be a late consolation try from Hanno Dirksen to save some face for Ospreys, but altogether, they were comprehensively outplayed.

The scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: O’Brien, Penny, McCarthy, Fardy, E Byrne, Deegan, B Byrne
Cons: Frawley 7
Pens: Frawley

For Ospreys:
Tries: Dirksen
Cons: Davies

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Conor O’Brien, 12 Noel Reid, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy (c), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Jimmy O’Brien, 23 Jack Kelly

Ospreys: 15 James Hook, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Olly Cracknell (c), 5 Lloyd Ashley, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Will Jones, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Luke Morgan, 23 Tom Williams

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Eddie Hogan-O’Connell (Ireland), Robert O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)

Scarlets 29-12 Ulster
Parc y Scarlets

Scarlets recorded a 29-12 home victory over Ulster in the battle for second place in Conference B, having led 22-7 at half-time.

Ulster drew first blood in the 15th minute, with Henry Speight setting David Shanahan up for the opening try of the game after the scrum-half ran up with him in support.

However, the hosts soon took control of the match, with Werner Kruger’s 26th minute try from close range putting them ahead following Dan Jones’ penalty.

Scarlets saw a try disallowed 35 minutes in, but that did not derail their momentum, as they remained on the attack.

Kieran Hardy then finished off a fantastic team move for Scarlets’ second try. The forwards were heavily involved with a series of pick-and-drives to set him up.

Things went from bad to worse for Ulster when Kieron Fonotia stepped through for the hosts’ third try on the stroke of half-time following a break from Uzair Cassiem.

It took until the 61st minute for either side to add to their tally after the break, but eventually, Tom Prydie went over in the corner for the hosts’ bonus-point.

This time, Ulster hit back promptly, with Jonny Stewart scoring in the corner himself. However, it was too little, too late.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Kruger, Hardy, Fonotia, Prydie
Cons: Jones 3
Pen: Jones

For Ulster:
Tries: Shanahan, Stewart
Con: Burns

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Will Boyde (c), 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Steve Cummins, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Phil Price
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Clayton Blommetjies, 23 Morgan Williams

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Louis Ludik, 12 James Hume, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Billy Burns, 9 David Shanahan, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Angus Kernohan

Referee: Quentin Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Aled Evans (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)