Magners League: Round 4 Review
Reigning Magners League champions Leinster’s eight-match home winning streak against their fellow Irish provinces came to a halt, five years to the month of their last loss (to Munster at Donnybrook in September 2003), as Tony McGahan’s men painted the RDS red on Sunday night.
Elsewhere, Glasgow Warriors winger Thom Evans grabbed a brace of tries in their 34-20 victory over the Scarlets at Firhill Arena.
It was the second successive home game that Evans scored two tries in, having managed the same feat against the Ospreys on September 12.
Ospreys winger Tommy Bowe touched down for a try in his first outing against his old team when Ospreys defeated Ulster at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
James Hook’s 18-point haul in the same game makes him the top Magners League points scorer this season.
Meanwhile, the Cardiff Blues’ record-breaking 58-0 victory over Connacht became their best ever home win.
Their 46-0 lead at half-time was the biggest ever recorded in the Magners League, and the nine tries tallied equals the Magners League and their own Blues record for the number of tries scored in a game.
At Rodney Parade on Friday, Chris Paterson, presently the Magners League’s best kicker, secured all of Edinburgh’s points in the game against Newport Gwent Dragons but the Welsh came out on top thanks to two Shaun Connor penalties and a try from Richard Fussell.
2008/09 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 4:
TOP TRY SCORERS –
5 – Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
4 – Keith Earls (Munster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster)
3 – James Hook (Ospreys), Doug Howlett (Munster), Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Mark Jones (Scarlets), Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets)
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
61 – James Hook (Ospreys) (3 tries, 11 conversions, 7 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
46 – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (1 try, 7 conversions and 9 penalty goals)
41 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (7 conversions and 9 penalty goals)
36 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 5 conversions and 7 penalty goals)
33 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (3 conversions and 9 penalty goals)
32 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (4 conversions and 8 penalty goals)
30 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (3 conversions and 8 penalty goals)
26 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (7 conversions and 4 penalty goals)
25 – Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors) (5 tries), Paul Warwick (Munster) (2 tries, 6 conversions and 1 penalty goal)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS –
75% – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (12 successful kicks out of 16 attempts)
73.33% – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (11/15), Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (11/15)
72.73% – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (16/22)
72% – James Hook (Ospreys) (18/25)
66.67% – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (16/24), Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (12/18)
50% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (12/24)
41.67% – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (5/12)
Qual: 10 place-kicks at goal
RESULTS ROUND-UP –
Friday, September 26, 2008 at Firhill Arena
Glasgow Warriors (13) 34: John Barclay(T) Thom Evans(2T) Colin Gregor(T) Dougie Hall(T) Dan Parks(3C/P)
Scarlets (12) 20: Mark Jones(2T) Stephen Jones(T/C/P)
Attendance: 2,450
Friday, September 26, 2008 at the Arms Park
Cardiff Blues (46) 58: Nick Robinson(C) Ceri Sweeney(2T/4C/P) Taufa’ao Filise(T) T.Rhys Thomas(T) Maama Molitika(T) Leigh Halfpenny(2T) Jamie Roberts(T) Gareth Thomas(T)
Connacht (0) 0:
Attendance: 7,542
Cardiff Blues v Connacht Match Report
Friday, September 26, 2008 at Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons (11) 11: Richard Fussell(T) Shaun Connor(2P)
Edinburgh (6) 9: Chris Paterson(3P)
Attendance: 4,676
Saturday, September 27, 2008 at the Liberty Stadium
Ospreys (19) 43: Tommy Bowe(T) Lee Byrne(T) James Hook(T/5C/P) Ryan Jones(T) Shane Williams(T) Rhodri Wells(T)
Ulster (0) 0:
Attendance: 7,225
Ospreys v Ulster Match Report
Sunday, September 28, 2008 at the RDS
Leinster (0) 0:
Munster (3) 18: Doug Howlett(T) Ronan O’Gara(C/2P) Justin Melck(T)
Attendance: 18,500
Leinster v Munster Match Report
Post-Match Interviews: Tony McGahan, Michael Cheika and Marcus Horan