Leinster cruise to summit while Munster seal late win

Adam Kyriacou
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Tadhg Furlong gave the Irish selectors the pre-Six Nations boost they were looking for as he negotiated 40 minutes of competitive rugby in Leinster’s 52-25 PRO14 victory over Scarlets 52-25 at Parc y Scarlets.

With a bonus-point wrapped up before the break, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was able to replace his international tighthead for the second half and send him back to the Irish camp with a five-star rating.

It was the British and Irish Lions front-row star’s first game since packing down against England in last year’s Six Nations on February 23.

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Since then he has been dogged by calf and hamstring injuries but now he can start preparing for a return trip to Wales for next weekend’s clash with Wales in Cardiff.

He got his first chance to pack down against veteran journeyman Phil Price in the fourth minute shortly after Sam Costello had kicked the home side into an early lead. That was uneventful, but Leinster were awarded a free-kick at the second scrum.

Price eventually went off for an HIA after 34 minutes and that brought on Wales U20 prop Kemsley Mathias for a brief masterclass.

Both teams were missing their front-line internationals – 17 on the Leinster side and 12 with the Scarlets – and it turned into a pretty routine victory for the reigning PRO14 champions as they worked their way back to the top of Conference A to stay on course for another final appearance.

The Scarlets kicked poorly, gave away too many penalties and were eventually overpowered after a spirited first quarter. Two of the four first-half tries came from driving line-outs from 15 metres out, the second being awarded as a penalty try, and there was another from the base of a five-metre scrum and the bonus-point score came on the narrow side of another close-range lineout.

To their credit, the Scarlets hit back straight away after Dan Leavy bagged the first try from a close-range scrum. A great, flat midfield pass from Costello put number eight Uzair Cassiem into a hole and he ran from halfway to the 22 before sending scrum-half Dane Blacker racing to the line.

Costello’s conversion made it 10-7 to the home side, but the only other points they could muster in the first half was a second penalty. Leinster added three more tries from James Tracy, Ronan Kelleher and a penalty try. Harry Byrne added two conversions and a penalty.

Skipper Luke McGrath, full-back Max O’Reilly and replacement centre David Hawkshaw ran in three more tries after the break, all of which Byrne converted, to take them through the half-century mark.

Munster strike late to beat Benetton

Earlier, JJ Hanrahan’s last-gasp drop goal snatched a late 18-16 PRO14 victory for Munster at Benetton.

The Italians looked to be on course to record their first league win since December 2019 when they led 16-15 as the clock hit 80 minutes, but a spell of concerted Munster pressure gave them the opportunity to feed Hanrahan and he stroked his effort through the middle of the posts.

Tries from Darren Sweetnam and Niall Scannell saw Munster race into a 12-0 lead before the hosts hit back with a try from Angelo Esposito and two Tommaso Allan penalties to trail 12-11 at the break.

Ben Healy stretched Munster’s lead with a simple penalty but a late try from Leonardo Sarto edged the Italians in front before Hanrahan settled matters.

Munster made the breakthrough with just two minutes on the clock when a kick to the corner from full-back Mike Haley was allowed to bounce by Benetton full-back Jayden Hayward and the ball bounced off his knee into the in-goal area, allowing wing Sweetnam to touch down for a simple try.

And the visitors went in for their second try after nine minutes when Liam Coombs intercepted a long pass and sent Nick McCarthy away and after he was brought down five yards from the line he popped the ball up for Niall Scannell to cross.

Benetton were temporarily reduced to 14 men midway through the first half when prop Marco Riccioni was yellow-carded for using his shoulder in the tackle.

Benetton did not sit back and they reduced the arrears after 27 minutes with a spell of pressure on the Munster line being rewarded with a try from Esposito.

As the Italians spun the ball wide, Joaquin Riera drew the tackle from Sweetnam before freeing Esposito out wide to run in at the corner before Allan pulled his conversion attempt wide.

Benetton were growing in confidence and continued to apply pressure in the Munster 22 and when the Irish province were penalised for not rolling away in the tackle, Allan struck a straightforward penalty as the Italians added eight points with Riccioni off the field.

And when Benetton turned the ball over late in the first half, Allan sent the resulting penalty through the posts to send the Italians into the break just 12-11 down.

Benetton picked up where they left off after the interval and Juan Ignacio Brex and Toa Halafihi both broke the defensive line as the hosts camped in the Munster 22 but the move broke down when a loose pass from Hayward went into touch.

After weathering the storm, Munster made a rare foray into the Benetton 22 and after winning a penalty for another breakdown infringement, Healy took the three points on offer to extend the lead to four points.

Back came Benetton as second-rower Federico Ruzza broke from a ruck and flipped a pass to Callum Braley bearing down on the Munster line but the move was snuffed out as the Irish province got numbers back.

Benetton had a wonderful opportunity to take the lead for the first time 10 minutes from the end when a flipped pass found Tommaso Benvenuti in space on the left but a brilliant covering tackle from Haley prevented him from grounding the ball.

Moments later though, the Italians did go in. Hayward created space cutting across the field and spun the ball out to Sarto, who broke the tackles of Haley and Dan Goggin to touch down.

But with the clock in the red Munster applied pressure in the Benetton 22 and, after gradually edging forward, played the ball back to Hanrahan in the pocket and he slotted the winning drop goal to break Benetton hearts.

Benetton Treviso