Week fifteen of Guinness Pro 12 saw Ulster’s win at Edinburgh send them second in the table. Sean Cronin’s late try ensured that Leinster got a winning try bonus point against Zebre. Munster produced a stunning comeback to snatch a last gasp draw against the Scarlets while Connacht beat the Dragons in Wales. Here is the review of the Irish Provinces after Week fifteen of Guinness Pro 12.
Ulster:
Ulster moved to second in the Pro 12 table with a hard fought win against Edinburgh at Murrayfield last Friday night. Ruan Pienaar was the star turn landing 15 of Ulster’s 20 points. Darren Cave continued his impressive try scoring record this season by bagging the other five points.
The major talking point of the game was Stuart McCloskey’s red card. He was sent to the stands after the officials deemed his clear out of Edinburgh’s Hamish Watson to be excessively dangerous. McCloskey is a serious young talent and will hopefully learn from this incident.
Neil Doak’s side welcome the Scarlets to the Kingspan Stadium this weekend and will hope to maintain second place in the table. The Welsh side are in a rich vein of form and will provide a major test for Ulster.
Munster:
Munster scored 12 points in the final ten minutes to snatch a late draw against the Scarlets. Ian Keatley easily converted JJ Hanrahan’s last second try to see Munster gain two points. Felix Jones and Jack O’Donoghue crossed for Munster’s other tries with Keatley kicking the rest of the points.
Anthony Foley’s team played some very enterprising rugby at times against the Scarlets with Keith Earls chief architect. Earls is a player with undoubted quality and it is great to see him back playing after a string of long term injuries in the last few years.
Next on Munster’s fixture list is a mouth-watering top of the table clash against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday evening. The Warriors will be coming to Irish Independent Park in Cork expecting to win to cement their top position but Munster will expect to win this one at home.
Leinster
Leinster scraped a bonus point win late on against Zebre to keep their Pro 12 title challenge alive. At half time it looked like there could be a shock on the cards as the Italian minnows led by five points. Matt O’Connor’s side upped the ante in the second half to eventually secure the win 29-8.
Dominic Ryan scored Leinster’s opening try with Jimmy Gopperth and Luke Fitzgerald adding two further tries as the second half entered its final stages. Sean Cronin got the all-important score in the game’s dying seconds to secure the bonus point win.
This was another misfiring Leinster performance and despite the fact that they managed to win the game, Matt O’Connor is coming under increasing pressure because of the team’s disjointed performances. They face another big game this weekend with a trip to the Liberty Stadium to take on the Ospreys.
Connacht:
Connacht regained sixth spot in the table after winning against the Dragons at Rodney Parade. They came out on top thanks to tries from Mick Kearney, Craig Ronaldson and Eoghan Masterson. This win puts them two points ahead of the Scarlets in the race for the final Champions Cup spot.
The game, which was played in horrendous conditions turned in Connacht’s favour when Dragons second row Rynard Landman was red carded after 15 minutes for an elbow on out half Jack Carty. Rodney Parade is a very difficult place to get any points from and their players and fans will be delighted with the five point win.
Connacht will expect another win this weekend as they welcome Treviso to the Sportsground. If results go their way Connacht could open a big gap on the Scarlets. Pat Lam has done a fantastic job with this squad and they are finally getting on an even setting with the other three provinces.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @johnnybkeogh. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo:
