Boks inspire on-fire Ulster
Ulster kept up the pressure in the race for Pro12 play-off places as they completed a 45-7 bonus-point victory over Aironi at Ravenhill.
Springboks Pedrie Wannenburg and Ruan Pienaar were among the points as the Irish outfit routed their Italian rivals – Wannenburg scoring a try, while Pienaar contributed 11 points through four conversions and a penalty.
In other action on Friday No.8 Ryan Wilson scored two tries before going off injured as Glasgow Warriors all but extinguished Cardiff Blues’ play-off hopes, while strengthening their own in a resounding 31-3 victory.
Wing Fetu’u Vainikolo scored a try at the start of each half to give Connacht only their second away win in the Pro12, in their surprise 27-19 defeat of Newport Gwent Dragons.
And Greig Laidlaw kicked 16 points as Edinburgh recorded their first Pro12 win in 2012 as they held off a tremendous Scarlets fightback to triumph 26-23 at Murrayfield.
All Friday’s scorers and scorers:
Ulster 45-7 Aironi:
Ulster kept up the pressure in the race for Pro12 play-off places as they completed a 45-7 bonus-point victory over Aironi at Ravenhill.
With just a point separating them from Glasgow in fourth before kick-off, Ulster could ill-afford to take anything but maximum points against the league’s bottom side and having scored three first-half tries, Darren Cave secured the all-important fourth try early in the second half.
Paddy Wallace, who was in outstanding form, grabbed the first try before a penalty try and a Rory Best effort gave Ulster a 24-7 lead, Tito Tebaldi getting a try back for Aironi.
After the break Ulster continued to dominate and after Cave’s effort, Tom Court and Pedrie Wannenburg got in on the act.
It was Aironi who could have taken the lead after just nine minutes as Sinoti Sinoti produced a scintillating break stepping inside several tackles before being stopped ten metres short of the line.
However, the home side fought back well and on their next incursion into Italian territory Chris Henry was held just short but after some quick recycling Ian Humphreys threw a pop pass to Wallace who breezed straight through for a try, converted by Ruan Pienaar.
Ulster’s dominance up front was proving decisive and they were rewarded with a penalty try after three scrums on the Aironi five-metre line to make it 14-0 with 23 minutes gone.
Just after the half hour Brian McLaughlin was handed a big blow when Stephen Ferris was forced off with an injury and Aironi took full advantage scoring from a cleverly-worked lineout immediately after.
The Italians threw to the front opening up a gap in the lineout which allowed Tito Tebaldi to dart through a gap and dive over, Naas Olivier added a tough conversion.
Having let Aironi back into it, Ulster immediately went on the offensive and Pienaar slotted the penalty after the Italians were penalised for going off their feet.
It got worse for Aironi soon after when Giulio Toniolatti was sent to the sin bin for hands in the ruck and from the ensuing lineout Best went over from a driving lineout to stretch the lead to 24-7 at half-time.
The second half began in the same way as the first ended with Cave combining well with his centre partner Wallace to cross for the bonus point score.
And after being frustrated as a raft of replacements caused the game to lose its rhythm, Court finished off a move started by replacement Adam D’Arcy, producing a great sidestep to barge over from close range.
With eight minutes remaining Wannenburg picked up from the back of a scrum before throwing a dummy and going through the ensuing gap for the sixth try.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Wallace, Best, Wannenburg, Court, Cave, Penalty try
Cons: Humphreys 2, Pienaar 4
Pen: Pienaar
For Aironi:
Try: Tebaldi
Con: Olivier
Yellow card: Giulio Toniolatti (Aironi, 39)
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Lewis Stevenson, 4 Johann Muller (captain), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Dan Tuohy, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Adam D’Arcy.
Aironi: 15 Giulio Toniolatti, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Nicola Cattina, 6 Joshua Furno; 5 Carlo Del Fava (captain), 4 George Biagi, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Antonio Denti, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Salvatore Perugini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Tyson Keats, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Gilberto Pavan.
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Johan Carvill (Ireland) (Ireland)
TMO: Peter Ferguson (Ireland)
Newport Gwent Dragons 19-27 Connacht:
Wing Fetu’u Vainikolo scored a try at the start of each half to give Connacht only their second away win in the Pro12 in their surprise 27-19 defeat of Newport Gwent Dragons.
Connacht’s last win on the road came in the opening round defeat of Treviso and the Dragons had been enjoying their best form of the season with four wins in five games.
