Munster race into second place

Munster climbed to second in the Pro12 table after securing a 24-14 win over Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

The Irish province leapt over the Ospreys and stretched away from the chasing pack in the race for the play-offs thanks to a late surge in Newport.

In the other Saturday fixture Cardiff Blues held out against a battling Treviso side, to win their first Pro12 away match since October.

Saturday scores and scorers!

Treviso 13-20 Blues

The Blues held out against a battling Treviso side, who came good much too late, to win their first Pro12 away match since October at the Stadio di Monigo triumphing 20-13.

First-half tries by openside flank Martyn Williams and replacement Harry Robinson got the Blues into a lead which was never truly challenged by the hosts who were in search of their first win in the league in 2012.

Scrumhalf Fabio Semenzato captained Treviso and his side set out to test Cardiff’s wide game early and the mid-table Blues took time to adjust to it.

When they finally did, via a Dan Parks penalty in the 17th minute, they had the balance of their backline put out of jolt by an injury to wing Richard Mustoe in the 22nd minute. Robinson replaced him.

Cardiff were then pulled level at 3-3 by a Willem De Waal penalty but the Blues are chasing a play-off place and were in no mood to be obliging towards their hosts.

First, Blues veteran Williams ran in for a try on the half-hour mark after a long run up-field by wing Chris Czekaj and Parks converted.

Then replacement wing Robinson made it two in two minutes for his team, and Parks again converted to make it 17-3 at half-time.

A yellow card to Treviso flank Manoa Vosawai early in the second half for repeated infringements gave Parks a chance at his second penalty and from 40 metres out the former Scottish international bisected the posts.

Treviso made a host of changes midway through the second half but full-back Brendan Williams and Andrea Pratichetti punctured the Blues’ defensive line on separate occasions yet the ball never went to hand.

It took until the 73rd minute for an attack to tell and utility replacement Simon Picone scorched over but De Waal missed the conversion.

Any thoughts that was to be a consolation score were rubbished when the diminutive Williams went over five minutes later to put his side to within a score but again De Waal erred with the extras.

The scorers:

For Treviso:
Tries: Picone, Williams
Pen: de Waal

For Cardiff:
Tries: Williams, Robinson
Cons: Parks 2
Pens: Parks 2

Yellow card: Manoa Vosawai ( Treviso, 46)

Teams:

Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Benjamin De Jager, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Fabio Semenzato (captain), 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Gonzalo Padrò, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Pedro Di Santo, 2 Diego Vidal, 1 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Augusto Allori, 18 Carlo Fazzari, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Enrico Pavanello, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Ezio Galon, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Gavin Evans, 12 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Sam Hobbs.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Tyrell, 17 John Yapp, 18 Ryan Harford, 19 McCauley Cook, 20 Maama Molitika, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Harry Robinson, 23 Tom James.

Referee: David Wilkinson
Assistant referees: Giuseppe Vivarini and Stefano Roscini
TMO: Mauro Dordolo

Dragons 14-24 Munster

A late Munster blitz denied Newport Gwent Dragons in their bid for a third Pro12 win on the spin at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

It had been a tight encounter throughout until the Irish province put their foot down in the closing stages.

They scored 15 points in the last 12 minutes to ensure that the Dragons didn’t even get a losing bonus point for their efforts.

The Dragons led 11-9 at the break after scoring the only try of the first half – and it was a cracker.

Fullback Will Harries went on a superb 50-metre weaving run and allowed centre Ashley Smith to dive over from close range.

Munster flyhalf Ian Keatley struck three penalties to two by Dragons number 10 Lewis Robling and it was nip and tuck for most of the second half.

Robling edged the Dragons further ahead with 15 minutes left but then the Pro12 champions, even though they headed to Newport without a raft of international stars, showed why they will be contesting for silverware at the end of the season.

Wing Luke O’Dea levelled the scores when he dashed over in the corner and then replacement flyhalf Scott Deasy knocked over a penalty to put Munster 17-14 up.

The Dragons were suddenly playing catch-up and it was game over when full-back Felix Jones snaffled a loose pass in midfield to scorch under the posts.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Try: Smith
Pens: Robling 3

For Munster:
Tries: O’Dea, Jones
Con: Deasy
Pens: Keatley 3, Deasy

Teams:

Dragons: 15 Will Harries , 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Andy Tuilagi, 12 Ashley Smith (captain), 11 Aled Brew, 10 Lewis Robling, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Tom Brown, 7 Lewis Evans, 6 Jevon Groves, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Hugo Ellis, 20 Darren Waters, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Jack Dixon, 23 Steffan Jones.

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Luke O’Dea, 13 Save Tokula, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomas O’Leary, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Dave O’Callaghan, 5 Mick O’Driscoll (captain), 4 Dave Foley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Denis Hurley.

Referee: Carlo Damasco
Assistant referees: Neil Hennessy, Rhys Thomas
TMO: Tony Rowlands