GUINNESS PRO12: Round 4 Preview
Just three teams remain unbeaten heading into round 4 of the GUINNESS PRO12 with Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys and Ulster Rugby setting the pace at the top of the table.
The Ospreys continue to set new records in the league and their most recent victory over Benetton Treviso in Swansea ensured that they became the first team to win their first three games of the GUINNESS PRO12 season with try-scoring bonus points. In addition, they stretched the league record of consecutive try-scoring bonus points to seven games.
Cardiff Blues continued their strong start by earning a victory over Glasgow Warriors in front of a vocal home crowd. Danny Wilson’s men may have taken some by surprise, but with 13 wins from their last 17 PRO12 outings they are worthy contenders as all sides set their focus on reaching the final on May 27 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
The Scarlets will be aiming to come good on the pre-season expectations when they take on defending champions Connacht on Saturday night and surprisingly both teams will be battling for their first win of the season. The Scarlets will also look to avoid losing four PRO12 games in succession at Parc y Scarlets for the first time ever.
Benetton Treviso and Zebre are also yet to register a first win of the campaign and both teams will have home advantage as they take on the Newport Gwent Dragons and Cardiff, respectively.
However, one of the ties of the round will be seen at Scotstoun Stadium where Glasgow Warriors and Ulster will resume their rivalry on the fast artificial surface which should suit Opta Top Performers such as Tommy Seymour, Stuart Hogg and Charles Piutau. The hosts will also be looking to extend their unbeaten run on home turf to 10 league matches.
GUINNESS PRO12 – ROUND 4 FIXTURES:
Friday, September 23 –
LEINSTER (5th) v Ospreys (1st), the RDS, 7.35pm (live TG4/BBC 2 Wales)
Glasgow Warriors (4th) v ULSTER (2nd), Scotstoun Stadium, 7.35pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland/BBC ALBA)
Benetton Treviso (12th) v Newport Gwent Dragons (7th), Stadio di Monigo, 8.05pm local time
Saturday, September 24 –
MUNSTER (6th) v Edinburgh (8th), Thomond Park, 3pm (live Sky Sports 3 HD)
Zebre (9th) v Cardiff Blues (3rd), Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 5.05pm local time
Scarlets (10th) v CONNACHT (11th), Parc y Scarlets, 7.35pm (live TG4/S4C)
The meeting of Leinster and the Ospreys in Dublin brings together the two most successful teams in the league as they share eight titles between them. The Ospreys are in superb form with three bonus point wins from three, however, Leinster have only lost two PRO12 fixtures at the RDS since 2012.
The visitors won just once in their last nine encounters with Leinster, that last success coming in the 2012 PRO12 final in Dublin.
TOP PERFORMERS IN GUINNESS PRO12 AFTER ROUND 3 (Powered by Opta Statistics):
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 42
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 30
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 26
Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues) 21
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 21
TOP TRY SCORERS –
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 6
Sam Parry (Ospreys) 4
Ben John (Ospreys) 3
TOP TRY ASSISTS –
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 4
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 3
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 2
Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 2
Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) 2
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) 2
Luke McGrath (Leinster) 2
Joey Carbery (Leinster) 2
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) 2
Josh Matavesi (Ospreys) 2
METRES GAINED –
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 343
Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons) 284
Liam Williams (Scarlets) 269
Jeff Hassler (Ospreys) 263
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 237
MOST CARRIES –
Olly Cracknell (Ospreys) 50
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 41
Ed Jackson (Newport Gwent Dragons) 41
Stuart Olding (Ulster) 40
Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) 39
CLEAN BREAKS –
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 10
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 7
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 7
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) 7
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster) 7
DEFENDERS BEATEN –
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 15
Ben John (Ospreys) 14
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 12
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 10
Matt Healy (Connacht) 9
Leonardo Sarto (Glasgow Warriors) 9
Garry Ringrose (Leinster) 9
Steffan Evans (Scarlets) 9
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 9
MOST PASSES –
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 297
Sarel Pretorius (Newport Gwent Dragons) 194
Gareth Davies (Scarlets) 183
Luke McGrath (Leinster) 171
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) 169
MOST OFFLOADS –
Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues) 10
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 8
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 5
Josh Matavesi (Ospreys) 5
Stuart Olding (Ulster) 5
KICKS FROM HAND –
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 40
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 29
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 22
Ian Keatley (Munster) 21
Joey Carbery (Leinster) 20
MOST TACKLES –
Billy Holland (Munster) 53
Jack O’Donoghue (Munster) 44
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 43
Lewis Evans (Newport Gwent Dragons) 41
Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) 40
Sean Reidy (Ulster) 40
Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Treviso) 40
LINEOUTS WON –
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) 19
Rory Thornton (Ospreys) 19
Jake Ball (Scarlets) 17
Marco Barbini (Benetton Treviso) 14
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 13
TURNOVERS WON –
Wyn Jones (Scarlets) 6
Dan Leavy (Leinster) 5
James Davies (Scarlets) 5
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 5
Jamie Heaslip (Leinster) 4
Jack O’Donoghue (Munster) 4
Clive Ross (Ulster) 4
Marco Barbini (Benetton Treviso) 4
For more statistics, please visit www.pro12rugby.com/powered-by-opta