Leinster & Warriors on the rise
URC WRAP: Leinster and Glasgow Warriors moved to within a point of the table-topping Ulster side on the standings.
Leinster scored maximum points with a 26-7 United Rugby Championship win over Edinburgh at the RDS.
And Warriors emerged with a 13-11 victory, following a hard-fought battle with Munster at Scotstoun.
Ulster top the standings on 36 points after 10 matches – followed by Leinster (35 after nine outings) and Warriors (35 after 10).
We bring you Friday’s drama!
Leinster 26-7 Edinburgh
Max Deegan’s 70th-minute try delivered maximum points for Leinster in a 26-7 win over Edinburgh at the RDS.
Converted scores from Scott Penny and Nick McCarthy had the hosts leading 14-0 at half-time, with Edinburgh counting the cost of a Connor Boyle yellow card.
Leo Cullen’s men, who lost at Cardiff last time out, struggled for momentum until replacement Vakh Abdaladze and Deegan crossed during the final quarter.
Argentinian wing Emiliano Boffelli burst over late on for the Scots, who sat second coming into the match, but Leinster has leapfrogged them in the overall table.
Young flank Martin Moloney came in for his first Leinster start, a late replacement for Rhys Ruddock (quad), who handed the captaincy to Ross Molony.
The returning Dave Kearney had an early break, but openside Boyle’s turnover penalty sparked Edinburgh into life in a bruising and breathless opening.
Mesu Kunavula had a try ruled out for a double movement after Boffelli was stopped just short of the Leinster line.
The Scots continued to operate at a high tempo, until Boyle was binned for making contact with Ciaran Frawley’s head following an initial tackle by Charlie Savala.
Frawley’s unfortunate departure was quickly followed by the opening try, Penny muscling in under the posts for Ross Byrne to convert.
Fourteen-man Edinburgh frustrated Leinster until a Deegan break opened up the defence, scrum-half McCarthy quickly sniping for Byrne to make it 14-0.
Leinster misfired just before the interval, Josh Murphy fumbling an attacking line-out, and early on the resumption Edinburgh botched a certain try for Ramiro Moyano due to Henry Immelman’s forward pass.
Leinster’s bench helped them regain their clinical edge, Moloney driving up close before Penny sent prop Abdaladze plunging over for an unconverted 66th-minute try.
Deegan bagged the bonus point a few minutes later, centre Rory O’Loughlin’s initial break from deep doing the damage before Deegan was able to stretch over from a Byrne pass.
Jaco Van Der Walt’s flat pass then sent Boffelli slaloming over impressively from Leinster’s 10-metre line. He converted his own try, the only consolation during a spritely finish from Edinburgh.
Player of the match
It was certainly a game for the back-rowers to shine, and Boyle, despite his sin-binning, and Ben Muncaster led Edinburgh’s challenge manfully.
Nonetheless, Leinster’s Penny deservedly picked up the URC Player of the Match medal. Apart from his huge industry around the park, he scored a crucial first try and set up Abdaladze’s score.
Play of the match
Boffelli’s crisp effort belatedly showed what Edinburgh’s backs could do.
However, Leinster’s bonus-point score was the best of the lot. O’Loughlin got away from Savala, Jamie Osborne and Sean Cronin linked up well in support, and Deegan used Byrne’s looping pass to reach out for the line.
The scorers
For Leinster
Tries: Penny, McCarthy, Abdaladze, Deegan
Cons: Byrne 3
For Edinburgh
Try: Boffelli
Con: Boffelli
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 James Tracy, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Rob Russell
Edinburgh: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Henry Pyrgos (captain), 8 Mesulame Kunavula, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 2 Adam McBurney, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Sam Grahamslaw, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Cristen van Niekerk, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cammy Hutchison
Referee: Adam Jones
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross & Stuart Douglas
TMO: Olly Hodges
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) February 11, 2022
Glasgow Warriors 13-11 Munster
Glasgow Warriors emerged with a 13-11 victory following a hard-fought battle with Munster at Scotstoun.
With Edinburgh losing at Leinster earlier in the evening, the result leapfrogged the Warriors over their Scottish rivals in the United Rugby Championship table.
Danny Wilson’s men now sit third following a match played in heavy rain and top the Scottish/Italian Shield.
The Warriors are one point behind overall leaders Ulster and level on points with second-placed Leinster, who have played a game less.
Playing into the light wind in the first half, Glasgow had the better of most of it after edging ahead with a penalty from fly-half Duncan Weir.
They struggled to make further inroads, however, with a scything break from Sam Johnson – back from Scotland duty after playing in last week’s win over England – the highlight of a frustrating period.
It all turned in the final seconds of the half when first Munster drew level with a Ben Healy penalty after a rare period of pressure.
Glasgow kicked off deep and Munster set up a routine ruck for Neil Cronin to clear their lines only for Scott Cummings – another back from Six Nations involvement – to stretch his 6ft 7in frame and charge the kick down.
He was first to the ball and had the height and strength to reach out and ground the ball.
With Weir converting, Glasgow had the 10-3 interval lead their dominance deserved.
The second half turned out to be more of the same, though this time it was Munster, now playing into the wind, who had more of the game.
They were helped by some sloppy kicking from Glasgow, who put the ball out on the full several times, scuppering their plan to play for territory.
It looked as though they may pay the penalty when co-captain Fraser Brown used his hand to push the ball out of a ruck and was sin-binned for the cynical foul.
Though they did manage to edge further ahead with Weir’s second penalty, Munster were mostly in charge and a scrum penalty gave Healy three points.
Munster was beginning to win territory, though, and even when the Scots were back up to 15 men they were able to take advantage. They set up camp on the home line until Glasgow ran out of defenders and lock Jean Kleyn went over.
Crucially, replacement fly-half Jack Crowley missed the tricky conversion and though they had a few nervous moments, Glasgow managed to hold out to the finish.
Player of the match
Cummings had something to prove after being released by Scotland and he delivered a performance to show national coach Gregor Townsend why he deserves a call-up.
The try was a memorable moment in a strong all-round showing.
Play of the match
Cummings needed every inch of his huge frame to get fingertips to Cronin’s clearing kick and then had the presence of mind to get the ball to the line despite being tackled onto his back.
The scorers
For Glasgow Warriors
Try: Cummings
Con: Weir
Pens: Weir 2
For Munster
Try: Kleyn
Pens: Healy 2
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Robbie Fergusson, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Rufus McLean, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Thomas Gordon, 6 Ryan Wilson (captain), 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Domingo Miotti, 23 Stafford McDowall
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Cian Hurley, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 John Hodnett
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi
Assistant referees: Keith Allen & David Sutherland
TMO: Neil Paterson
Source: @URCOfficial
