Munster, Ulster boost play-off hopes
Irish provinces Munster and Ulster headlined the results on Friday, as victories over Cardiff Blues and Ospreys respectively took them closer to the Pro12 play-offs.
Munster laid down a marker in the race for the Pro12 play-off places as they held off a spirited fightback from Cardiff Blues to triumph 16-13 at Thomond Park.
And Paddy Wallace's touchdown and a penalty try either side of half-time ensured Ulster got their Pro12 play-off push back on track with a nailbiting 15-14 win over high-flying Ospreys.
Just four points separated Munster and the Blues teams before kick-off, but a dominant first-half performance helped the reigning champions, Munster, open a gap between themselves in third and the chasing pack.
Ian Keatley kicked 11 points in the first half with fullback Felix Jones crossing for his first try since the foot ligament injury that ruled him out for seven months to give the hosts a 13-point advantage.
The second half however was a completely different story as the Blues came roaring out of the traps scoring through Richard Mustoe but, despite some huge pressure towards the end, Munster held on.
Having won three times in the league on the road the real test of the Blues' credentials was always going to come at Thomond Park.
They did show flashes of brilliance in the first half - Chris Czekaj was just hauled down by Simon Zebo after a great combination between Dan Parks and Gavin Henson.
There was also some great work by veteran flanker Martyn Williams who showed no signs of slowing down in his hunt for turnovers at the ripe old age of 36.
But after Parks gave them the lead in the fifth minute, it was virtually one-way traffic for the rest of the half.
Flyhalf Keatley kicked three penalties as wave after wave as the Munster forwards, especially in the scrum, wreaked havoc on the visitors.
The try was a beauty. Good lineout ball from Mick O'Driscoll saw James Coughlan break the gainline and going from right to left and back again with Zebo feeding a superb ball for Jones to race away for a converted score.
A mistake by Parks shortly after nearly let in Zebo but fortunately for the former Scotland flyhalf the ball hit the corner flag before the winger grounded the ball.
The relief was temporary as a ferocious Munster scrum saw the Blues front row disintegrate allowing Keatley the opportunity to round off the half with a penalty but for once his radar was off target as the hosts went in 16-3 ahead.
The Blues made a bright start to the second half but Michael Patterson was smashed into touch when they threatened down the left.
Their perseverance was rewarded on 46 minutes when Henson sliced through the Munster line with after picking a devastating line.
With the red defence scrambling, the Blues expertly shifted the ball down the backline with Czekaj providing the scoring pass for Mustoe to touch down. Parks kicked an excellent touchline conversion to bring the visitors to within a score.
Munster were now reeling and Danny Barnes conceded a penalty but Parks let him off the hook while when Williams' hands lingered on the ball too long Keatley also failed with his three-pointer.
But Ben Blair, on as a replacement for Parks, showed them both how to do it by slotting a 62nd-minute penalty to reduce the deficit to just three points.
Munster, as they do so often in these situations, responded superbly in the final quarter of the game and pressure on the Blues line led to Paul Tito being yellow carded for killing the ball.
The home pack put on the squeeze from the scrum but with the line in sight they knocked on at the crucial point.
* Fresh from the 14-21 defeat at Cardiff a week ago, Ulster went behind to a try from Ospreys No.8 Joe Bearman following Pedrie Wannenburg's yellow card despite dominating the early stages.
However the tides turned on the stroke of half-time as Ospreys flyhalf Dan Biggar was deemed to have deliberately slapped the ball down as Ulster pressed with a penalty try the consequence.
Biggar also received a yellow card and from thereon in Ulster took control with Wallace scoring eight minutes after the restart however a late Eli Walker try ensured it went to the wire in a thrilling conclusion.
Ospreys threatened a remarkable comeback in the immediate aftermath but in the end had to settle for a losing bonus point as Ulster breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Ulster started well and controlled the majority of play but they had little to show for it with scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar sending a penalty wide after 12 minutes.
And it was to prove costly as the Ospreys ventured into the hosts' half at Ravenhill for the first time shortly after and duly scored the first try of the game.
Kahn Fotuali'i broke quickly from a ruck but saw his progress impeded by Wannenburg - however it didn't go unnoticed and the No.8 was shown a yellow card.
With one less forward on the pitch Ospreys flyhalf Biggar kicked into the corner and the tactics paid dividends as Bearman barged his way over after the line-out.
