Edinburgh see off plucky Cheetahs
PRO14 FRIDAY WRAP: Bill Mata and Jamie Ritchie scored late as Edinburgh Rugby secured a second home win in a week as they saw off the Cheetahs 37-21 in a thrilling battle at Murrayfield.
Meanwhile, Connacht claimed their first win away from home in the Pro14 since April 2017, beating 14-man Ulster 22-15 at the Kingspan.
At Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Warriors produced a blistering second half display to brush aside Zebre to pick up their fifth victory of the Pro14 season.
Edinburgh 37-21 Cheetahs
The lightning Sibhale Maxwane scored twice for the visitors but Bill Mata and Ritchie, along with further scores from Ben Toolis and Darcy Graham, carried the hosts to victory.
The Cheetahs remain winless this season but showed plenty of promise at Edinburgh, with their brand of fast and attacking rugby causing all kinds of problems.
Edinburgh move above Ulster and Benetton in Conference B, setting them up nicely for the beginning of the Champions Cup next weekend.
Fresh from a nervy win against Benetton last weekend, Edinburgh came out of the blocks fast – with Simon Hickie slotting through the first points of the match with a penalty.
The flyhalf added a second, benefiting from Edinburgh’s forward dominance before the first try of the match arrived mid-way through the first half.
Lock Toolis got his head down and powered forward from a metre out following several phases of play near the Cheetahs line.
Edinburgh were firmly in control but that all changed in an instant when the Cheetahs turned over the ball deep in their own half. Maxwane charged down the left, showing blistering speed to get beyond Graham and taking the ball to just five metres out.
He was just about prevented from scoring, but he popped a pass off to Nico Lee to touch down and score.
But Edinburgh stretched their lead minutes before the half-time whistle following a scrum 20 metres out. They switched the ball right, where they managed to create an overload and Graham sprinted through to score.
The Cheetahs hit back after the break with the dangerous Maxwane getting through on the left. After William Small-Smith was stopped 20 metres out down the right, they switched the play, created an overlap and the wing had a simple finish.
That shook Edinburgh and the visitors took advantage, punching holes in their defence each time they ran forward – getting over the gainline with every phase.
Fullback Louis Fouche made the big break and was stopped just five metres short but a couple of phases later, Tiaan Schoeman found Maxwane on his inside shoulder and the wing stepped inside an Edinburgh defender to touch down.
A successful conversion from Schoeman moved the visitors one point ahead, but it was short-lived – as Hickie booted a third penalty of the night from 30 metres.
That settled the hosts and they pulled clear with 15 minutes to go as Mata peeled off the back of a scrum and planted the ball down.
And the hosts secured the bonus point when Ritchie scored with just two minutes left.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Toolis, Graham, Mata, Richie
Cons: Hickey 4
Pens: Hickey 3
For Cheetahs:
Tries: Lee, Maxwane 2
Cons: Schoeman 3
Yellow card: Charles Marais (Cheetahs, 77)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (captain), 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Murray McCallum, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Luke Hamilton, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Chris Dean.
Cheetahs: 15 Louis Fouche, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Stephan Malan, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Neil Jordaan, 5 Jean-Pierre du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johannes Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Günther Janse van Vuuren, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Abongile Nonkontwana, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Ali Mgijima.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Ian Kenny (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Ulster 15-22 Connacht
The game hinged on a red card for Ulster’s Matthew Rea from the restart of the second-half, leaving the home side with an insurmountable task.
The Northern Irish side watched tries from Angus Kernohan and Peter Nelson be chalked off within five minutes of the first half as Connacht put on a clinical display of try-scoring.
Connacht, starved of an Irish inter-pro victory away from home having only secured one in the last 16 years, surged ahead with a try on six minutes.
A perfectly executed line-out saw their backline take the ball off the top and Matt Healy launch a penetrating run through the midfield, neatly setting up the onrushing O’Halloran.
Their early dominance extended to scrum time, as well, with four bullying set-pieces ending in referee Andrew Brace rushing under the posts and signalling a penalty try for 12-0.
Ulster suffered their biggest-ever defeat at Munster in Round Five and would have feared the worst but Ireland star Jacob Stockdale helped them hit back on 24 minutes.
A turnover deep in Connacht territory set a platform for Billy Burns to attempt a raking cross-field kick that bounced over a defender and found Stockdale to dot down acrobatically.
