Glasgow topple Munster at home

 

Meanwhile, in Italy, Treviso ran rampant against a poor looking Dragons side side, the home team scoring five tries against the Welsh teams three.

 

The final game of the weekend saw Scarlets just manage to edge out Zebre at home, winning the game by seven points after a spirited showing from the Italians

 

 

 

The Warriors shocked their hosts with three tries in the first-half to build up a commanding 22-5 lead as Jonny Gray, Sean Maitland and Josh Strauss all went over, cancelling out CJ Stander's reply.

 

And that is how the game stayed in the second 40 as despite constant pressure from the hosts, Glasgow held on for the famous win – their fourth straight in the Pro12.

 

The Warriors got off to the perfect start after just four minutes as after Munster were penalised for not rolling away the visitors kicked to the corner. And the plan worked perfectly as a maul from the following line out saw Gray barge his way over.

 

Duncan Weir added the extras and he was on target again on seven minutes, this time a penalty sailing through the uprights after John Ryan was pinged for not rolling away.

 

Munster then dominated the next ten minutes but couldn't find a way to the tryline, a chip through going dead and then a brilliant turnover allowing Chris Cusiter to clear the Glasgow lines.

 

However the home side's pressure told and Stander went over out wide to halve the deficit with the conversion attempt missing.

 

But five minutes later Glasgow extended their lead and again Munster were their own worst enemies.

 

The hosts were again penalised at the breakdown – this time for offside – and the Warriors opt for another line out.

 

They spread the ball out wide and the move ended up with a try for Maitland, the Kiwi touching down in corner after skipping past a couple of tackles.

 

Weir missed the touchline conversion but he was on target as Glasgow grabbed their third try of the half after Strauss had touched down following a scrum.

 

Trailing 5-22 at half-time Munster tried their best to get back into the game after the interval but found Glasgow Warriors in no mood to budge.

 

And Glasgow even almost extended their lead as Gordon Reid found a gap and offloaded the ball only for the Warriors to be held up over the line.

 

For the final half hour it was all Munster and they game close to a try on several occasions, no more so on 53 minutes only for Conor Murray to drop the ball at the vital moment.

 

However they simply couldn't find a much-needed score and despite battering on the door Glasgow held firm for an important victory in their own  Pro12 play-off chase.

 

 

Try: Stander

 

Tries: Gray, Maitland, Strauss

Cons: Weir 2

Pen: Weir

 

 

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Keith Earls, 12 James Downey, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Coughlan (captain), 7 Sean Dougall, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Dave Foley, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 John Ryan

Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Alan Cotter, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Johne Murphy.

 

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Finn Russell, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter (captain), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gordon Reid

Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Richie Vernon.

 

Referee: Nigel Owens 

Assistant referees: Gary Conway, David Connolly 

TMO: Alan Rogan 

 

 

Treviso closed the gap on Newport Gwent Dragons after running out 45-27 winners in a thrilling  Pro12 clash.

 

The Italians will have to square off against the Dragons again on the last day of the season and will take heart from a spirited performance.

 

It is just their third win in the last ten matches and pulls them further away from fellow Italian strugglers Zebre.

 

Despite the comprehensive win Treviso fell behind early following a Jason Tovey penalty on ten minutes.

 

It was Newport Gwent Dragons' second penalty of the match after Tom Prydie missed his attempt on six minutes.

 

Treviso were level seven minutes later following a Mat Berquist penalty but Tovey restored the Dragons' lead with another penalty moments later.

 

However, the first try of the match on 22 minutes signalled the beginning of the end for Newport Gwent Dragons.

 

Ludovico Nitoglia ran over and Berquist's conversion gave Treviso a 10-6 lead – their first of the match.

 

And from that moment on they never looked back as a trio of Berquist penalties before half time gave the Italians a 19-6 half-time lead.

 

The Dragons had no response to the Italian onslaught and after the break it was more of the same.

 

Luke McLean ran over on 44 minutes and Berquist, flawless as ever, added a conversion.

 

Michele Campagnaro got in on the act to worsen Newport Gwent Dragons' misery but this time Berquist was unable to tag on the extra points.

 

The Dragons began to show signs of life and on 57 minutes Matthew Screech scored to give a faint glimmer of hope to the visitors.

 

Tovey's conversion made it 31-13 but no sooner had the game restarted than Treviso were in again.

