Connacht edge 14-man Cheetahs

PRO14 SATURDAY WRAP: Tom Farrell’s last-gasp try ended the Cheetahs’ unbeaten start to the Pro14 season in a tense match that included six tries and a red card in Galway.

The hosts led 14-5 at the break thanks to tries from Niyi Adeolokun and Kieran Marmion but the Cheetahs bit back after the break to go 22-16 ahead.

However, a red card to Cheetahs centre Dries Swanepoel midway through the second half changed the game, and Farrell scored twice to snatch the points.

We take a closer look at all Saturday’s matches:

Edinburgh 46-7 Scarlets

Duhan van der Merwe opened his account for the season with a hat-trick as Edinburgh blew Scarlets out of the water at Murrayfield.

Scarlets had been going well this season winning all three of their previous games but the South African and his teammates got the job done in 40 minutes to Edinburgh a point above the Welshmen in Conference B

The big South African wing looked dangerous from the word go and scored his first Pro14 try of the season, finishing off after two bulldozing runs from Matt Scott and Ally Miller.

And two minutes later he had a second after a great break from Nick Haining saw the ball find its way to Henry Pyrgos who span it wide for van der Merwe to cross.

Further tries from Mike Willemse and an incredible fifth try of the season for Mark Bennett secured the bonus point before the half-time whistle.

Scarlets grabbed their only score of the game on the hour mark when Marc Jones pushed over for a simple score but order was restored when Willemse scored his second of the match a few minutes later.

And with five minutes remaining van der Merwe had his hat-trick before Eroni Sau finished things off.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Van der Merwe 3, Willemse 2, Bennett 2
Cons: Hickey 3, Van der Walt
Pen: Hickey

For Scarlets:
Try: M Jones
Con: D J0nes

Yellow card: Fraser McKenzie (Edinburgh, 40)

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Eroni Sau, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Nic Groom (captain), 8 Nick Haining, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Murray Douglas, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Sam Thomson, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 George Taylor

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Ryan Conbeer, 13 Steff Hughes (captain), 12 Ioan Nicholas, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Tom Phillips, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Steve Cummins, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Taylor Davies, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Josh Helps, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Angus O’Brien 23 Kieron Fonotia

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White (SRU), Eddie Hogan-O’Connell (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Connacht 24-22 Cheetahs

The Cheetahs arrived with a spring in their step and averaging more than 50 points per game, but the Sportsground is a notoriously difficult place to play and Connacht attacked with gusto from the first whistle.

The Cheetahs held on gainfully but the hosts finally broke through to score in the 14th minute when they moved the ball wide to the right.

Flyhalf Conor Fitzgerald wrapped around and off-loaded to wing Niyi Adeolokun to power through and dot down.

The Cheetahs’ away record since joining the Pro4 leaves a lot to be desired but this is a different Cheetahs side and one which is likely to be right in the mix come June.

They responded impressively just before the half-hour mark, with Joseph Dweba bulldozing over off the back of a driving maul.

Connacht went back ahead through Kieran Marmion’s score but as the sun disappeared, so did Connacht’s fluency and control.

The Cheetahs were excellent in the second half, with a Ruan Pienaar penalty and Rhyno Smith converted try putting them one point ahead.

Connacht thought they regained the lead when John Porch intercepted the ball on his own tryline before sprinting 100 metres to dot down, only for it be brought back for offside.

That looked like being the key moment, as the Cheetahs regained the ball inside the Connacht five-metre line and crossed through Clayton Blommetjies.

However, Swanepoel’s red card for a headbutt transformed the game and replacement Tom Farrell powered over from just a metre out to reduce the gap.

The Cheetahs dug deep and resisted for as long as they could but Connacht gained field position on the five-metre line, drew defenders to the breakdown and then moved right for Farrell to dot down.

The scorers:

For Connacht:
Tries: Adeolokun, Marmion, Farrell 2
Cons: Fitzgerald 2

For Cheetahs:
Tries: Dweba, Smith, Blommetjies
Cons: Pienaar 2
Pen: Pienaar

Red card: Dries Swanepoel (Cheetahs, 70 – foul play, headbutt)

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Stephen Fitzgerald, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Peter Robb, 11 John Porch, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (captain), 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Matthew Burke, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Cillian Gallagher, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Darragh Leader

Cheetahs: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Majezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Luan de Bruin, 18 JP du Preez, 19 Sias Koen, 20 Tian Meyer, 21 George Whitehead, 22 William Small-Smith

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Zebre 0-3 Leinster

In search of a new Pro14 record, Leinster came up short instead being held in a close contest away in Parma.

The defending champions were unable to be the first side to start a season with a maximum of 20 points and instead squeezed out a result against Zebre.

