Sexton puts Leinster in pole position
Leinster secured the double over fierce rivals Munster in their gritty 18-9 victory at Thomond Park to secure their place at the top of the Pro12.
And in the other Saturday match Dan Biggar was the star of the show, as the Ospreys continued their fine recent form with a 41-10 bonus-point victory against Treviso.
The Saturday reports!
Ospreys 41-10 Treviso:
Dan Biggar was the star of the show as the Ospreys continued their fine recent form with a 41-10 Pro12 bonus-point victory against Treviso.
Two tries from centre Ashley Beck and one for Paul James were the fruits of Biggar's trickery and tactical nous in the first 50 minutes as he squeezed the life out of the Italians.
Apart from an interlude in the second half when Treviso broke the form book and scored a terrific try, the Ospreys played with the swagger of a team who had ended Leinster's 20-game unbeaten run in their last match.
Biggar knocked over a penalty after 10 minutes and followed it up with a delightful piece of back play to create a try for inside-centre Beck.
Biggar hoisted an enormous Garryowen on to Treviso winger Tommaso Benvenuti but the ball never arrived as Biggar sprinted forward and out-jumped the Italian, collecting the ball in the process.
On coming back to earth he passed onto to wing Hanno Dirksen who fed Beck inside him for a great score.
Biggar converted and then chipped in with a penalty to put the Ospreys firmly in control at 13-3.
With the half-hour mark approaching prop Adam Jones, making his first home appearance for his region since helping Wales to the Grand Slam, popped up at scrum-half and charged for the line. He off-loaded to front-row partner Paul James who barrelled over.
Biggar's conversion made the score 20-3 and it stayed that until half-time.
Immediately after the break Beck had his second when a Shane Williams pass gave him the space to dummy and cut inside Kris Burton, Biggar again converting.
In the 55th minute Treviso showed attacking brilliance to get a converted try back.
Scrum-half Edoardo Gori launched an attack from inside his 22 and when the Ospreys did bring a halt to the Italians' attack, Gori brought the ball right and wing Ludovico Nitoglia stepped inside the cover defence to score. Alberto Di Bernardo added the afters.
When Benvenuti got sin binned for a deliberate knock-on ten minutes from time, the Ospreys turned the screw.
First No. 8 Joe Bearman went over from a five-metre scrum for the bonus-point try and then replacement wing Tom Isaacs danced down the touchline after a trademark break from Williams. Biggar converted to end the match with a personal haul of 16 points.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Beck 2, James, Bearman, Isaacs
Cons: Biggar 5
Pens: Biggar 2
For Treviso:
Try: Nitoglia
Con: Burton
Pen: Burton
Yellow cards: Tommaso Benvenuti (Treviso, 71), Alberto Di Bernardo (Treviso, 79)
Teams:
Ospreys 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 James King, 20 Tom Smith, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Treviso: 15 Kristopher Burton, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Gonzalo Padrò, 21 Marco Filippucci, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Luke McLean.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Tim Hayes (Wales), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO: Tony Rowlands (Wales)
Munster 9-18 Leinster:
Leinster secured the double over fierce rivals Munster in their gritty 18-9 victory at Thomond Park to secure their place at the top of the Pro12.
Munster promised the Dublin side a no-holds-barred performance and they were certainly as good as their word in a performance that was often short of sustained quality but compelling in drama.
As so often between these sides, it came down to a battle of the kickers with Jonathan Sexton kicking three penalties to his long-term adversary Ronan O'Gara's one in the first half.
After O'Gara levelled the scores with a pair of penalties after the break, Sexton nudged Leinster back in front on 60 minutes before replacements Fergus McFadden and Ian Madigan wrapped up the victory and denied Munster the consolation of a bonus point in the process.
The visitors so nearly made the perfect start at Thomond Park when Sexton's clever chip over the top found a flying Rob Kearney, but the full-back couldn't quite gather the ball as he raced towards the corner.
While Munster won the nudge in the first scrum, Mike Ross - who was part of the Irish front-row that endured a torrid afternoon at Twickenham - gained a measure of revenge by forcing a Leinster penalty after ten minutes which Sexton converted.
The scrum was shaping up to be a titanic struggle as Ross was this time the guilty party when Marcus Horan forced him to the turf but O'Gara's kick came off the post.
The Munster fly-half was also off target with a drop goal but with a penalty coming in front of the posts after Sean Cronin was pinged for going in off his feet he made no mistake to get the home team on the board.
Parity was shortlived with Sexton kicking two penalties in quick succession with Horan the guilty party second time around.
Munster finished the half deep in Leinster territory but could force neither a defensive slip nor an indiscretion that left them six points adrift at the break.
The scrum, the shaping force of the first half, soon came to the fore early in the second when referee Nigel Owens lost patience with the repeated collapses and dispatched both Ross and Horan to the sin-bin.
Munster seemed to benefit most from the new 14-a-side format with O'Gara soon slotting his second penalty on 47 minutes although he missed another three pointer two minutes later.
But when Kiwi World Cup winner Brad Thorn was adjudged to have made a high tackle on Felix Jones, O'Gara levelled the scores from distance.
Leinster remained the greater threat with ball in hand and both Isa Nacewa and Kearney tested the home defence with runs before Sexton burst into the 22 before being scragged by Mick O'Driscoll.
The lock though was pinged for not releasing and Sexton kicked them back ahead although that prove to be his last act as he was replaced by Madigan, who has deputised superbly for Sexton in the Pro12 this season.
Leinster's main threat still came in the form of livewire wing Nacewa who twice sliced his way through the Munster defence only to find support lacking at the crucial moment.
The visitors remained in the ascendancy however and another replacement McFadden booted them six points in front with ten minutes to go.
And the win was wrapped up when following another Nacewa break, Madigan found the space to execute a drop goal in front of the posts.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Pens: O'Gara 3
For Leinster:
Pens: Sexton 4, McFadden
DG: Madigan
The teams:
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O'Gara (captain), 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Peter O'Mahony, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Tom O'Donnell, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Danny Barnes.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Leo Cullen, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Michael Black (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)