 

Manoa Vosawai was the man getting in on the action this time and Berquist put right his earlier blip to once against extend Treviso's lead.

 

While Newport Gwent Dragons were down they were not out and showed signs of life as Ross Wardle pulled another back for his side on 64 minutes.

 

But whatever the Dragons could do Treviso could do better and less than a minute later Matteo Muccignat scored and Berquist grabbed his 20th point of the evening.

 

There was one last moment of consolation for the Welsh side and Cory Hill's try coupled with Tovey's conversion made the score more respectable.

 

The Italians will be filled with confidence following the victory and will need to take every ounce of that into next weeks match against table-topping Leinster.

 

 

Tries: Nitoglia, McLean, Campagnaro, Vosawai, Muccignat

Cons: Berquist 4

Pens: Berquist 4

 

Tries: Screech, Wardle, Hill

Cons: Tovey 3

Pens: Tovey 2

 

 

Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Christian Loamanu, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Mat Berquist, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Marco Filippucci, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi

Replacements: 16 John Maistri, 17 Matthew Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Alberto Sgarbi, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 James Ambrosini.

 

Dragons: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Pat Leach, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Lewis Davies (captain), 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Phil Price

Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Bruce Douglas, 19 Rob Sidoli, 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Kris Burton, 23 Ross Wardle.

 

Referee: George Clancy 

Assistant referees: Stefano Traversi, Giorgio Sgardalo 

TMO: Alan Falzone 

 

 

Scarlets made it five wins in a row at Parc y Scarlets in all competition on Saturday despite being pushed all the way by a committed Zebre site who went down 27-20.

 

It was revenge of sorts for the Welsh outfit, who were held to a draw by bottom club Zebre in their previous meeting earlier this season.

 

But victory for the home side helped consolidate their top six spot, as they overcame a 13-9 first-half deficit following tries from Giulio Toniolatti and Samuela Vunisa.

 

Jordan Williams and Ken Owens touched down after the break while Rhys Priestland finished with a personal haul of 17 points.

 

Priestland knocked over two early penalties to get Scarlets on the scoreboard before Gonzalo Garcia replied with three points off the tee.

 

And Zebre took a surprise lead when No.8 Vunisa broke from the back of a five-metres scrum and burst through several would-be tacklers to crash over the line.

 

The conversion was missed but Scarlets looked in serious trouble when Toniolatti added a second try before the interval to make it 13-9 at the interval after another Priestland three-pointer.

 

And the half-time team talk obviously worked wonders as the fightback began in earnest after the interval, Jordan Williams racing away from the tiring Zebre defence to dive over the whitewash.

 

Priestland's conversion made it 16-13 to the home side who began to gain a measure of control for the first time.

 

And Scarlets looked to have wrapped things up when hooker Ken Owens finishing off a powerful team move from close range with the Zebre defence unable to hold out under pressure.

 

Leading 21-13, another penalty from the boot of Priestland looked to have put the result beyond Zebre.

 

But centre Gonzalo Garcia gave the visitors hope when he found half a yard of space to evade his marker and ground the ball.

 

The conversion brought them back to within four points and had Scarlets fans biting their nails until another Priestland penalty calmed their nerves.

 

The seven-point cushion was enough to see the Scarlets over the line, denying Zebre the first back-to-back undefeated outings in their RaboDirect Pro12 history after a 25-25 draw with Newport Gwent Dragons in their last outings.

 

And despite the pressing in the final minutes the penalty count was ultimately their undoing as Priestland's boot proved the difference.

 

 

Tries: Williams, Owens

Con: Priestland

Pens: Priestland 5

Yellow card: Timani

 

Tries: Vunisa, Toniollati, Garcia

Cons: Garcia 2

Pen: Garcia

 

 

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Jonathan Davies (captain), 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Jordan Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Sione Timani. 7 Josh Tunrbull, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 George Earle, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Rhodri Jones, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rob Evans.

Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil John, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Johan Snyman, 20 Richard Kelly, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Gareth Maule.

 

Zebre: 15 David Odiete, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Giulio Toniolatti, 10 Tommaso Iannone, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 6 Filippo Ferrarini, 5 George Biagi, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (captain), 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Salvatore Perugini.

Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea de Marchi, 18 Luca Redofini, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzini, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Ruggero Trevisan.

 

Referee: Andrew McMenemy

Assistant referees: Wayne Davies, Chris Williams

TMO: Tim Hayes