Leinster back in the winning circle, Glasgow stretch lead at the top
WRAP: Leinster returned to winning ways on Friday, overcoming a spirited Scarlets side 36-19 in Round 14 of the United Rugby Championship at the Aviva Stadium.
After back-to-back defeats to Cardiff and Glasgow, the reigning champions rediscovered their try-scoring touch, crossing the whitewash six times in Dublin.
While Leinster looked strong on paper, Scarlets refused to be rolled over. The Welsh side battled hard, scoring three tries and coming agonisingly close to claiming a consolation bonus point.
The victory lifts Leinster into third place in the table ahead of Ulster’s trip to bottom club Zebre, while Scarlets remain 14th, just a point and a place above the Dragons.
Meanwhile, Glasgow Warriors continued their dominant run at the top, securing a bonus-point win over Benetton at Scotstoun. Paolo Odogwu’s early try for the Italian side was matched by Johnny Matthews in a tight, first-half contest, with Rhyno Smith’s penalty giving Benetton a 10–7 halftime lead.
Glasgow turned the game around after the break, with Fergus Watson marking his debut with a try.
Max Williamson, Seb Stephen and Sam Talakai added scores to pull the Warriors away, extending their lead over the second-place Stormers to nine points ahead of Saturday’s clash with Edinburgh.
Leinster 36-19 Scarlets
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Ringrose, Kenny 2, T O’Brien 2, Deegan
Cons: Byrne 3
For Scarlets:
Tries: J Roberts, Rogers, Douglas
Cons: Hawkins 2
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrse, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 Joshue Kenny, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelon Doris (captain) , 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadgh Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jerry Cahir, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 20 Alex Soroka, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Robbie Henshaw
Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Dane Blacker; 8 Fletcher Anderson (captain), 7 Dan Davis, 6 Jarrod Taylor, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Harry Thomas, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 George Roberts, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Tristan Davies, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Ioan Jones, 23 Macs Page
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Chris Lough (Ireland)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Glasgow Warriors 31-10 Benetton
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Matthews, Watson, Williamson, Stephen, Talakai
Cons: Hastings 2, Lancaster.
For Benetton:
Try: Odogwu
Con: Smith
Pen: Smith.
Teams
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Fergus Watson, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Ollie Smith, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ben Afshar, 8 Macenzzie Duncan, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Max Williamson, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Patrick Schickerling.
Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Alex Craig, 21 Angus Fraser, 22 Jack Oliver, 23 Dan Lancaster.
Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynach, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Tomas Medina, 11 Rhyno Smith, 10 Leonardo Marin, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Federico Ruzza (captain), 4 Niccolo Cannonne, 3 Marcon Gallorini, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Destiny Aminu.
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 Mattia Midena, 21 Jadin Kingi, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Filippo Drago
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Scotland), Jonny MacKenzie (Scotland)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