Ross Byrne’s boot was enough to give Leinster four points despite a gallant effort from the home side in a match which equalled the lowest ever final score in a Pro14 game.

After a closely-fought opening ten minutes, it was Leinster who tries to edge in front.

Cian Kelleher attempted to touch down Jamison Gibson-Park’s grubber in the 13th minute but he was beaten to it by Michelangelo Biondelli.

Minutes later and Gibson-Park believed he had crossed the line but was adjudged to have been held up over the line.

Leinster had a penalty advantage from the move and Byrne edge his side in front.

Zebre had an opportunity to score before the break but Johan Meyer couldn’t hold onto the ball.

The second half saw the Italian side camped out in Leinster’s 22 but they couldn’t breach the tryline with the Irish side remained strong in defence.

The penalty was enough for Leinster to secure their fourth successive win but Zebre showed great character.

The scorers:

For Zebre: None

For Leinster:
Pen: Byrne

Teams:

Zebre: 15 Michelangelo Biondelli, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Joshua Renton, 8 David Sisi, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Giovanni Licata, 5 George Biagi (captain), 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Marcello Violi, 22 Tommaso Boni, 23 James Elliott

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 Cian Kelleher, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy (Captain), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Jimmy O’Brien

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Chris Williams (Wales)
TMO: John Mason (Wales)

Benetton 36-30 Southern Kings

Benetton continued their perfect record against Southern Kings in the Pro14 as they recorded a bonus-point victory.

The Italian side had struggled to reignite their form of last season thus far, but they began well against the Kings with Angelo Esposito scoring early.

Ian Keatley extended the lead before the break and Benetton put in a dominant performance in the second half with three tries to grab their first win of the season.

A tense opening encounter saw Kings put their noses in front through the boot of Demetri Catrakalis but Benetton gained their footing with Esposito’s score.

The Italian side went down to 14 men with Toa Halafihi sent to the sin bin, but an outstanding defensive effort ensured no points were conceded.

Keatley extended Benetton’s advantage with his boot and then dotted down before the break, while Iliesa Ratuva joined the party to compound Kings’ misery.

Further tries from Juan Ignacio and Federico Ruzza sealed the result for Benetton but Kings never gave up.

Rossouw de Klerk’s try in the 65th gave them momentum and late scores from Christopher Hollis and Bobby de Wee left Siya Masuku’s boot to secure the losing bonus point.

The scorers:

For Benetton:
Tries: Esposito, Keatley, Tavuyara, Brex, Ruzza
Cons: Keatley 3, Rizzi
Pen: Keatley

For Southern Kings:
Tries: De Klerk 2, De Wee
Cons: Masuku 3
Pens: Catrakilis 3

Yellow card: Toa Halafihi (Benetton, 15)

Teams:

Benetton: 15 Luca Sperandio, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (captain), 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Marco Barbini, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Michele Mancini Parri, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Marco Zanon

Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Christopher Hollis, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Josiah Twum-Boafo, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Juan Schoeman, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Tienie Burger, 6 Lusanda Badiyana (captain), 5 Aston Fortuin, 4 Bobby de Wee, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Xandre Vos, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 JC Astle, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Erigh Louw, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Erich Cronje.

Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Marius Mitrea (Italy), Dai Cambourne (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)

Dragons 18-5 Glasgow Warriors

Dragons beat Glasgow Warriors at a rain-soaked Rodney Parade to earn their second Pro14 victory of the season.

Conditions made it difficult for both sides to put any flowing rugby together but two tries early in the second half ensured the Welshmen stayed above their matchday rivals in Conference A.

Dragons flyhalf Sam Davies got the ball rolling by dissecting the posts for an early penalty before the game went scoreless for the next half hour.

With neither side to get an attacking handle on the game, Davies sent another strike over the upright to extend the hosts’ lead at half-time.

And no sooner had the second half kicked off than the first try of the game arrived as Ashton Hewitt produced a moment of quality to break through the middle of the Glasgow defence and race towards the try line, only to be stopped short, where Taine Basham was on hand to finish off the move.

And five minutes later Dragons had their second try with Hewitt adjudged to have enough downward pressure on the ball to secure the score.

Glasgow, having just had a try ruled out, left it until the final minute of the game to get points on the board via a Huw Jones try.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Basham, Hewitt
Con: Davies
Pens: Davies 2

For Glasgow Warriors:
Try: Jones

Teams:

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Owen Jenkins, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Rhodri Williams (captain), 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Huw Taylor, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Max Williams, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Tyler Morgan

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Glenn Bryce, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (captain), 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Rob Harley, 3 Adam Nicol, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Ruaridh Jackson

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Chris Busby (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Source: @PRO14Official

Main photo: @PRO14Official