The home side’s kicking game helped create countless chances and Angus Kernohan thought he’d drawn them closer to parity just before the half-hour.
His relieving kick from just outside the 22 foxed the Connacht defender and he touched down a further grubber kick, only for Stockdale to have been ruled offside from the initial punt.
The Northern Irishmen would be denied in similar fashion two minutes later, Peter Nelson breaking through to dot down before, again, being adjudged offside from Stockdale’s kick.
There was further drama to come as Ulster went down to 14 men and then 13 within a couple of seconds, either side of half-time.
In the last minute of the first half, Marcell Coetzee’s tackle slipped up to the neck for the second time and the referee issued a yellow card.
Within 10 seconds of the restart, Cian Kelleher jack-knifed over the shoulder of Matthew Rea and the lock was red-carded.
The second half was a somewhat more sedate affair, with Ulster scrum-half John Cooney keeping his team in touch with a penalty after Connacht were pinged for not rolling away.
But the man advantage proved too stiff to overhaul as Aki intercepted and ripped the ball in the midfield and surged across the whitewash from 40 metres out.
Nick Timoney converted from long range in the closing moments and John Cooney converted to make a draw possible on the final play, but it was to be Ulster’s night.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Stockdale, Timoney
Con: Cooney
Pen: Cooney
For Connacht:
Tries: O’Halloran, Penalty Try, Aki
Con: Carty
Pen: Carty
Red Card: Matthew Rea (Ulster, 41 – dangerous play)
Yellow Card: Marcell Coetzee (Ulster, 40 – high tackle)
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Peter Nelson, 14 Angus Kernohan, 13 Angus Curtis, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matthew Rea, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 James Hume.
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (captain), 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 James Cannon, 20 Colby Fainga’a, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Kyle Godwin, 23 Cian Kelleher.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy, Sean Gallagher (both Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Glasgow Warriors 36-8 Zebre
Huw Jones got the Warriors off to the perfect start but Apisai Tauyavuca’s response kept the Italians within striking distance before second half efforts from George Turner, Greg Peterson, George Horne and a magnificent team try rounded off by Pete Horne secured the victory.
The Warriors prided themselves on their home form last season and continued that fine work after just five minutes as Adam Hastings broke from his own half, racing away and drawing the defender before passing back inside to Jones who converts for his second try in his last two games.
Despite that early start the Warriors were careless at the set piece as a disciplined Zebre side made the most of defensive errors and dominate that game.
Zebre continued to press hard against their hosts and the Italian side had their reward with their first try following 20 phases of play.
The visitors packed on the pressure and managed to bundle their way over with Tauyavuca adding the finishing touches.
The Warriors would have been concerned by Zebre’s hustle but with two minutes to go, Hastings’ penalty extended their advantage to five before the break.
But back came the Italians in the dying moments of the first half and had a penalty of their own, converted by Marcello Violi.
Zebre had 10 points to their name heading into the clash against the Warriors and at half-time would’ve felt more than a match for a side that finished 40 points ahead of them last season.
But a yellow card for No.7 Johan Meyer put Zebre on the backfoot and the hosts made the most of that one-man advantage as Turner spotted a gap in the Italians back line and darted over in the corner to extend the lead.
And with 17 minutes to go Warriors put the game beyond doubt with a scintillating score.
Following a set piece, George Horne picked up the ball before showing fine hands to release Greg Peterson for the Warriors third effort.
Minutes later the Warriors had the bonus point as a slick attack saw Jones burst through the Zebre backline before feeding in Horne who dived under the posts.
But their fifth and final try was the best of the lot as neat build-up play between Nikola Matawalu and Lee Jones allowed birthday boy Peter Horne to round off the scoring in stunning fashion.
The scorers:
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Jones, Turner, Peterson, G Horne, P Horne
Cons: Hastings 4
Pen: Hastings
For Zebre:
Try: Tauyavuca
Pen: Violi
Yellow Card: Johan Meyer (Zebre, 51)
Teams:
Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Jonny Gray (captain), 4 Andrew Davidson, 3 Adam Nicol, 2 George Turner, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Tevita Tameilau, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Niko Matawalu.
Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Gabriele Di Giulio, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Paula Balekana, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Apisai Tauyavuca, 5 George Biagi (captain), 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau.
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Samuele Ortis, 20 Giosué Zilocchi, 21 Riccardo Raffaele, 22 Maicol Azzolini, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti.
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Charles Samson (Scotland)
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