Kings see red as losing streak continues
PRO14 SATURDAY WRAP: The South African teams’ losing streak continued at the weekend.
Benetton got back to winning ways in the, as they ended their run of three consecutive defeats with a powerful showing against Southern Kings.
The Kings were reduced to 14 players when prop Justin Forwood was red carded (two yellow cards) for continually offending. They also conceded two penalty tries.
* In other Saturday action Leinster claimed the spoils in a hotly contested 30-22 victory over rivals Munster thanks to a dominant kicking performance from Ross Byrne.
* Rhys Patchell’s second-half try earned victory for Scarlets in an inter-pro arm-wrestle with Ospreys at Parc Y Scarlets.
* Owen Lane scored two tries as Cardiff Blues beat Dragons 23-15 in the all-Welsh derby.
All the Saturday action!
Scarlets 20-17 Ospreys
Rhys Patchell’s second-half try earned victory for Scarlets in an inter-pro arm-wrestle with Ospreys at Parc Y Scarlets.
Johnny McNicholl handed the home side an early lead but tries from Cory Allen and George North helped the visitors back into it.
Despite remaining dominant, it took nearly an hour for Scarlets to break through and Patchell provided the eventual winning try.
The win means Ospreys haven’t won in Llanelli since Boxing Day 2015 and means Scarlets still haven’t been beaten in Pro14 in 24 home games.
After cagey opening stages, former Osprey Kieron Fonotia made a powerful surge over the gain line and popped an inside ball for McNicholl to draw first blood.
The visitors earned plenty of territory but severely lacked cutting edge in the 22, with Rhys Patchell holding Luke Morgan up close to the line after a fine offload on the far side by Sam Davies.
Ospreys kept up the pressure and crossed the whitewash three minutes later, recycling the ball from the left to right-hand side where Cory Allen cut an inside line and powered over.
Davies completed the conversion and with Patchell substituted after a concussion, the momentum of the contest shifted.
Another flowing move from left to right saw Ospreys surged into the lead, North showing every ounce of his strength to hand off his man and dot down in the far corner.
But the Scarlets assumed almost total control at the start of the second half, going through phase play remorselessly and grinding down the Ospreys defence with patient offense.
Wales centre Hadleigh Parkes had the first claim for a try, barrelling over under the posts but the TMO spotted a knock-on earlier in the move.
Led by Alun Wyn Jones, the visitors largely held firm although Luke Morgan was very nearly punished for deliberately knocking on a pass from Patchell who had recovered from his earlier HIA.
Scarlets broke through in the 58th minute, spinning the ball wide and Patchell mounting an ambitious carry that was enough for him to cross.
Leigh Halfpenny remained perfect from the tee to make it 20-12, having converted McNicholl’s early score and added a penalty for good measure.
Luke Morgan, who has been in fine form since his transition from the sevens programme over the summer, hit back on the hour mark with a superb score.
James Hook led the kick-chase from full-back and after the ball was cycled out to the left, Justin Tipuric maintained momentum and offloaded to Morgan who brushed off his tackler to dot down in the corner.
The onslaught resumed and Scarlets found space but Will Boyde’s crucial pass drifted behind Josh McLeod and into touch.
Scarlets kept the ball stoically and avoided turnovers, climbing to second in Conference B with the rousing triumph.
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: McNicholl, Patchell
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny 2
For Ospreys:
Tries: Allen, North, Morgan
Con: Davies
Teams:’
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Johnny McNicholl, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (captain), 1 Wyn Jones.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Tom Price, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Paul Asquith.
Ospreys: 15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (captain), 6 Sam Cross, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Joe Thomas, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Simon Rees (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Dragons 15-23 Cardiff Blues
Owen Lane scored two tries as Cardiff Blues beat Dragons 23-15 in the all-Welsh derby.
A second-half fight-back from the Blues saw them come from behind to beat their rivals in what was an entertaining encounter at Rodney Parade.
The defeat means that the Dragons have now lost their last 22 fixtures against Welsh sides.
The Dragons had started brightly, but two second-half tries were enough for the Blues to claim victory. The Dragons made their early pressure pay off when Josh Lewis went over to put his team ahead.
The ball was worked from one side to the other, and after some good work from Jordan Williams, Josh Lewis was on-hand to score.
Lewis was given two bites at the cherry at converting but missed on both occasions, after Lane had charged too early – leading to the fly-half to be given a retake.
The try was well-deserved and came after Dragon’s captain Cory Hill had been held up at the line by the Blues defence and Lewis had missed a sixth-minute penalty.
The Dragons then took a 12-0 lead after Jared Rosser collected the ball after a great break and offload from Adam Warren to find Lewis, who spread the ball onto Rosser to score. Lewis then kicked the conversion.
The Blues worked their way back into late in the first-half. Willis Halaholo was denied a try by the TMO after collecting a kick through from Lloyd Williams but was adjudged not to have grounded the ball.
Moments later the Blues were awarded a try after Lane got back to his feet after being tackled by Lewis to go over smartly in the corner.
Early in the second-half, Gareth Anscombe cut the deficit for the Blues with a long-range penalty from just inside the Dragons half following a powerful Cardiff scrum.
Anscombe then kicked another long-range penalty to pull the Blues within one point, but the Dragons restored their four-point lead moments later after Williams kicked a penalty to make it 15-11.
Midway through the second-half, the Blues took the lead for the first time through Kristian Dacey following a driving line-out after Jarrod Evans decided to kick into the corner.
Blues started to take control and after Anscombe broke from deep, the ball was worked out wide to Lane to score his second try. Anscombe then kicked the conversion to secure the win.
