Blues power past Munster
In scotland, a vintage kicking performance from Rory Clegg on his return to Glasgow Warriors saw them edge out Leinster 12-6 in a tryless Pro12 affair at Scotstoun.
We take a look at Friday's action!
Cardiff Blues 37-28 Munster
Tries from Macauley Cook, Matthew Rees, Garyn Smith and Rhys Patchell did the damage as Cardiff ended a run of poor form in the competition, with Darren Sweetnam, Mike Sherry and Jack O'Donoghue late on replying for Munster.
Patchell ended with 19 points as Cardiff Blues claimed the bonus-point win after scoring four tries en route to claiming the points.
Munster started like an express train and Ian Keatley slotted a third minute penalty to put the visitors in front after Rory Scannell and Billy Holland had made the hard yards to win the decision.
And it got even better for Munster just four minutes later as Scannell again broke the gain-line and as the ball went wide Sweetnam was on hand to touch down – unfortunately Keatley couldn't add the extras.
Cardiff reduced the deficit on ten minutes as the ever-dependable Patchell slotted a penalty for the hosts after Munster had been penalised at scrum time.
Cardiff, whose only victory in their last four Pro12 fixtures was 23-13 at home to Ulster in Round 16, felt they should have scored their first try of the night on 24 minutes but Dan Fish spilled a pass from Patchell and the chance was lost.
The pressure was now very much on Munster but after a series of scrums near the visitors' line, Holland came to the rescue turning the ball over and the Irish side were able to clear their lines.
Cardiff pressure finally told on 32 minutes as Josh Navidi broke clear and offloaded for Cook to run through and score – Patchell added the extras to give the Welsh side a 10-8 lead.
Lloyd Williams and Blaine Scully both had chances towards the end of the half but Munster held firm in the face of fierce of Cardiff pressure.
Munster had won their last two Pro12 matches against Treviso and Newport Gwent Dragons and had been defeated just once away from home in the competition since the turn of the year but it was Cardiff who started the second half the brighter.
Patchell extended the home side's lead to 13-8 in the 43rd minute with a well struck penalty as Cardiff started to turn the screw.
Keatley took advantage of Cardiff ill-discipline three minutes later as Munster responded with a penalty to bring the visitors back within two points.
Cardiff extended their lead on 50 minutes, the home side turned down a penalty and kicked for the corner and from the resulting line-out Rees rumbled over and Patchell added the conversion to make the score 20-11.
Just two minutes later Munster was back in the game as Sherry was driven over and Keatley reduced the deficit to just two points with a conversion.
In a topsy-turvy encounter, Cardiff earned some much-needed breathing space as Smith stripped the ball from a Munster forward and raced away to score, with Patchell converting to leave the score at 27-18.
Munster refused to throw in the towel and they dominated possession and territory in the final quarter, with Johnny Holland scoring a penalty for the visitors.
Patchell extended Cardiff's lead with a score on 73 minutes as the Blues sealed the bonus point and the flyhalf also added the extras for good measure to leave the score at 34-21.
O'Donoghue added a late score for Munster but it proved too little too late for the Irish side as the Blues added a late penalty to deny them even a losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Blues:
Tries: Cook, Rees, Smith, Patchell
Cons: Patchell 4
Pens: Patchell 2, J Evans
For Munster:
Tries: Sweetnam, Sherry, O'Donoghue
Cons: Keatley, Holland
Pens: Keatley 2, Holland
Teams:
Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Blaine Scully, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 Cam Dolan, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Matthew Rees (captain), 1 Brad Thyer.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Taufa'ao Filise, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Gavin Evans.
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Dave O'Callaghan, 6 Jack O'Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (captain) 4 Dave Foley, 3 John Ryan, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Sean McCarthy, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 Johnny Holland, 23 David Johnston.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: John Charles (Wales)
Glasgow Warriors 12-6 Leinster
The first half belonged to the defences with the sides level following a pair of Isa Nacewa and Rory Clegg penalties apiece, before the latter struck another two early in the second period.
Leinster have set the standard defensively in the Pro12 this season, but it was the Warriors' defence who came up trumps this time, as they weathered a late storm from the visitors to hold out and move into the top six.
Despite Glasgow kicking off and immediately recovering possession, Leinster grabbed the opening points of the game with just three minutes played – Nacewa making no mistake after the visitors broke a couple of tackles in the midfield.
But the Warriors were soon level through the returning Rory Clegg, who nailed his first penalty attempt back at Scotstoun through the posts on 14 minutes.
Glenn Bryce's superb defence on his own 22 then earned his side a penalty, and from the resulting line-out Glasgow were able to work the ball into Leinster's half and set up another shot at goal for Clegg.
The German-born flyhalf again smacked his long-range effort through the posts to make it 6-3.
Mark Bennett's break then almost saw Glasgow into the Leinster 22, but after the Irish province were able to get back and clear, Garry Ringrose's chip through put the hosts under pressure.
And after Zane Kirchner came close to connecting with a Ben Te'o grubber, Leinster won a penalty for Nacewa to stroke through from out wide on 31 minutes.
The men in blue could not take advantage of a Dan Leavy offload five minutes later in midfield as the ball was knocked on, and there was still time for Nacewa to pull another penalty wide before the interval as the sides went in level.
Glasgow however flew forward at the start of the second period, and after they had progressed inside the five-metre line they were denied by a Leavy turnover and Leinster could clear.
The hosts went through the phases once more and after Te'o was pinged on the floor, Clegg hit his third penalty of the night from left of the posts to edge his side ahead.
Te'o made up for his indiscretion with a brilliant tackle to force Lee Jones out of play on 55 minutes, as he bore down on the tryline after bursting onto Clegg's pass and scything through a couple of Leinster tackles.
But following a line-out the visitors were penalised yet again, and Clegg took the gap out to six points for the first time in the game with his fourth kick from four heading into the final 20 minutes.
Leinster dominated possession in the closing stages but could find no way through a determined Glasgow defence, and a huge set from the hosts saw them turn over the boys in blue deep in their own territory with five minutes remaining.
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Pens: Clegg 4
For Leinster:
Pens: Nacewa 2
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie (capatin), 14 Lee Jones, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Grayson Hart, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 James Eddie, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 James Malcolm 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa 18 Zander Fagerson 19 Scott Cummings 20 Tyrone Holmes 21 Ali Price 22 Nick Grigg 23 Glenn Bryce.
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Isa Nacewa (captain) 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Cathal Marsh, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Peadar Timmins, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Noel Reid.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