Biggar converted to make it 7-0 but 13 minutes later Ulster finally got themselves on the scoreboard - Pienaar kicking a penalty after Walker was punished for failing to release.
And things soon went from bad to worse for the visitors as Ulster piled on the pressure towards the end of the first half and were eventually rewarded with a penalty try to take the lead.
Referee Neil Hennessey ruled that Biggar had committed a professional foul by deliberately slapping down the ball down with Ulster inches away from the Ospreys line.
The Ospreys flyhalf was shown a yellow card and scrumhalf Pienaar kicked a simple conversion to give the Irish outfit a 10-7 lead going into half-time.
And Ulster started the second half as they ended the first with fly-half Wallace completing a sweeping move involving John Afoa, Pienaar and Ian Whitten, by scoring in the corner.
Pienaar sent the conversion wide but it took a superb try saving tackle from his opposite number Fotuali'i on centre Whitten in the 53rd minute to keep the score at 15-7.
Ulster looked to have the win in the bag however Walker had other ideas scoring a superb solo try in the 79th minute with Biggar converting but despite some ferocious late pressure they were able to create a turnover that gives a huge fillip to their play-off hopes.
Friday's scores and scorers!
Munster 16-13 Cardiff Blues
The scorers:
For Munster:
Try: Jones
Con: Keatley
Pen: Keatley 3
For Cardiff Blues:
Try: Mustoe
Con: Parks
Pens: Parks, Blair
Yellow card: Paul Tito (Cardiff, 69)
Teams:
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Danny Barnes, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll (captain), 4 Billy Holland, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Luke O'Dea.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Gavin Evans, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Maama Molitika, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Tyrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Ceri Sweeney 23 Ben Blair.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Michael Black (Ireland), Eanna O'Dowd (Ireland)
TMO: Dermot Moloney (Ireland)
Ulster 15-14 Ospreys
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Penalty try, Wallace
Con: Pienaar
Pen: Pienaar
For Ospreys:
Tries: Bearman, Walker
Cons: Biggar 2
Yellow cards: Pedrie Wannenburg (Ulster, 15), Dan Biggar (Ospreys, 40)
Ulster: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Nevin Spence, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Ian Whitten, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Chris Henry (captain), 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 John Afoa, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Paddy McAllister.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Callum Black, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Tim Barker, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Ian Humphreys, 22 Simon Danielli, 23 Adam D'Arcy.
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Tom Smith (captain), 5 James King, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Joe Rees, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Will Taylor, 19 Jonathan Thomas/Lloyd Peers, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Ashley Beck.
Referee: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
Connacht 26-13 Edinburgh
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Vainikolo, McCarthy
Con: O'Connor, Jarvis
Pens: O'Connor 3, Jarvis
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Paterson, Visser
Pen: Godman
Yellow card: Tom Brown (Edinburgh, 50)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Jim Thompson, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Gregor Hunter, 9 Chris Leck, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Roddy Grant (captain), 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Jack Gilding, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Ulises Gamboa, 19 Esteban Lozada, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Alex Black, 22 Phil Godman, 23 Dougie Fife.
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (captain), 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Eoghan Grace, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Dylan Rogers/Brett Wilkinson, 18 Stewart Maguire, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Ray Ofisa, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Eoin Griffin.
Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland)
Thursday's scores and scorers!
Scarlets 34-20 Treviso
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: Liam Williams, Manu, Turnbull, L.Davies
Cons: A.Thomas 4
Pens: A.Thomas 2
Yellow card: Aaron Shingler
For Treviso:
Tries: Bernabo, Nitoglia
Cons: De Waal 2
Pens: De Waal 2
Yellow card: Gonzalo Garcia
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams 14 Lee Williams, 13 Gareth Maule (captain), 12 Adam Warren, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Craig Hawkins, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Liam Davies, 22 Nick Reynolds, 23 Viliami Iongi.
Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Benjamin De Jager, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Simon Picone, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Gonzalo Padrò, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Enrico Pavanello, 3 Pedro Di Santo, 2 Franco Sbaraglini (captain), 1 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Augusto Allori, 18 Carlo Fazzari, 19 Benjamin Vermaak, 20 Diego Vidal, 21 Ezio Galon, 22 Gonzalo Garcia, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.