Leinster and Bulls show class as top two claim dominant wins in the United Rugby Championship
Flanker Scott Penny in action for Leinster in 2024.
A Leinster blitz either side of the interval helped the league leaders secure a comfortable 31-7 triumph over Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship.
Rob Russell opened the scoring for the Irish province before Jacopo Trulla responded for the Italian outfit to level matters.
However, Andrew Osborne’s try just prior to the break, allied by scores for Luke McGrath and Scott Penny early in the second period, took the game out of the hosts’ reach.
Leinster then added gloss to the scoreline towards the end of the match through Russell to maintain their four-point gap at the top of the URC.
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Leinster were off and running after just four minutes when Ross Byrne’s inside ball to Russell saw the wing accelerate clear of Zebre defenders and claim a fine 45-metre solo score.
Byrne added the conversion, and a passive Zebre defence was almost unlocked again eight minutes later when Leinster full-back Ciaran Frawley attacked in space, but he was hauled down five metres out.
Leinster had centre Liam Turner yellow-carded following head-on-head contact with Zebre fly-half Geronimo Prisciantelli, and the home side rapidly drew level.
Prisciantelli was the architect, kicking with pinpoint accuracy to find wing Scott Gregory, and his pass sent Italy international Trulla sprinting over for a try that the fly-half converted.
It had been a testing spell for Leinster, but they went back in front nine minutes before half-time when Osborne regathered his own superbly-weighted kick inside Zebre’s 22 and finished impressively.
Byrne’s conversion made it 14-7, and Zebre ended the first half a player down after flanker Iacopo Bianchi received a yellow card after an off-the-ball tackle on Leinster’s Will Connors.
McGrath claimed Leinster’s third try early in the second period, and Penny followed him over Zebre’s line five minutes later after a Turner break shredded Zebre’s defence, before Russell added his second late on.
Bulls too strong for the Dragons
Dragons were left propping up the United Rugby Championship standings despite producing a spirited performance before going down 31-10 at home to the high-flying Bulls.
The hosts competed strongly throughout but Bulls always had the additional power and that touch of class to ensure a bonus-point victory that lifts them up to second.
Kurt-Lee Arendse, Mpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier and Johan Grobbelaar scored the South African side’s tries with Chris Smith converting all four and adding a penalty.
The Dragons responded with a Corey Baldwin try that was converted by Will Reed, and a Cai Evans penalty, but it was not enough to prevent a 10th defeat in 12 league outings this season.
Dragons began promisingly with well-judged kicks from Evans and Steff Hughes keeping Bulls penned in their own 22 in the opening 10 minutes.
However, the hosts did not look likely to capitalise on their attacking platform and it was the South Africans who grabbed the first points when Smith slotted over a 16th-minute penalty.
Dragons were under pressure in the set-scrums but were still able to maintain possession and were rewarded with a penalty from Evans to leave the scores level at the end of a competitive first quarter.
The home side’s defence was tested when powerful flanker Marco van Staden burst through tackles from Rhodri Williams and Evans to take him deep into opposition territory but a penalty allowed Dragons to relieve the pressure.
That @BlueBullsRugby chemistry ✨#BKTURC #URC | #DRAvBUL pic.twitter.com/Sgm98tduA6
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) March 23, 2024
The Welsh region then suffered a few hammer blows in quick succession. First they lost hooker Brodie Coghlan to injury before Reed was sin-binned for kicking the ball away in an off-side position, with Bulls able to benefit when a long pass from Willie Le Roux sent Arendse over.
Reed was able to return with no further damage to the scoreboard but his side still trailed 10-3 at the interval.
After the restart, Bulls brought the game to life with a stunning score. A neat off-load from Canan Moodie created space for Arendse down the right flank. The ball was recycled for Le Roux to place a cross-field kick into the hands of Devon Williams who provided Gumede with the scoring pass.
Dogged Dragons kept their line intact for a long period but late tries from Papier and Grobbelaar gave Bulls their bonus point with Baldwin picking up a consolation score for the hosts.
14-man Lions hammer Connacht
The Lions brushed off prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye’s early red card to win in Ireland for the first time as they overcame Connacht 38-14 at Dexcom Stadium.
Having put 40 points on the Sharks last time out, Ivan van Rooyen’s side stunned the Irish province to move into the top eight of the United Rugby Championship.
Francke Horn and JC Pretorius both crossed to give the Lions a 12-7 half-time as they reacted impressively to Ntlabakanye’s sending-off for a 16th-minute high tackle.
Despite Cian Prendergast’s try, Connacht were struggling and Edwill van der Merwe’s 48th-minute intercept score raised real hopes of the Lions’ first away win since beating the Scarlets in November.
JJ Hanrahan doubled Connacht’s try tally, pulling it back to 19-14 with his second conversion, but Erich Cronje, Horn and replacement Morne van den Berg turned it into a runaway six-try victory, with Jordan Hendrikse finishing with four conversions.
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