Ospreys win derby

Meanwhile, Ulster gave their top four hopes a huge shot in the arm as they saw off Leinster, winning 30-6 at Kingspan Stadium.

In the other Pro12 fixture Scarlets kept in touch with the top four places as they got the better of the Dragons on Saturday, winning 34-20 at the Principality Stadium.

Ospreys 40-27 Cardiff Blues

Spectators were provided with an eight-try affair which saw the lead change hands several times in the second half before Rhys Webb settled matters. The captain's two late tries proved the difference in an entertaining 40-27 Judgement Day win over Cardiff Blues.

Cardiff Blues took an 9-7 lead into the break, and added another try through Aled Summerhill shortly after the restart - but two tries from Hanno Dirksen hauled Ospreys back into it.

Josh Navidi and Sam Underhill then traded scores before Gareth Anscombe's penalty put Blues a single point ahead.

However Webb had the final say with two tries to not only boost Ospreys' top-six hopes but bring an end to their opponents own European hopes.

It was the Ospreys who started the stronger as they piled on the pressure- although the first points went the way of the Blues on ten minutes when Anscombe slotted over his penalty.

Ospreys' reply came on 24 minutes, stemming from a chip forward by Dan Biggar who forced Cardiff Blues into conceding a penalty for a knock on.

Ospreys kicked for the corner, launching a driving line out before winning a scrum - from which James King picked up the loose ball before powering over. Biggar added the extras for 7-3.

Blues were straight on the attack and were almost in when the ball was worked out wide to Reynold Lee-Lo who looked to sprint down the line but a crucial tap tackle by Owen Watkin stopped the Blues man in his tracks and into touch.

Danny Wilson's side was able to reduce the deficit through a second Anscombe penalty.

And when Ospreys were again penalised four minutes before the break, Anscombe was able to dissect the posts to put his side 9-7 ahead at half-time.

The Blues picked up from where they left off after the restart too, but this time with try rather than a penalty.

Dan Fish laid the platform with a clever break to get his side to within sight of the line and then a looping pass by Anscombe took out the onrushing Ospreys defence to leave Summerhill to canter over in the corner. Anscombe missed the conversion however as the scores stayed at 14-7.

He didn't miss shortly afterwards on 49 minutes though when his side were handed a penalty as the Blues pulled ten points clear.

But in the space of ten minutes the game turned on its head as the Ospreys roared right back into the match with two Dirksen tries.

The first came on 53 minutes when Blues conceded a scrum close to their own try line after the ball was spilled from another scrum.

From the set piece, Ospreys spread the ball wide before a cheeky through-the-legs pass by Rynier Bernado played in Dirksen in the corner.

Biggar missed with the conversion but he made no mistake four minutes later after Dirksen had again gone over.

 

Much of the work for the try owed to the work done by Watkin who made the initial break after Garyn Smith lost the ball in midfield.

He was eventually stopped but a Rhys Webb chip forward was not gathered in by Tom Isaacs who was beaten by the bounce and Watkin gathered before unselfishly playing in Dirksen.

However the Blues were not going to roll over and went back in front after Navidi capitalised on a tiring Ospreys defence by evading four tackles and going over, with Anscombe's conversion making it 24-19 with 17 minutes left to play.

The sixth try of the afternoon went the way of Ospreys as the topsy-turvy match took another change in direction.

Underhill was the man who got it, picking up on pass close to Blues

line before powering over to seal Ospreys a bonus point with Biggar's conversion making it 26-24 before Blues edged back in front after Anscombe's penalty.

But Webb showed impressive calm among the madness by picking up the ball after Dirksen had been stopped agonisingly short of the line, to leap over the pile of players in the corner and dot the ball down.

 

Scorers:

 

For Ospreys:

Tries: Webb 2, Dirksen 2, King, Underhill

Cons: Biggar 5

 

For Cardiff Blues:

Tries: Navidi, Summerhill

Cons: Anscombe

Pens: Anscombe 5

 

Teams:

 

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hano Dirksen, 13 Jonathan Spratt, 2 Owen Watkins, 11 Ben John, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Dan Lydiate, 7 James King, 6 Olly Craknell, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Dimitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.

Replacement: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Josh Matavesi.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 James Down, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain.

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Gavin Evans.

Referee: Owen Nigel

 

Ulster Rugby 30-6 Leinster Rugby

Jared Payne's secondhalf try effectively sealed a crucial win for Ulster in the race for the PRO12 play-offs as Leinster were made to rue their indiscipline at the Kingspan Stadium

Leinster made things difficult for themselves in both halves - Rob Kearney's block on Ruan Pienaar saw Ulster awarded a penalty try before the break, and Payne's 57th-minute try came while Luke Fitzgerald was in the sin bin.

There was no way back from Leinster from there and Paddy Jackson, who collected 11 points from the tee, then added the gloss with a breakaway try at the death.

Ulster, whose only loss in their last four PRO12 games had to be an in-form Glasgow Warriors, had to weather an early Leinster storm.

Pressure from Isa Nacewa and Kearney forced Jared Payne to punt the ball into touch but Ulster's maul defence stood firm, and Leinster were eventually penalised for holding on.

A dash from Andrew Trimble opened up Leinster for the first time with ten minutes gone, and after Luke McGrath was pinged for obstructing the Ireland wing, Jackson split the posts to put Ulster three ahead.

