Leinster squeak past Blues

The win moved Leinster to second spot on the Pro12 table.

In Saturday's other match, Matt Healy scored a hat-trick as both sides threw caution to the wind at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, but it was Connacht who came out on top in a 51-34 thriller.

Cardiff Blues 13-14 Leinster

Leinster entered this game with the best defence in the Pro12, having conceded just 13 tries, and that record didn't look in threat as the first half saw Ian Madigan kick two penalties to Gareth Anscombe's one for a narrow 6-3 lead.

With the wind causing havoc at Cardiff Arms Park it was more of the same after the break until captain Isa Nacewa dotted down to hand Leinster some breathing space.

The Blues did break Leinster's impressive rearguard though as Josh Navidi went over with two minutes remaining, Rhys Patchell's conversion bringing the hosts to within a point.

But as Patchell looked to win it with a last-gasp drop goal, Eoin Reddan blocked the ball and Cardiff's record against Leinster now reads one win in their last 19 games.

The Blues took the game to Leinster from the off and strong bursts from Kristian Dacey and No.8 Manoa Vosawai saw the home side win a penalty, Anscombe knocking over the first points of the game with a little help from Blaine Scully as the wing was required to hold the ball at a wet and windy Cardiff Arms Park.

But moments later the visitors proved their strength up top as they won a penalty at a scrum, Madigan levelling proceedings.

It was a similar story as Leinster dominated the next two scrums but the province couldn't make it a hat-trick as Cardiff wheeled it around and won back possession.

However, the home side's resurgence was halted as they were pinged for offside, although Madigan struck the right post and Scully ran the ball upfield.

The wind was causing havoc as a Lloyd Williams high kick went over his own head, so Madigan opted to go low with a kick that looked to have Fergus McFadden over, but he spilled the ball going over the whitewash having survived the big hit from Patchell.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as Alex Cuthbert broke the length of the field and Williams collected the ball from Patchell before McFadden came in with the no-armed tackle and earning himself a yellow card.

But there were sighs of relief from the Leinster faithful when Anscombe pushed the resulting penalty wide.

Leinster survived being a man light as McFadden returned to the pitch on 35 minutes, and the visitors even went in at half-time 6-3 ahead as Madigan fired over his second penalty.

Four minutes after the restart the hosts were level as Anscombe split the posts with his second penalty of the afternoon.

But at the other end Leinster were still dominating at scrum time and Madgian nodded the visitor's back in front with a penalty from in front of the posts.

And the Leinster stretched their lead on the hour mark with the first try of the game, Jack Conlan breaking down the short side and feeding Nacewa to score, Madigan failing to add the extras.

Cardiff pushed for a score of their own and with ten minutes left a break from Tom James saw Jordi Murphy sin binned for slowing down play. The penalty was kicked to the corner but the Blues failed to get over from five metres out and Leinster survived.

But with two minutes left the Blues had a try of their own as Navidi went over, Patchell nailing the tough conversion to close the gap to just a point.

Patchell then looked to win it with a late drop goal but Reddan was out quick to charge the ball down and Leinster saw the game out.

The scorers:

For Cardiff Blues:

Try: Navidi

Con: Patchell

Pens: Anscombe 2

For Leinster:

Try: Nacewa

Pens: Madigan 3

Teams: 

Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhys Patchell, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Blaine Scully, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams (captain), 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 James Down, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Thomas Davies.

Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Bradley Thyer, 18 Taufa’ao Filise, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Tom James, 23 Dan Fish.

Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Isa Nacewa (captain), 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Adam Byrne.

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Zebre 34-51 Connacht

Matt Healy and Kieran Marmion crossed for Connacht and Johan Meyer responded for Zebre just before half-time, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Connacht – already the Pro12's top try-scorers with 36 before the game – found more joy through Healy (2), Niyi Adeolokun (2) after half-time.

Kelly Haimona – who added two penalties and four conversions – and Dries van Schalkwyk also scored to make sure the Irish province did not have it all their own way.

Federico Ruzza also touched down for the hosts but Connacht, who were also helped along by AJ MacGinty's 12 points, went to the top of the table for at least 24 hours.

Connacht had won on their last four trips to Italy but it was Zebre and started brightly here after a surging Kieran Marmion offloaded to Eoin McKeon.

McKeon smashed into Zebre's 22 and drew a penalty, which Craig Ronaldson converted to put the first three points on the board.

Zebre responded strongly and set up camp deep into Connacht territory and after a heavy spell of pressure, the visitors were pinged at the breakdown and Haimona levelled the scores.

But a magical move involving Bundee Aki and Tiernan O'Halloran saw Connacht cross in the 16th minute, Healy the beneficiary of their fine handling.

Ronaldson added the extras before Zebre went back up the field, Connacht were penalised for being off their feet and Haimona kicked his second penalty.

Again the Irish province took little time to storm back as the quick-thinking Marmion took a tap penalty and reached over the whitewash.

Ronaldson added the extras and Connacht found themselves 17-6 up midway through the half.

Inaccuracy was costing Zebre at the other end, as a promising move was ended when the ball was flung out to touch, though they went close shortly after the half-hour mark.

But the TMO was consulted following a series of pick-and-goes, and Zebre were ruled to have been held up.

They were not to be denied in the 38th minute as Zebre took advantage from a line-out – following a Kayle van Zyl break – and flank Meyer rumbled over, Haimona converting.

Just the four points were in it at half-time and Ronaldson failed to extend Connacht's lead when the teams came back out after his penalty rebounded off the post.

Try number three for Connacht came soon after though, as Healy took a great pass from MacGinty and touched down for his ninth try of the seasons in all competitions. Ronaldson's conversion took the score out to 24-13.

Zebre refused to give up and got a try back within a minute, Haimona stretching out for the dot down before the Italy flyhalf converted his own score.

In worse news for Connacht, an injured Eoghan Masterson left the field on a stretcher, but Healy restored some smiles in the 48th minute.

The wing completed his hat-trick – and the bonus-point try – after latching onto a MacGinty chip and Ronaldson's extras extended Connacht's lead to 11 points.

Incredibly the tries kept flowing, first an intercept try for van Schalkwyk who ran the length of the field to score.

Three minutes later Adeolokun got in the act for Connacht following a long pass from O'Halloran, and MacGinty converted before slotting a penalty.

But the game was surely beyond Zebre when the magical MacGinty teed up Adeolokun for his second try of the game – leaving the score at 48-27 on 66 minutes.

Zebre at least ensured they'd take away a try-bonus point when replacement lock Ruzza crashed over.

MacGinty then continued his perfect form with the boot by scoring another penalty, and with ten minutes remaining that was the last score of a helter-skelter second half.

The scorers:

For Zebre:

Tries: Van Schalkwyk, Haimona, Ruzza, Meyer

Cons: Haimona 4

Pens: Haimona 2

For Connacht:

Tries: Marmion, Healy 3, Adeolokun 2

Cons: Ronaldson 3, MacGinty 3

Pens: Ronaldson, MacGinty 2

Teams:

Zebre: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Emiliano Caffini, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Bruno Postiglioni.

Replacements: 16 Emiliano Coria, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Filippo Cristiano, 21 Matteo Panunzi, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Tommaso Boni.

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Ben Marshall, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley.

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Peter Robb, 23 Danie Poolman.

Referee: Gary Conway (Ireland)

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