Leinster top, but Shane steals the show

Leinster ensured they would finish top of the Pro12 standings at the conclusion of the regular season, but Friday’s spotlight belonged to Welsh legend Shane Williams.

Williams celebrated his farewell game for the Ospreys in style – with a try in the final minute – to help his side secure a Pro12 play-off place with a 31-12 win over the Dragons.

Meanwhile table toppers Leinster virtually ended Ulster’s Pro12 hopes as they became only the second team to come away with Ravenhill with a win this season after a 16-8 success.

All Friday’s reports!

Ospreys 31-12 Dragons

Shane Williams celebrated his farewell game for the Ospreys in style with a try in the final minute to help his side secure a Pro12 play-off place with a 31-12 win over the Dragons.

The record Welsh try-scorer will hang up his boots at the end of the season and on potentially his final appearance at the Liberty Stadium he ended a quiet evening with a score and a conversion for good measure.
It was the dominance of the home pack which proved decisive with Ryan Jones crossing and a powerful scrum earning two penalty tries before Williams’ bonus point effort.

The Ospreys completed dominated the opening stages but a great tackle from Toby Faletau on Richard Hibbard stopped what looked like a certain try.

And on ten minutes it was the visitors who took the lead as Lewis Robling slotted a long-range penalty from just inside his own half after the Ospreys had been penalised for holding on in the tackle.

However Dan Biggar replied in kind before Robling slotted his second penalty of the night to restore the visitors’ lead.

It would not last long however. Rhys Webb took a quick penalty and having made a break it was Ryan Jones who eventually crashed over for the first try of the night, Biggar’s conversion making it 10-6 midway through the half.

The home side could have stretched the lead further when another quick tap from Webb led to Hanno Dirksen getting away but Aled Brew’s desperate tackle stopped him just short of the line.

However from the ensuing scrum the Ospreys showed their dominance up front, and after Nathan Buck had been sent to the sin bin, the Dragons scrum folded and Nigel Owens had no hesitation in giving a penalty try which Biggar converted.

The home side went in 17-6 up at the break but the Dragons pulled three points back at the start of the half after a loose pass from the Ospreys led to Ian Evans holding on and Robling added his third kick of the night.

And despite the Ospreys edging closer to a third try they were dealt a blow when Biggar was sent to the sin bin when he prevented Brew from taking a quick penalty.

Just before the half hour the Dragons were back in it when Robling slotted his fourth penalty of the game to make it 17-12.

But with Biggar back the Dragons found themselves under pressure again and they suffered another blow when prop Dan Way was sinbinned as the Ospreys pack was in total control.

With just a minute remaining another set of scrums left with Owens with no option but to award a second penalty try which Biggar converted.

That left the Ospreys one try away from a bonus point and Williams duly obliged slipping through the Dragons defence for a trademark swallow dive finish before slotting the conversion for good measure.

The scorers:

For Ospreys:
Tries: Williams, Jones, Penalty try 2
Cons: Williams, Biggar 3
Pen: Biggar

For Newport Gwent Dragons:
Pens: Robling 4

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Ross Jones, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Paul James, 18 Joe Rees, 19 James King, 20 Tom Smith, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Ashley Beck.

Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Lewis Robling, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Lewis Evans, 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Jevon Groves, 4 Rob Sidoli (captain), 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 Tom Brown, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Martyn Thomas, 23 Pat Leach.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Neil Hennessy (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)

Ulster 8-16 Leinster

Table toppers Leinster virtually ended Ulster’s Pro12 hopes as they became only the second team to come away with Ravenhill with a win this season after a 16-8 success.

The reigning European champions knew that a win would be enough to guarantee them top spot in the Pro12 ahead of a final game away to the Dragons in a fortnight.
And in the end it was Ulster’s indiscipline which cost them dear, Jonathan Sexton on target with two penalties, a conversion and a drop goal, while Ruan Pienaar struggled from the kicking tee.

Kevin McLaughlin’s scored the only try for Leinster early on while Johann Muller scored his first try for Ulster.

But it was Pienaar’s goalkicking struggles which held back the home side and they now require a miracle in order to make the play-offs with the Heineken Cup now taking priority ahead of a semi-final against Edinburgh next weekend.

Leinster had the better of the early stages and took the lead after just seven minutes when the Ulster defence left a huge gap for McLaughlin to run straight through and over the line.

However despite dominating early on, Leinster struggled to add to that lead and with 25 minutes gone, Ulster got themselves on the scoresheet.

Paddy Wallace produced the spark that turned an attack which looked to be going nowhere into a try–scoring opportunity.

And with an overlap created it was skipper Muller’s first try for his province which got Ulster back to within two points, Pienaar missing his second kick of the night after an earlier penalty against the post.

The same could not be said of Sexton who stretched the visitors’ lead to five with a penalty just before the half-hour.

But despite the home side spending most of the half under the cosh, Ulster won themselves another penalty two minutes from half-time and Pienaar finally found his range to make it 10-8.

Ulster could not hang on to that score before half-time though, Willie Faloon giving away a penalty in front of the posts to allow Sexton to make it 13-8 at the break.

The home side made the better start to the second half but Pienaar missed his third kick of the night as Leinster maintained their lead.

A scrappy period followed with neither side able to break through some impressive defence, but it was Leinster who secured the next points.

A few charges from the visiting pack looked like setting up a try however Ulster kept them out and Sexton instead chose to slot an easy drop goal.

In a disappointing end neither side was able to create any more and Leinster comfortably held on for the win.

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Try: Muller
Pen: Pienaar

For Leinster:
Try: McLaughlin
Con: Sexton
Pens: Sexton
DG: Sexton

The teams:

Ulster: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Chris Henry, 5 Lewis Stevenson, 4 Johann Muller (captain), 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Andi Kyriacou, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Neil McComb, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Adam D’Arcy.

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 David Kearney, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Leo Cullen (captain), 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Nathan White, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fionn Carr.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Ollie Hodges (Ireland)
TMO: Peter Ferguson (Ireland)