Ulster captain’s ‘bitten your hand off’ verdict mirrors Leinster mood while Munster and Connacht react as ‘real race to the finish’ on
Ulster picked up a bonus-point win on the road.
Ulster captain Iain Henderson was delighted that his side came away with a 28-12 bonus-point win against Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The province are in third place after claiming the only away win of the weekend as tries from Tom McAlister, Rob Herring, Zac Ward and Werner Kok secured the maximum.
“Had you said to me yesterday we were going to come here and get a bonus point win, I’d have bitten your hand off for it,” Ulster skipper Henderson admitted after the win.
Pleasing result
“Zebre are always difficult to play at home, so we knew it was going to be a tough night at the office. Plenty of things we can do better, but happy with the outcome.”
Then it’s Leinster in fourth with the defending champions having also moved through the gears in the second half after taking until the 29th minute to open their account.
They recovered from that slow start to beat the Scarlets 36-19 at the Aviva Stadium, with two-try winger Tommy O’Brien named URC Player of the Match.
Head coach Leo Cullen said: “The Scarlets came with plenty and tested us in lots of different areas. We are delighted to get a win and score six tries. If you had offered me 36-19 beforehand, I would have been pretty happy.”
The Lions and Cardiff are then in fifth and sixth respectively as Munster drop to seventh after losing narrowly to the Bulls (eighth) in a thrilling clash at Loftus.
Munster came into the game on the back of a 45-0 loss to the Sharks, but were much improved in Pretoria, scoring five tries as Thomas Ahern led the way with a couple.
But the boot of Handre Pollard ultimately proved decisive as the Bulls posted a 34-31 bonus point victory, with their scrum-half Embrose Papier scorching over for a brace of tries and teenage winger Cheswill Jooste showing his huge potential with a searing strike from distance.
For Munster, there was the significant consolation of two losing bonus points, which could prove vital in the Race to the Eight.
Their coach, Clayton McMillan, said: “You always want to win, but it’s a decent reward for the effort the boys put in. It was a huge improvement on last week. I am proud of the boys. It’s going to be a real race to the finish.”
Connacht win again
Connacht are also very much in the play-off race after they beat the Ospreys 21-15, with replacement scrum-half Matthew Devine racing over for the decisive try six minutes from time.
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It was a fifth straight league victory for the west of Ireland province, but their skipper Paul Boyle was far from satisfied.
“It’s nice to be five from five, but we will all be pretty gutted we didn’t get the bonus,” said the number eight.
“We weren’t good enough across all facets of the game. It’s a small step back compared to the last few weeks. There were just so many areas we weren’t at the top of our game. It’s quite disappointing.”