Wins for Munster, Glasgow and Ulster

Munster came from behind to beat the Cheetahs 19-17 while Glasgow won 35-22 against Connacht and Ulster edged the Ospreys 8-0 on Friday.

Cheetahs 17-19 Munster

Three second-half penalties from JJ Hanrahan and one from Conor Murray completed a Munster comeback, winning 19-17 at the Toyota Stadium.

In an enthralling tie in Bloemfontein, the Cheetahs struck first blood on 10 minutes with the opening try. A kick to within five metres had Munster on the back foot and Clayton Blommetijes found the line.

Two penalties from Johan Goosen put Cheetahs into the ascendancy, with the hosts the more threatening and they forced a yellow card thanks to that pressure, Simon Zebo sent to the bin.

The extra man resulted in try number two as having pressed for nine minutes, space out wide opened up for Tian Meyer, who went through before Goosen made it a 14-0 lead.

But the remaining 50 minutes belonged to Munster, who pressed and pressed from that moment on. They thought they’d cut the lead five minutes before the break but Jack O’Donoghue’s effort was ruled out for an earlier knock-on.

They did have a try a couple of minutes later though. Only on the field for a minute, Murray dived over and gave the TMO an easy decision to award the try. Goosen’s penalty before the break handed the Cheetahs a 17-7 lead going into the second-half.

The hosts would oversee a 40-minute period without a score though, as Munster took full control. Hanrahan took the visitors to double figures early into the second-half, and soon followed that with another as the lead was reduced to just four.

A further Hanrahan penalty and then a long-range effort from Murray snuck Munster into a 19-17 advantage, and the Cheetahs were unable to add to their tally, the visitors seeing out the victory.

The scorers:

For Cheetahs:
Tries: Blommetjies, Meyer
Cons: Goosen 2
Pen: Goosen

For Munster:
Try: Murray
Con: Hanrahan
Pens: Hanrahan 3, Murray
Yellow Card: Zebo

Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Francois Venter (c), 12 Niel Marais, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Clinton Swart, 23 AJ Coertzen

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 James Hart, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Jack O’Donoghue, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Brian Scott
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave O’Callaghan, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Rory Scannell

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Ben Crouse (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Glasgow Warriors 35-22 Connacht

A sold-out Scotstoun was treated to a masterclass in attacking by Glasgow, who racked up 30 points in the first-half against a beleaguered Connacht. It didn’t start that way though.

Two minutes had been played when Finlay Bealham crossed, the Warriors succumbing to an early bout of pressure. But the response was perfect from the ever reliable Stuart Hogg, who was as always pivotal to the demolition. DTH van der Merwe offloaded to Hogg only a minute after going behind, and a conversion and penalty combination from Peter Horne gave Glasgow the lead eight minutes in.

Another pair of penalties made it 16-5 before Jack Carty cut the lead with a kick of his own. Glasgow were always likely to stretch that lead though and did so when Alex Dunbar raced away, defying pressure and sprinting home. By half-time, Glasgow had hit the 30 point mark when Fraser Brown got their third try of the half, Horne making it a 30-8 lead.

Four minutes after the restart, the bonus point was secured by Henry Pyrgos as he managed to ground right at the foot of the post.

Warriors lost Alex Allan to the sin-bin late on, but it was never set to make a difference to the result. But it did give Connacht their second try. Stacey Ili broke at speed after Glasgow messed up in a decent position, and Caolin Blade had the final touch – the conversion making it 30-15.

A penalty try from Connacht made it a final 35-22 scoreline, with Glasgow’s win seeing them secure a home semi-final.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: Hogg, Dunbar, Brown, Pyrgos
Cons: Horne 3
Pens: Horne 3
Yellow Card: Allan

For Connacht:
Tries: Bealham, Blade, Penalty try
Con: Carty
Pen: Carty

Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Alex Allan
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Ali Price, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Niko Matawalu

Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 John Muldoon, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Stacey Ili

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Jonny Erskine (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ulster 8-0 Ospreys

It will be difficult to find a more defensive 40 minutes this season, with just three points in a turgid first-half.

They came from the boot of John Cooney on seven minutes, kicking safely through the sticks from a central position. It looked like the opening try would arrive on a quarter of an hour, Ulster doing the pressing. But a wonderous tackle from Bradley Davies stopped a surefire Jacob Stockdale try, Ospreys keeping the hosts at arm's length.

Dan Biggar really should have levelled when he had a chance 25 metres out, but he messed up his first kick of the night, failing to add to the Ospreys' starting tally. They almost took the lead with a try shout, but the TMO cut the celebrations after a neck roll by Alun Wyn Jones.

Defending a three-point lead, Ulster were given a helping hand when Jeff Hassler was sin-binned on the hour, providing an opportunity for the hosts to break free. And they almost added the opening try with 10 minutes to play, only to see a try disallowed. Nick Timoney was inches from the line but Owen Watkin played enough of a part to cause a fumble, Ospreys remaining in with a shout.

But the biggest score came at the end through Stockdale, who was stopped earlier on. He recorded the only try to end Ospreys hopes and deny them a bonus point, breaking down the left for the match sealer.

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Try: Stockdale
Pen: Cooney

For Ospreys:
Yellow Card: Hassler

Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonny McPhillips, 9 John Cooney, 8 Sean Reidy, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Ross Kane, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Tommy O'Toole, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Tommy Bowe

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Sam Davies, 23 James Hook

Referee: Andy Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Joy Neville (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)
TMO: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)