A couple of promising moves for both sides broke down - before Pienaar's moment of magic opened things up.

The South African scrum-half, having sniped through following a sumptuous dummy, was blocked off by Kearney while chipping through. The penalty try was awarded, the conversion kicked by Jackson, and to compound Leinster's woes Kearney was sent to the sin bin.

Ulster couldn't take advantage of that ten minutes however as Leinster kept a lot of ball and even earned a breakdown penalty, which Sexton slotted over.

And the boys in blue ended the half on top in much part down to the lively Sexton, who cut the deficit down to four points after Josh van der Flier was caught with a high tackle.

But the home side's stout defending was also catching the eye, wings Trimble and Rory Scholes in particular delivering some crunching hits.

The hosts raced out of the blocks after the break and Leinster were forced to concede a five-metre scrum after Jackson tackled Luke McGrath over the try-line.

Fine work from the scrum and a powerful Ben T'eo break made sure that Leinster cleared their lines however - though the visitors were to let ill-discipline get the better of them again.

With 55 minutes gone, replacement Fitzgerald was shown a yellow after he pulled back Scholes as the Ulster wing attempted to reel in Stuart McCloskey's offload.

The ensuing penalty saw Jackson extend Ulster's lead out to seven points again, and the Ireland fly-half made an even bigger difference moments later.

With Ulster on the attack, Jackson pulled in two defenders and set Luke Marshall away, who could not miss the wide open Payne.

Jackson's conversion made it 20-6 with only the final quarter left to play and though Leinster looked dangerous when restored to their full complement, another Jackson penalty was to follow.

And Ulster's No.10 had the last word when he broke from deep in his own half and had enough pace to finish.

Scholes, on his last appearance at the Kingspan before his summer move to Edinburgh, nearly capped off the win with a bonus-try but he couldn't hold onto the final ball.

Scorers:

For Ulster:

Tries: Jackson, Payne, Penalty try

Cons: Marshall, Jackson 2

Pens: Jackson 3

For Leinster:

Pens: Sexton 2

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Sean Reidy, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Peter Browne, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Andrew Warwick, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Darren Cave.

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa (c), 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Jack McGrath.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Scartlets 34-20 Newport Gwent Dragons

Flyhalf Steven Shingler contributed 19 points as Scarlets recorded their third victory over the Dragons in four editions of Judgement Day and are now just one point behind fourth-placed Ulster in the table with one match remaining.

Shaun Williams and Shingler both crossed the whitewash for the West Walians before the break to help establish a 20-13 lead at half-time as Adam Warren did likewise for their opponents.

Steffan Evans' try extended that advantage early in the second half and although Adam Hughes touched down for the Dragons, Gareth Davies' late score sealed the victory, the four-try bonus point and Champions Cup rugby next season.

The result means the Dragons are still yet to taste victory in four attempts at Judgement Day while their wait for a first PRO12 win since January also rumbles on.

The two teams had plenty to live up to following the thriller Cardiff Blues and Ospreys put on earlier in the afternoon but they more than achieved that with a hard-fought, compelling contest.

The tone was set in the first minute when Dragons centre Warren barrelled through the defensive line yet it was Scarlets who got the first points on the board on eight minutes.

Williams couldn't have marked his return from the serious knee injury he suffered last September in better fashion as he dotted down and Shingler converted.

Williams and Shingler were at it again five minutes later - the Welsh international proving once and for all his knee is back to full health by streaking down the field for the initial break and a few phases later the fly-half finished it off under the posts.

But to their credit, the Dragons responded on 22 minutes as giant lock Rynard Landman charged down an attempted kick clear and Warren was on hand to cross the whitewash.

After the breathless opening quarter, ill-discipline began to take hold for both sides and Shingler and Angus O'Brien took advantage to slot two penalties apiece, ensuring the Scarlets took a 20-13 lead into half-time.

With just 40 minutes of Judgement Day rugby remaining, the crowd roared both teams back on to the field and the Scarlets fans in attendance were soon celebrating again as more brilliant work from Shingler and Williams enabled Evans to dot down - the conversion making it 27-13.

With just 15 minutes remaining, the Dragons looked set to narrow that deficit after kicking a penalty to the corner and setting up camp on the Scarlets' tryline but a knock-on scuppered those hopes.

However, their disappointment was short-lived as the always-impressive Carl Meyer scooped up the kick clear and burst forward before working the ball to Hughes and the qualified pilot flew over the whitewash.

O'Brien's conversion made the score 27-20 to set up a thrilling finale but Scarlets boosted their top-four hopes with a crucial bonus-point try four minutes from time.

A steady build-up ended when replacement scrum-half Davies touched down and Shingler's successful conversion was the final scoring act of memorable Judgement Day at Principality Stadium.

Scorers:

For Scarlets:

Tries: S Williams, Shingler, Evans, G Davies

Cons: Shingler 4

Pens: Shingler 2

For Dragons:

Tries: Warren, Hughes

Cons: O'Brien 2

Pens: O'Brien 2

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Michael Collins, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Hadleigh Parkes, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Aled Davies, 8 John Barclay 7 James Davies, 6 Lewis Rawlins, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans

Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Jack Condy, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Gareth Owen

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Angus O'Brien, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Lewis Evans (c), 5 Nick Crosswell, 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Phil Price

Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Ed Jackson, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

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