The scorers:
For Dragons:
Tries: Lewis, Rosser
Con: J Williams
Pen: J Williams
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Lane 2, Dacey
Con: Anscombe
Pens: Anscombe 2
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (captain), 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Tyler Morgan, 23 Will Talbot-Davies.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harris, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (captain), 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 George Earle, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Garyn Smith.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Gareth Newman (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Leinster 30-22 Munster
Leinster claimed the spoils in a hotly contested 30-22 victory over rivals Munster thanks to a dominant kicking performance from Ross Byrne.
The Leinster fly-half scored 13 points to hold off a second half Munster fight back to claim a fifth win of the season.
The game started with an error strewn opening 10 minutes, but the tide turned when Leinster’s Dan Leavy broke away and Jamison Gibson-Park’s pass to James Lowe was intercepted by Keith Earls with the try line at his mercy.
Following a video review, referee Ben Whitehouse judged that Earls made early contact with the Leinster wing and he was subsequently handed a yellow card with a penalty try awarded to Leinster.
The decision proved decisive as Leinster capitalised only four minutes later when Lowe touched down in the left corner. Byrne added the extras from a tight angle.
When Munster opted not to kick for goal from a penalty, they were rewarded when a long maul allowed Tadhg Beirne to power over the line to reduce the deficit.
The Thomond Park side continued to provide a constant threat from the maul and CJ Stander made it count when he ran from the left of the scrum to score Munster’s second try of the evening with an outstretched left arm.
Joey Carbery kicked the conversion to score his first points of the night, before the men in blue added to their slim lead from the boot of Byrne eight minutes before the break.
On the stroke of half-time Byrne made it three from three to stretch Leinster’s advantage to 20-12 at half-time.
The reigning champions didn’t rest on their laurels following the restart and a stunning arcing pass from Gibson-Park eight yards from the line was capitalised on by Lowe to acrobatically reach down in the left corner for his second try of the match. Byrne added the extras to go 27-12 up.
Carbery ended a quiet spell for both sides following a Munster penalty awarded for an accidental high tackle and it sparked a comeback for Johann van Graan’s side.
After three successive scrums on the Leinster try line, Munster deservedly scored when New Zealander Alby Mathewson took advantage of slack defending from Rory O’Loughlin to score his first try of the season.
But Leinster were again handed the initiative when Jean Kleyn obstructed a Leinsterman to allow Byrne to kick his fifth successful kick of the match and ensure Leinster secured a ninth win in succession at the home of Irish.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Penalty try, Lowe 2
Cons: Byrne 2
Pens: Byrne 3
For Munster:
Tries: Beirne, Stander, Mathewson
Cons: Carbery 2
Pen: Carbery
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Seán O’Brien, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Dave Kearney.
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 James Cronin, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Rory Scannell.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Benetton 28-5 Southern Kings
Benetton got back to winning ways in the Pro14 as they ended their run of three consecutive defeats with a powerful showing against Southern Kings.
The Italians stormed into a lead that they never looked like relinquishing with a penalty try plus two further first-half scores from Luca Bigi and Dewaldt Duwenage.
A second penalty try after the break hammered home their advantage, with Kings only consolation coming in the form of Yaw Penxe’s try just before the interval.
Kieran Crowley made seven changes to Benetton for the round six clash, having slipped to three consecutive defeats in the Pro14 – their worst sequence since December.
And with the heartbreak of their 31-30 defeat to Edinburgh last time out still fresh in their minds, the hosts started like they had a point to prove at the Stadio Monigo.
It took just four minutes for them to get on the board. With Kings struggling to deal with Benetton’s driving lineout mauls, Bigi surged over the whitewash for his third try in the green jersey.
Tommaso Allan added the extras before Kings suffered another blow when Justin Forwood was sent to the bin, with Benetton almost capitalising immediately through Berton Klaasen.
He was held up on the line, but Kings were soon exposed again. Sustained pressure from the Benetton forwards left the visitors vulnerable and Duwenage took advantage to score.
Despite Kings being restored to 15 men, the South African side still had no answer for Benetton’s forward power and they conceded a third try before the half-hour mark.
The visitors were deemed to have stopped another Benetton maul illegally, with referee Craig Evans awarding a penalty try and sending Schalk Oelofse to the bin as a result.
When Kings finally did wrestle the ball off the home side they looked dangerous. Godlen Masimla went close first before linking up with Penxe, who stepped inside and touched down.
Masixole Banda failed with the conversion and Benetton went into the break with a 21-5 lead as they closed in on fourth win from four encounters against Kings.
Just like the first half, the hosts were relentless at the start of the second period and came close to sealing the bonus point when Abraham Steyn was held up by Masimla.
His efforts proved in vein, though, as Benetton were gifted a second penalty try on 53 minutes, with Forwood being sent for an early bath after being shown a second yellow card.
With the rain pouring down, the game became even scrappier in the closing minutes as both sides struggled to hold on to possession.
Kings came close to grabbing a late consolation through Tristan Blewett, but it wasn’t to be as Benetton consigned the visitors to their fifth defeat of the season.
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Tries: Bigi, Duvenage, Penalty tries
Cons: Allan 2; penalty tries do not require conversions
For the Kings:
Try: Penxe
Teams:
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Robert Barbieri (captain), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Alberto De Marchi, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Irné Herbst, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Alberto Sgarbi
Southern Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Martin Du Toit, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (captain), 1 Justin Forwood
Replacements: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Lupumlo Mguca, 18 Rossouw De Klerk, 19 Bobby De Wee , 20 Marthinus Burger, 21 Ruan Van Rensburg, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Tristan Blewett
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)
Source: @PRO14Official
