Connacht squeak past Leinster
Scarlets strengthened their claims for a top four finish in this season's Pro12 after a rare 25-16 win over Welsh rivals Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.
Connacht 7-6 Leinster
The hosts had won their last six matches in all tournaments, five of those with maximum points, but this one was by the skin of their teeth with Kieran Marmion grabbing the only try of a game where defences ruled the roost.
The 24-year-old touched down after 13 minutes, with Leinster battling against a brutal wind in the first half and not troubling the scorers.
And despite Ian Madigan's two penalties after the interval, a heroic effort from Connacht kept their visitors at bay to stretch their lead at the summit of the table.
With the Pro12's second-most successful attack going head-to-head with the league's statistically best defence, something had to give – and a ferocious wind in Galway did Leinster no favours in a tricky first half.
The Leinstermen had won all three matches they have played against fellow Irish provinces this season and lost just once to Connacht in their last six encounters, but rode their luck as their hosts threw wave after wave of attack at them in an intense opening 10 minutes.
Connacht were camped inside the Leinster 22, but Luke McGrath forced an important turnover before Dominic Ryan made not one, but four huge hits in defence.
Pat Lam's men had to make do with the early loss of Nathan White to injury, but it did not seem to hamper them as they brought on Ireland international Finlay Bealham for his 50th appearance, and finally forced the game's opening score after 13 minutes.
Scrumhalf Marmion made the breakthrough, chasing down an inch-perfect chip from wing Niyi Adeolokun to dot down, with No.10 AJ MacGinty adding the extras.
The flyhalf continued to build the pressure, pinging a kick from his own 10m line deep into Leinster territory, but Luke Fitzgerald – enjoying his 150th appearance for the boys in blue – soon forced another brilliant turnover.
Leinster finally looked to mount an attack on the half-hour mark, but when Cian Healy was penalised for holding on MacGinty was given a shot at goal from just short of halfway.
The wind was at his back but his kick was still just short despite having the accuracy, and the scoreline stayed at 7-0.
Leinster's first meaningful attack of the half came with five minutes remaining, as they stole a Connacht line-out and advanced into the 22, but the ball was lost forward in contact and the hosts made it to half-time unscathed.
But Madigan hit back straight after the interval for Leinster, slotting his first kick at goal perfectly from the right-hand side after a brilliant counter ruck saw Connacht penalised for not rolling away.
MacGinty's break into the Leinster 22 ten minutes later led to Leinster being penalised for a high tackle on Adeolokun, but Connacht did not trouble the scorers again as they kicked to the corner only for Ryan to steal the lineout.
Both defences were impressing and as the game passed the hour mark, the score was still locked at 7-3, but a Leinster scrum soon saw an offside Marmion penalised, and Madigan's kick brought his side within a point of Connacht.
Leinster brought on their big guns in search of a winning score, with Mike Ross, Devin Toner, and Jamie Heaslip all off the bench – and the latter almost made an immediate impact as he stole the ball and tore up the pitch.
But the boys in blue were agonisingly held up over the line with two minutes remaining, and as the clock wound down Connacht forced the turnover to end a thrilling contest.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Try: Marmion
Con: MacGinty
For Leinster:
Pen: Madigan 2
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (captain), 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Nathan White, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Andrew Browne, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Shane O’Leary, 23 Robbie Henshaw.
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa (captain), 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jamie Heaslip, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Zane Kirchner.
Referee: Nigel Owens
Assistant Referees: Peter Fitzgibbon, Stuart Gaffikin
TMO: Olly Hodges
Scarlets 25-16 Ospreys
There had been nothing to separate the two sides at half-time with the scores at 13-13 – DTH Van Der Merwe cancelling out Josh Matavesi's earlier try for Ospreys.
But Aled Thomas made the vital difference after the break, stepping off the bench for Dan Jones – who had kicked eight points in the first half – and firing over four penalties to earn Scarlets their first win over their Welsh rivals at the Liberty Stadium since September 2007.
Ospreys, who had Sam Davies contribute 11 points from the kicking tee, slipped to their third successive Pro12 defeat.
The first points went the way of the visitors after six minutes when Jones sent over his penalty after Ospreys were penalised for an infringement at the line out.
Ospreys almost hit back immediately when Rhys Webb applied the pressure to Jones when he was kicking clear but the rebound headed over the dead ball line.
But the hosts did not have to wait long for their first points of the game when Davies' clever inside pass played in Dan Evans who then freed up Matavesi to go over for Ospreys 50th all-time try against the Scarlets, with Davies converting for 7-3 on 15 minutes.
Ospreys had their tails up and Davies extended their lead by another three points just short of the half hour mark with a penalty.
However, the visitors were not without their own moments and great work by Morgan Allen played in van der Merwe who just squeezed over in the corner on 29 minutes, with Jones converting to tie the scores.
They were not level long though with Davies' long-range penalty minutes later putting the hosts back in front.
Eli Walker then looked to put Ospreys clear when he set off on a foot race with Steffan Evans but the Scarlets man got there first and, with Walker penalised, the visitors won the penalty.
And with just four minutes to go before half-time, Scarlets again pulled level when Jones slotted over his second penalty of the afternoon for 13-13.
The second half started with Scarlets applying the pressure close to Ospreys' line but they were eventually penalised at the scrum and the opportunity was gone.
The visitors were then handed a boost when Davies fumbled a simple defensive gather under pressure from van der Merwe but they were unable to capitalise from the scrum.
The game had become an open affair with Ospreys looking for a way through the Scarlets defence in their 22 before Hadleigh Parkes intercepted before sprinting clear and kicking forward for Gareth Davies.
But the Scarlets scrumhalf was tackled by Jess Hassler as he gathered just metres from the line, with the referee penalising Gareth Davies for not releasing.
Just minutes later Alex Thomas was off target with his penalty for Scarlets as the score remained at 13-13 past the hour mark.
But he made no mistake on 63 minutes with another three-pointer to put the visitors in front.
The Ospreys error count was starting to creep up and Thomas took advantage with another long range penalty to take the lead out to six points.
The game was not done yet though and Sam Davies' penalty made it a three-point game with nine minutes remaining but Thomas again stepped up with two late penalties to secure the points.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Try: Matavesi
Con: Davies
Pens: Davies 3
For Scarlets:
Try: Van der Merwe
Con: Jones
Pens: Jones 2, Thomas 4
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ben John, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 James King, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Paul James (captain).
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Owen Watkin.
Scarlets: 15 Steff Evans, 14 Gareth Owen, 13 Regan King, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 James Davies, 6 John Barclay, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Peter Edwards, 2 Ken Owens (captain), 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Maselino Paulino, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Harry Robinson.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse
Assistant Referees: Ian Davies, Wayne Davies
TMO: Jon Mason