Darren Edwards also had the luxury of being able to start three Wales Grand Slam winners – Dan Lydiate, Toby Faletau and Luke Charteris – but the formbook largely went out the window at Rodney Parade.
Vainikolo’s pair of tries – on 10 and 41 minutes – proved decisive with Connacht flyhalf Miah Nikora exchanging five penalties to his opposite number Lewis Robling’s four while Faletau’s late try proving in vain for the hosts.
It had been the Dragons who took the lead when Connacht infringed at a maul and Robling slotted the resulting penalty although that would be the last time they had the lead.
The visitors, who had made much of the early running, moved the ball at speed to Vainikolo who skipped his way around the home defence to run in from 22m with Nikora converting.
After Robling reduced the deficit with a booming 50m effort, Kiwi stand-off Nikora soon got into his rhythm with three penalties inside 12 minutes, the last of which was after Lydiate was yellow carded by referee Giuseppe Vivarini.
Robling responded with two minutes remaining in the half when John Muldoon was pinged for holding on in the tackle but in truth the visitors were unlucky not to go in more than 19-9 ahead at half-time as they knocked on with the tryline begging.
They made amends though in the first play of the second half as Vainikolo relied on his power rather than his speed to put them 15 points ahead with Nikora unable to convert.
Nikora was off target with another penalty attempt and Robling edged the Dragons closer with a penalty of his own after Connacht failed to release the tackler.
After a 57th minute penalty from Nikora when the hosts were caught offside, the Dragons started to go for broke.
That approach started to pay dividends as Ronan Loughney was binned for persistent infringement and although the Dragons could not take advantage of their extra man, they did finally cross the tryline with seven minutes to go through Faletau.
But even though Eoghan Grace was also binned late on, the Dragons’ revival was too little too late and they were left empty handed as they could not force even the consolation of a losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For the Newport Gwent Dragons:
Try: Faletau
Con: S Jones
Pens: Robling 4
For Connacht:
Tries: Vainikolo 2
Con: Nikora
Pens: Nikora 5
Yellow cards: Dan Lydiate (Dragons, 33), Ronan Loughney (Connacht, 60), Eoghan Grace (Connacht, 76)
Teams:
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Will Harries, 14 Tonderai Chavanga, 13 Andy Tuilagi, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Lewis Robling, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Jevon Groves, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Luke Charteris (captain), 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Dan Way, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Tom Brown, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Adam Hughes, 23 Steffan Jones.
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Henry Fa’afili, 11 Tiernan O’Halloran, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 John Muldoon, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 Mick Kearney, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Finlay Bealham, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Eoin McKeon, 20 Eoghan Grace, 21 Paul O’Donohoe, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Dave McSharry.
Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (Italy)
Assistant referees: James Jones (Wales), David Jones (Wales)
TMO: Neil Ballard (Wales)
Edinburgh 26-23 Scarlets:
Greig Laidlaw kicked 16 points as Edinburgh recorded their first Pro12 win in 2012 as they held off a tremendous Scarlets fightback to triumph 26-23 at Murrayfield.
Head coach Michael Bradley started 10 players who featured in Scotland’s Six Nations campaign as the Gunners looked to put an end to a run of seven straight Pro12 defeats in 2012.
The Scarlets had also recalled some of their Grand Slam heroes with George North and Jonathan Davies both starting in the backline but it was to no avail as Nigel Davies’ men suffered a major blow in their bid for a top four finish.
It was the visitors who made the running early on and when Edinburgh were penalised for going off their feet Rhys Priestland made no mistake from the kicking tee.
That lead lasted barely a minute as Laidlaw kicked his side level and after Tim Visser was called back for a forward pass when he threatened to add to his 12 tries in the Pro12 this season, Laidlaw added another three to put the home side in front.
The returning internationals were making all the difference and it was David Denton, playing at blindside flanker, who got the game’s opening try with a trademark charge, battling his way over the line.
Laidlaw converted but a penalty from Priestland edged the Scarlets back into contention with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
The home side finished the half in complete control and after some concerted pressure in the Scarlets 22, Deacon Manu paid the price for his team’s indiscipline and was sent to the sin bin.
He was joined there soon after by Wales hooker Matthew Rees who received his marching orders for an intentional knock on, and with two members of the front row in the bin, the Scarlets scrum crumpled to concede a penalty try.
Laidlaw’s conversion made it 20-6 at the half, but despite a two-man advantage, Edinburgh could not build on their lead.
