Magners League: Round 1 Review
All four Irish provinces lost over the opening weekend of the Magners League, the first time this has happened since the fourth round of the 2007/08 competition. Leinster and Connacht did, however, manage to pick up losing bonus points against the Scarlets and Ospreys respectively.
At the conclusion of the first round of Magners League games, the Newport Gwent Dragons find themselves top of the table thanks to a better points difference.
The Welsh region have only led the table twice before, both after the first round.
It is the third time in the last five seasons that they have taken top spot from the outset..
Reigning champions Munster carried on an unfortunate tradition of the title holders losing their first game of the new season – Leinster did so last year and the Ospreys in 2007.
2009/10 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 1:
TOP TRY SCORERS –
1 – Aled Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ashley Smith (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jerry Collins (Ospreys), Chris Czekaj (Cardiff Blues), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster), Richard Fussell (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Phil John (Scarlets), Gareth Thomas (Cardiff Blues), Tim Visser (Edinburgh)
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
15 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (5 penalty goals)
12 – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (4 penalty goals), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (1 try, 2 conversions and 1 penalty goal)
11 – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (1 conversion, 2 penalty goals and 1 drop goal), Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 conversion and 3 penalty goals), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (1 conversion and 3 penalty goals)
9 – Jeremy Manning (Munster) (3 penalty goals)
8 – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (1 conversion and 2 penalty goals)
6 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (2 penalty goals), Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (2 penalty goals)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS –
100% – Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (4 successful kicks out of 4 attempts), Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1/1), James Hook (Ospreys) (1/1)
80% – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (4/5), Ian Keatley (Connacht) (4/5)
75% – Jeremy Manning (Munster) (3/4), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (3/4)
71.43% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (5/7)
60% – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (3/5), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (3/5)
50% – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (2/4), Mark McMillan (Glasgow Warriors) (1/2)
33.33% – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (2/6)
RESULTS ROUND-UP –
Friday, September 4, 2009 at The Sportsground
Connacht (6) 12: Ian Keatley(4P)
Ospreys (3) 19: Jerry Collins(T), Dan Biggar(C/3P), James Hook(P)
Attendance: 1,982
Connacht v Ospreys Match Report
Friday, September 4, 2009 at Cardiff City Stadium
Cardiff Blues (10) 21: Chris Czekaj(T), Gareth Thomas(T), Ben Blair(C/3P)
Edinburgh (14) 22: Chris Paterson(T/2C/P), Tim Visser(T), Alan MacDonald(T)
Attendance: 8,124
Friday, September 4, 2009 at Firhill Arena
Glasgow Warriors (12) 22: Ruaridh Jackson(T), Mark McMillan(C), Dan Parks(5P)
Munster (3) 9: Jeremy Manning(3P)
Attendance: 3,694
Glasgow Warriors v Munster Match Report
Saturday, September 5, 2009 at Parc y Scarlets
Scarlets (10) 18: Sean Lamont(T), Phil John(T), Rhys Priestland(C), Rhys Priestland(2P)
Leinster (16) 16: Girvan Dempsey(T), Jonathan Sexton(C), Jonathan Sexton(3P)
Attendance: 6,075
Scarlets v Leinster Match Report
Sunday, September 6, 2009 at Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons (8) 23: Aled Brew(T), Richard Fussell(T), Ashley Smith(T), James Arlidge(2P), Jason Tovey(C)
Ulster (3) 6: Ian Humphreys(2P)
Attendance: 4,561
Newport Gwent Dragons v Ulster Match Report