Cardiff Blues, Leinster and Scarlets claim wins

Three PRO14 games took place on Tuesday as Cardiff Blues, Leinster and Scarlets overcame the Dragons, Munster and Ospreys respectively.

Dragons 17-22 Cardiff Blues

The all-Welsh clash at Rodney Parade saw both sides return to league action following a fortnight of Challenge Cup, with Cardiff Blues remaining top of their pool with an impressive win over Sale.

It was a scrappy start between both sides, partly influenced by the heavy downfall that arrived at the start of the game. Dragons were the better of the two, and were given a helping hand as Blues prop Brad Thyer saw yellow as the hosts pressed. But that didn’t produce any points, and we had to wait until just before the half hour mark for the visitors to take the lead. A penalty from the boot of Gareth Anscombe broke the deadlock, following an offside decision against Cory Hill.

That led to a flurry of points before the break, five of which came from Cardiff Blues’ Aled Summerhill. He grabbed the opening try of the match as Summerhill capitalised on the best passing move of the half, as well as the helpful aid of a knee to find the line. Gavin Henson reduced the arrears with a penalty right on half-time, the Blues taking in an 8-3 lead.

The second half started in a similar vein to the first, but the Blues were able to build on their lead with a second try. Rey Lee-Lo got it on 51 minutes, with he and Owen Lane combining well before the former went over. Anscombe added two and before long, Cardiff had the match wrapped up with try number three.

All the work was done in the build up by Matthew Morgan, who allowed replacement Tom James to stumble his way through and seal the win. Anscombe’s extras made it 22-3 with 20 minutes remaining, although the hosts made it interesting with their first try. Lloyd Fairbrother squeezed his way around a challenge, with Henson making it a 12 point gap with the conversion.

It got even more interesting with six minutes left, as a penalty try for Dragons also came with a yellow card to Kirby Myhill, as Dragons threatened to turn the game on its head. But the Blues held off the charge to pick up a 22-17 win.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Fairbrother, Penalty try
Con: Henson
Pen: Henson

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Summerhill, Lee-Lo, James
Cons: Anscombe 2
Pen: Anscombe
Yellow Cards: Thyer, Myhill

Dragons: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Dan Babos, 8 James Sheekey, 7 James Benjamin, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Rynard Landman, 20 Ben Roach, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Jared Rosser

Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Macauley Cook, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Tom James

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales)

Munster 24-34 Leinster

At a packed out Thomond Park, it was always destined to be a full-on Boxing Day battle between the old rivals. And it was a frantic start that saw Jamison Gibson-Park kick Leinster into the lead just a couple of minutes in. That lead was extended with the first try of the game, as the visitors blew their hosts right out of the water.

The first try cane courtesy of a Ross Byrne kick, which found the welcoming arms of Dan Leavy. He had all the time in the world to cross, with Ross Byrne making the lead double figures. And four minutes later came their second penalty, with Byrne making it a 13 point lead after 13 minutes. Munster got themselves right back into it though after 20 minutes. Having penned Leinster back, Conor Murray leant his way over to level the try scoring – but it was only temporary.

Leinster were the better side and extended their lead with the third try of an all action opening. It came from the whistle of the referee, who allowed a penalty try when Munster failed to hold out an attack – they also lost Andrew Conway to the sin-bin in the process.

It was turning into the nightmare after Christmas for Munster, as Leinster extended their advantage with a third try in 30 minutes. Robbie Henshaw has space and time to pick where he wanted to go, as the Munster defence parted and allowed the conversion to follow for a 27-5 half-time lead.

With a mountain to climb, Munster took a step towards it eight minutes after the restart. Having been in charge from the whistle, Murray found Ian Keatley who found the space to score. Still with a 15 point gap to make up, things got a whole lot brighter with Munster’s third try. Having earlier seen yellow, Conway redeemed himself with five points when the hosts again threw everything at their guests.

It would take some stopping to halt Munster’s fightback, but Jordan Larmour did it superbly. He went the full length to shimmy his way across challenges and through bodies, restoring a 34-19 lead with around 10 minutes remaining.

Such was the nature of the game, there was another late twist. Conway grabbed his second of the afternoon for Munster, sprinting over the line following a Simon Zebo pass. The conversion didn’t follow, leaving a 24-34 scoreline. And that was how it finished at Thomond Park, with Leinster’s dominant first 40 enough to see them home.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: Murray, Keatley, Conway 2
Cons: Keatley 2
Yellow Card: Conway

For Leinster:
Tries: Leavy, Penalty try, Henshaw, Larmour
Cons: Byrne 3
Pens: Byrne 2

Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 James Cronin, 18 John Ryan, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Simon Zebo

Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Barry Daly, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Jordi Murphy, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath (c)
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Noel Reid

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Scarlets 12-9 Ospreys

Table topping Scarlets went into this one looking to complete a league double over Ospreys for the first time in a decade. And although the visitors might be performing well in the Champions Cup, their league form has left them at the foot of Conference A.

The final PRO14 game of the day was something of a slow burner, with Leigh Halfpenny squandering three penalties inside the first 15 minutes before the first points arrived. Unsurprisingly it was the hosts who struck the first try on 17 minutes. Steff Evans was able to seize after Gareth Davies forgot to take the ball with him, going round a challenge to start the scoring. Halfpenny missed his fourth kick at the sticks, and there was only one more moment of note before half-time. And that moment would have a huge impact on the second half.

As Ben John leaped for a Sam Davies kick, he was wiped out by try scoring Evans, who was shown red by Ian Davies after consultation with the TMO. That instantly led to three points from Davies, who gave Ospreys a lead early in the second half in a first 50 minutes that had the visitors 6-5 up.

The Scarlets fans were not enamoured with the officials, and their anger helped to create a feisty encounter that most thought would only go one way before kick-off. But another penalty from Davies created a four point lead for Ospreys, and from that moment on, Ospreys were on top.

With the man extra, they threatened to stretch the lead and wrap up the points, though couldn’t find that killer blow. And that’s why it was little surprise when the 14 men stole the win in overtime. Josh MacLeod capitalised on a kick over the top and grounded, with Ospreys only having themselves to blame as they fell to another league defeat.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: S Evans, Macleod
Con: Halfpenny
Red Card: S Evans

For Ospreys:
Pens: Davies 3

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 John Barclay, 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Steven Cummins, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Paul Asquith

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

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)