In fact once Manu and Rees had returned it was the Scarlets who began to take control and after some good handling in the backs Andy Fenby went over for their first try.
Laidlaw replied with another penalty but the momentum swung the Scarlets’ way when Ross Rennie was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle.
The visitors took their chance with replacement fly-half Stephen Jones darting through and finding Welsh teammate Davies for the try, Jones’ conversion made it 23-23.
However Edinburgh were not done yet and with eight minutes remaining their pack earned a penalty which Laidlaw slotted to put the home side back in front and they held out for a morale-boosting win ahead of next week’s Heineken Cup quarter-final with Toulouse.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Denton, Penalty try
Cons: Laidlaw 2
Pens: Laidlaw 4
For Scarlets:
Tries: Fenby, J Davies
Cons: Priestland, S Jones
Pens: Priestland 3
Yellow cards: Deacon Manu (Scarlets, 37), Matthew Rees (Scarlets, 40)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Tom Brown, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 9 Mike Blair, 8 Stuart McInally, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 David Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Esteban Lozada, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Phil Godman, 23 Jim Thompson.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees (captain), 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil John, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Mat Gilbert, 21 Liam Davies, 22 Stephen Jones, 23 Sean Lamont.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Allan (Scotland), Graeme Marshall (Scotland)
Glasgow Warriors 31-3 Cardiff Blues:
No.8 Ryan Wilson scored two tries before going off injured as Glasgow Warriors all but extinguished Cardiff Blues’ play-off hopes while strengthening their own in a resounding 31-3 victory.
The victory was based on their power up front and their offloading game as Wilson crossed in a first half they dominated.
After Wilson got his second five minutes after half-time, his fellow back-rower Chris Fusaro touched down with fly-half Duncan Weir kicking nine points with the boot.
With two minutes remaining Colin Shaw grabbed the all-important bonus point try to re-establish the Warriors’ grip on the top-four berth and means they have lost just once in the league since October.
In a highly attritional match, Glasgow centre Graeme Morrison joined Wilson and John Barclay in the Warriors medical department while the Blues lost Wales centre Jamie Roberts, making his first start in the Pro12 this season, to a knee injury.
Morrison departed after just four minutes in a slightly scrappy opening in which both teams struggled to find their rhythm.
However the Warriors were starting to get gain the ascendancy in the scrum and on 15 minutes they should really have gone head when Alex Dunbar made a good initial break but Shaw failed to gather Weir’s pass with the tryline begging.
It proved to be a temporary reprieve as the Blues were turned over on their own scrum on the three-metre line and Wilson barged his way through three visitors to ground the ball with the blessing of the TMO.
The Warriors were now sensing blood and good lineout ball allowed Shaw to make a break before feeding Stuart Hogg who just failed to get his offload away.
They wasted an even better chance on the half-hour mark when Fusaro contrived to waste a two-on-one opportunity although they did have the consolation of a penalty which Weir kicked to make it 10-0.
That’s the way it stayed until half-time with Weir missing with another penalty and drop-goal attempt while Leigh Halfpenny, whose kicking had been so good during the Six Nations, was horribly off target with his first attempt.
Any frustration Warriors coach Sean Lineen felt at wasted opportunities soon evaporated when Wilson barged through Halfpenny’s tackle after Glasgow had patiently gone through the phases. Weir converted.
Halfpenny did get the Blues on the board with a penalty before the game was held up for injuries to Roberts and Wilson, both suffering knee injuries.
The disruption did not affect the Warriors however as the impressive Dunbar sliced his way through before offloading to Fusaro who gleefully dived over to make amends for his first-half error. Weir again converted.
Although the tempo of the game slowed down in the final quarter, the Warriors were able to create the fourth try the crowd craved when Dunbar made the initial break. The young centre fed scrum-half Chris Cusiter and he timed his pass for Shaw to have a run-in under the posts.
Ruaridh Jackson converted to round off a disappointing night for the Blues.
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Shaw, Fusaro, Wilson 2
Cons: Jackson 2, Weir 2
Pen: Weir
For the Blues:
Pen: Halfpenny
Teams:
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Federico Aramburu, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Jon Welsh, 18 Moray Low, 19 Richie Gray, 20 John Barclay, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Peter Murchie.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Maama Molitika, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies (captain), 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Tyrrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Kristian Dacey, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Gavin Henson, 23 Dafydd Hewitt.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Rob Dickson (Scotland), Adrian Graves (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
