Magners League: Round 21 Review
Leinster’s return to the top of the Magners League table has set up a very exciting finale to the season – the province claimed a bonus point victory over Border Reivers in front of a big crowd in their last game at Donnybrook to go three points clear at the summit, ahead of a potential winner-takes-all clash with Cardiff Blues next Friday.
A few hours before Leinster’s win, the Blues’ defeat to Llanelli Scarlets now means that they need to beat fellow contenders Leinster at the Arms Park in their final match next Friday and hope the Ospreys slip up midweek to have a chance of landing the title.
The Ospreys face a busy close to their season with two games in five days. Their Magners League title hopes suffered a severe jolt on Friday night as Dan Parks secured a victory for hosts Glasgow Warriors, but following results mean the Ospreys are still serious title contenders. They travel to Newport Gwent Dragons on Tuesday as they take up their game in hand over the leaders.
In the other Magners League games over the weekend, Munster travelled to Murrayfield on Friday where their win against Edinburgh was their first outside Ireland since mid-February. Friday also saw Newport Gwent Dragons break their losing streak as they secured a comfortable win over Connacht at Rodney Parade. Ulster, the defending champions, had a free weekend.
ROUND 21 RESULTS –
– Friday, May 4 –
Newport Gwent Dragons (11) 23 CONNACHT (0) 0, Rodney Parade (Att: 4,322)
Scorers: Dragons: Tries: Richard Fussell, Gareth Maule, Colin Charvis; Con: Aled Thomas; Pens: Aled Thomas 2
Scorers: Connacht: –
Edinburgh (9) 9 MUNSTER (16) 35, Murrayfield (Att: 3,129)
Scorers: Edinburgh: Pens: Phil Godman 3
Munster: Tries: Denis Fogarty, Paul O’Connell, Alan Quinlan, Penalty try; Cons: Ronan O’Gara 3; Pens: Ronan O’Gara 3
Glasgow Warriors (16) 29 Ospreys (26) 26, Hughenden (Att: 2,486)
Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Dan Parks, Graeme Morrison; Cons: Dan Parks 2; Pens: Dan Parks 5
Ospreys: Tries: Lee Byrne, Shane Williams 2; Con: James Hook; Pens: James Hook 2, Shaun Connor
– Saturday, May 5 –
Llanelli Scarlets (14) 38 Cardiff Blues (0) 10, Stradey Park (Att: 7,506)
Scorers: Llanelli: Tries: Barry Davies 2, Matthew Watkins 2; Cons: Stephen Jones 3; Pens: Stephen Jones 4
Cardiff: Try: Xavier Rush; Con: Nick Robinson; Pen: Nick Robinson
LEINSTER (14) 31 Border Reivers (0) 0, Donnybrook (Att: 6,200)
Scorers: Leinster: Tries: Brian Blaney, Felipe Contepomi, Jamie Heaslip, Gordon D’Arcy, Christian Warner; Cons: Felipe Contepomi 2, Gordon D’Arcy
Borders: –
ROUND 22 FIXTURES –
– Tuesday, May 8 –
Newport Gwent Dragons v Ospreys, Rodney Parade, 7.35pm (live S4C/Setanta Sports)
– Friday, May 11 –
Cardiff Blues v LEINSTER, Arms Park, 7.10pm (live BBC Wales/Setanta Sports)
Llanelli Scarlets v CONNACHT, Stradey Park, 7.10pm
ULSTER v Edinburgh, Ravenhill, 7.30pm
– Saturday, May 12 –
Border Reivers v Ospreys, Netherdale, 5.30pm (live S4C)
MUNSTER v Glasgow Warriors, Musgrave Park, 5.30pm
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
189 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
181 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster)
157 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues)
148 – David Humphreys (Ulster)
137 – Ceri Sweeney (Newport Gwent Dragons)
116 – Stephen Jones (Llanelli Scarlets)
114 – James Hook (Ospreys)
113 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh)
101 – Mark McHugh (Connacht)
90 – Paul Warwick (Connacht)
81 – Ceiron Thomas (Llanelli Scarlets)
79 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster)
72 – Jeremy Manning (Munster)
TOP TRY SCORERS –
7 – Barry Davies (Llanelli Scarlets), Darren Daniel (Llanelli Scarlets), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
6 – Denis Hickie (Leinster), Dafydd James (Llanelli Scarlets), Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues)
5 – Xavier Rush (Cardiff Blues), Aled Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons), Adam Black (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues), Lee Byrne (Ospreys), Bryn Cunningham (Ulster), Regan King (Llanelli Scarlets), Paul Steinmetz (Ulster)