RaboDirect PRO12: Round 6 Review

The omens were good on Friday night when Glasgow Warriors’ Duncan Weir kicked a league record-equalling eight penalty goals. He has now landed his last 13 kicks in-a-row and has a success rate of over 83%.

Elsewhere, at Ravenhill Benetton Treviso recorded their third straight league win, the first time the Italian outfit have put together three victories in-a-row.

The records kept tumbling on Saturday when Aironi’s try-scoring bonus point collected in their 37-26 defeat by the Cardiff Blues, was not only the club’s first try-scoring bonus point, but the first one in the league by an Italian team.

The Blues also picked up a try-scoring bonus point in the same match, the first time both sides have scored four or more tries in a league game since Leinster played Edinburgh in May 2010.

The Ospreys’ 17-13 victory at Thomond Park maintained their 100% winning start to the season, taking their opponents’ 18-month home record in the process – just a week after Munster’s league record run of 14 straight victories was ended by Edinburgh.

The Ospreys are now six points clear at the top of the table, with Munster, Leinster and Cardiff the other teams occupying the play-off positions.

271 points were scored in the six RaboDirect PRO12 games last weekend (including 25 tries). That is the highest total since round 3 last year, while this season’s top try scorer, Nick Williams, has claimed half of his Aironi team’s total tries so far.

The RaboDirect PRO12 resumes on Friday, October 28, with some great games to look forward to, especially for fans of the Ospreys and Ulster, as both teams are just one victory away from recording 100 league wins – a feat so far achieved only by Munster and Leinster.

2011/12 RABODIRECT PRO12 – AFTER ROUND 6:

TOP TRY SCORERS –

5 – Nick Williams (Aironi Rugby)

3 – Danny Barnes (Munster), Darren Cave (Ulster), Gavin Duffy (Connacht), Ian Madigan (Leinster), Tim Visser (Edinburgh), Rhys Webb (Ospreys)

2 – Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Chris Czekaj (Cardiff Blues), Hanno Dirksen (Ospreys), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Dafydd Hewitt (Cardiff Blues), Sam Hobbs (Cardiff Blues), Tom James (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Thomas (Scarlets), Tom Riley (Newport Gwent Dragons), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Pedrie Wannenburg (Ulster), Adam Warren (Scarlets)

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

95 – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (10 conversions, 23 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)

75 – Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) (1 try, 5 conversions and 20 penalty goals)

73 – Ian Keatley (Munster) (8 conversions and 19 penalty goals)

72 – Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh) (6 conversions and 20 penalty goals)

70 – Isa Nacewa (Leinster) (1 try, 7 conversions and 17 penalty goals)

69 – Kris Burton (Benetton Treviso) (1 try, 5 conversions, 15 penalty goals and 3 drop goals)

57 – Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 5 conversions and 14 penalty goals)

53 – Naas Olivier (Aironi Rugby) (1 try, 3 conversions, 13 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)

51 – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (9 conversions and 11 penalty goals)

44 – Dan Newton (Scarlets) (4 conversions and 12 penalty goals)

35 – Niall O’Connor (Connacht) (1 try, 3 conversions, 7 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)

32 – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (7 conversions and 6 penalty goals)

25 – Nick Williams (Aironi Rugby) (5 tries)

21 – Matthew Jarvis (Connacht) (3 conversions and 5 penalty goals), Ian Madigan (Leinster) (3 tries, 1 penalty goal and 1 drop goal)

19 – Paddy Jackson (Ulster) (1 try, 1 conversion and 4 penalty goals)

18 – Willem de Waal (Benetton Treviso) (6 penalty goals)

BEST PLACE-KICKERS –

86.67% – Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh) (26 successful kicks from 30 attempts)

86.36% – Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (19/22)

83.33% – Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) (25/30)

82.50% – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (33/40)

79.41% – Ian Keatley (Munster) (27/34)

76.92% – Kris Burton (Benetton Treviso) (20/26)

75% – Isa Nacewa (Leinster) (24/32)

74.07% – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (20/27)

72.73% – Dan Newton (Scarlets) (16/22)

66.67% – Niall O’Connor (Connacht) (10/15)

59.26% – Naas Olivier (Aironi Rugby) (16/27)

54.17% – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (13/24)

44.44% – Matthew Jarvis (Connacht) (8/18)

Qual: 10 place-kicks at goal

RESULTS ROUND-UP –

Friday, October 7, 2011 at Ravenhill
Ulster (0) 12: Pedrie Wannenburg(2T), Ian Humphreys(C)
Benetton Treviso (10) 23: Penalty try, Kris Burton(T/2C/3P)
Attendance: 7,372

Ulster v Benetton Treviso Match Report

Friday, October 7, 2011 at Firhill Stadium
Glasgow Warriors (12) 24: Duncan Weir(8P)
Newport Gwent Dragons (16) 19: Martyn Thomas(T), Matthew Jones(C/3P), Jason Tovey(P)
Attendance: 2,705

Friday, October 7, 2011 at Parc y Scarlets
Scarlets (13) 33: Adam Warren(2T), Richie Pugh(T), Rhys Thomas(T), Aled Thomas(2C/3P)
Glasgow Warriors (10) 17: Tim Visser(T), Lee Jones(T), Greig Laidlaw(2C/P)
Attendance: 6,188

Saturday, October 8, 2011 at the RDS
Leinster (8) 30: Devin Toner(T), Luke Fitzgerald(T), Isa Nacewa(C/4P), Ian Madigan(P/D)
Connacht (20) 20: Ray Ofisa(T), Brian Tuohy(T), Niall O’Connor(2C/2P)
Attendance: 15,220

Leinster v Connacht Match Report

Saturday, October 8, 2011 at Stadio Zaffanella
Aironi Rugby (11) 26: Sinoti Sinoti(T), Nick Williams(2T), Gilberto Pavan(T), Naas Olivier(2P)
Cardiff Blues (20) 37: Dafydd Hewitt(T), Chris Czekaj(2T), Xavier Rush(T), Ceri Sweeney(4C/3P)
Attendance: 3,000

Saturday, October 8, 2011 at Thomond Park
Munster (10) 13: Danny Barnes(T), Ian Keatley(C/2P)
Ospreys (6) 17: Rhys Webb(T), Dan Biggar(4P)
Attendance: 16,599

Munster v Ospreys Match Report