Magners League: Round 11 Review

Munster’s bonus point defeat of Edinburgh on Saturday stretched their lead in the table over the Ospreys and Leinster to three points. The result leaves Edinburgh 10 points off the pace at the top.

There is now a clear gap opening up between the top three contenders and the rest of the pack. Seven match points separate the third and fourth-placed teams, with only four match points between the next six sides.

Dragons full-back Jason Tovey scored a hat-trick of tries in his side’s 26-16 home win over Ulster – in fact Tovey contributed 23 out of Dragons’ 26 points equalling Percy Montgomery’s record points tally for the team.

2008/09 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 11:

TOP TRY SCORERS –

6 – Richard Fussell (Newport Gwent Dragons), Doug Howlett (Munster), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)

5 – Keith Earls (Munster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster)

4 – Deacon Manu (Scarlets), Martin Roberts (Scarlets), Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) 

3 – Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Fionn Carr (Connacht), Darren Cave (Ulster), Simon Danielli (Ulster), James Hook (Ospreys), Mark Jones (Scarlets), Ma’ama Molitika (Cardiff Blues), Timoci Nagusa (Ulster), Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets), Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues), Nikki Walker (Ospreys)

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

130 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (11 conversions and 36 penalty goals)

108 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (9 conversions, 27 penalty goals and 3 drop goals)

95 – James Hook (Ospreys) (3 tries, 13 conversions, 17 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)

91 – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (2 tries, 12 conversions and 19 penalty goals) 

81 – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (1 try, 5 conversions, 21 penalty goals and 1 drop goal) 

78 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (2 tries, 10 conversions and 16 penalty goals)

67 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 10 conversions and 14 penalty goals), Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (1 try, 13 conversions and 12 penalty goals)

57 – Paul Warwick (Munster) (2 tries, 10 conversions and 9 penalty goals)

53 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 6 conversions and 12 penalty goals), Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (4 conversions, 13 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)

50 – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 6 conversions and 11 penalty goals)

44 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (10 conversions and 8 penalty goals)

33 – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (3 conversions, 8 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)

31 – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (3 tries, 5 conversions and 2 penalty goals)

BEST PLACE-KICKERS –

85% – Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (17 successful kicks out of 20 attempts)

83.87% – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (26/31)

80% – Matthew Jarvis (Ospreys) (4/5)

78.33% – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (47/60)

76% – Paul Warwick (Munster) (19/25)

73.81% – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (31/42)

71.43% – James Hook (Ospreys) (30/42), Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (25/35) 

70.83% – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (17/24)

69.23% – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons (18/26), Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (18/26)

68.57% – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (24/35)

68.42% – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (26/38)

61.11% – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (11/18)

61.02% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (36/59)

60% – Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (3/5)

58.82% – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (10/17)

58.33% – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (7/12)

55.56% – Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues) (5/9)

50% – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (10/20)

44.44% – Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors (4/9)

33.33% – Niall O’Connor (Ulster) (2/6)

RESULTS ROUND-UP – 

Friday, February 20, 2009 at the Arms Park
Cardiff Blues (21) 34: Tom James(T), Dafydd Hewitt(T), Jamie Robinson(2T), Ben Blair(4C/2P)
Glasgow Warriors (6) 30: Ruaridh Jackson(T), Bernardo Stortoni(T), Colin Shaw(T), Dan Parks(3C/3P)
Attendance: 7,603

Saturday, February 21, 2009 at Parc y Scarlets
Scarlets (10) 17: Martin Roberts(T), Deacon Manu(T), Rhys Priestland(2C/P)
Leinster (23) 31: Isa Nacewa(T), Cameron Jowitt(T), Shane Jennings(T), Felipe Contepomi(2C/4P)
Attendance: 6,436

Scarlets v Leinster Match Report 

Saturday, February 21, 2009 at Musgrave Park
Munster (14) 28: Doug Howlett(T), Tony Buckley(T), Keith Earls(T), Ciaran O’Boyle(T), Paul Warwick(4C)
Edinburgh (7) 14: Ben Cairns(T), Chris Paterson(T/2C)
Attendance: 7,500

Munster v Edinburgh Match Report 

Tony McGahan Post-Match Reaction

Alan Quinlan Post-Match Reaction

Sunday, February 22, 2009 at the Liberty Stadium
Ospreys (15) 22: Jonathan Spratt(T), Steve Tandy(T), Jonny Vaughton(T), Dan Biggar(2C/P)
Connacht (3) 10: Troy Nathan(T), Ian Keatley(P), Andy Dunne(C)
Attendance: 6,127

Ospreys v Connacht Match Report

Sunday, February 22, 2009 at Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons (5) 26: Jason Tovey(3T/C/2P), Shaun Connor(P)
Ulster (10) 16: Simon Danielli(T), Ian Humphreys(C/P), Clinton Schifcofske(2P)
Attendance: 6,112

Newport Gwent Dragons v Ulster Match Report