Edinburgh, Munster secure play-off spots

FRIDAY WRAP: Edinburgh and Munster both booked their spots in the United Rugby Championship play-offs on Friday.

Edinburgh sealed their return to the URC play-offs for the first time in three seasons with a bonus-point 47-17 victory at home to Ulster.

Sean Everitt’s side needed to win and hope other results went their way, and Cardiff’s defeat to the Stormers, combined with a seven-try victory, saw them book their place in the top eight and also qualify for next season’s Champions Cup.

Ulster, who were already out of play-off contention, kept it competitive in the first half by scoring twice through a penalty try and Werner Kok, before Edinburgh eased away after the interval to a comfortable win as Darcy Graham completed his hat-trick.

* Meanwhile, Munster outlasted Benetton in a thrilling contest, as a 30-21 win booked their place in the URC play-offs.

Josh Wycherley burrowed over in the 73rd minute as the Irish province, ever-present in the Champions Cup for the last 30 years, also qualified for Europe’s top tier for next season.

Friday’s scores and scorers follow below …

Edinburgh 47-17 Ulster

The scorers

For Edinburgh
Tries: D Graham 3, Bradbury 2, Ashman, Schoeman
Cons: Thompson 4, Healy 2

For Ulster
Tries: Kok, Postlethwaite, Penalty try
Con: Penalty try does not require a conversion

Yellow card: Darcy Graham (Edinburgh, 27)

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Harry Paterson, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Mark Bennett.

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 James McNabney, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Aidan Morgan, 23 Stewart Moore.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Scotland), Rob McDowell (Scotland)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (Wales)

Munster 30-21 Benetton

The scorers

For Munster
Tries: Crowley, Barron, Abrahams, Wycherley
Cons: Crowley, Casey
Pens: Crowley, Casey

For Benetton
Tries: Smith 2, Bernasconi
Cons: Umaga 3

Teams:

Munster: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Michael Milne.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Tom Ahern, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Seán O’Brien, 23 Alex Kendellen.

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Riccardo Favretto, 5 Federico Ruzza (captain), 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Nicolò Casilio, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)