Leinster smash Connacht, Glasgow move up to second
SATURDAY WRAP: Charlie Tector and Tommy O’Brien scored two tries each as Leinster earned a comprehensive 52-17 victory over Connacht in Dublin.
It only took four minutes for Leinster to open the scoring when Dan Sheehan crashed over in the corner and they doubled their advantage three minutes later when Tector was first to pick up a loose ball and dot down.
Connacht halved the deficit in the 18th minute through Dylan Tierney-Martin who just about reached over the line. Sam Gilbert converted and added a penalty.
The away side turned the game on its head through Finlay Bealham from close range but there was still time for the hosts to retake the lead when Sam Prendergast made it 19-17 on the stroke of half-time.
Leinster’s second-half procession started four minutes after the break when Brian Deeny reached for the line and they soon restored their 14-point lead through O’Brien’s slaloming effort.
Things were threatening to get ugly when Tector and O’Brien both scored again and Joshua Kenny added the finishing touches with his sixth try of the season to get the hosts past the 50-point mark.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh edged to their third United Rugby Championship win of the campaign with a narrow 15-14 win over Benetton.
Glasgow Warriors moved up to second in the standings after they beat Zebre 47-10.
See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!
Banetton 14-15 Edinburgh
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Tries: Gallo, Fekitoa
Cons: Umaga 2
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Vellacott, Graham
Con: Thompson
Pen: Thompson
Teams:
Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Riccardo Favretto, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Destiny Aminu, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Scott Scrafton, 20 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Rhyno Smith, 23 Malakai Fekitoa
Edinburgh: 15 Jack Brown, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Harri Morris, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Liam McConnell, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Piers O’Connor
Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Alberto Facaro (Italy), Riccardo Bonato (Italy)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Leinster 52-17 Connacht
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Sheehan, Tector 2, Prendergast, Deeney, O’Brien 2, Kenny
Cons: Prendergast 6
For Connacht:
Tries: Tierney-Martin, Bealham
Cons: Gilbert 2
Pen: Gilbert
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Charlie Tector, 11 Joshua Kenny, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Diarmuid Mangan, 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Josh van der Flier, 22 Luke McGrath, 23 Harry Byrne.
Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Matthew Devine, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Cian Prendergast (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitlear, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Harry West, 23 Cathal Forde.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland), Chris Lough (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Glasgow 47-10 Zebre
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: McDowall, Smith, Stephen, Dobie 2, Hiddleston, Weir
Cons: Hastings 2, Weir 3, Lancaster
For Zebre:
Tries: Bertaccini, Quattrini
Teams:
Glasgow: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Duncan Munn, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Kerr Yule, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ben Afshar, 8 Macenzzie Duncan, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Max Williamson, 4 Jare Oguntibeju, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Seb Stephen, 1 Patrick Schickerling
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Jack Oliver, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Dan Lancaster
Zebre Parma: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Albert Einstein Batista, 10 Martin Roger Farias, 9 Thomas Dominguez, 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Guido Volpi, 5 Franco Carrera, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Shilo Klein, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Luca Franceschetto, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Giacomo Milano, 20 David Odiase, 21 Migael Prinsloo, 22 Giovanni Montemauri, 23 Luca Morisi
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Sam O’Neil (Scotland)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
