GUINNESS PRO12: Round 7 Preview

The GUINNESS PRO12 teams have made a strong start in both the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup with six sides – Leinster, Munster, Connacht and the Ospreys, Cardiff Blues and Edinburgh – all topping their pools in their respective continental competitions.
 
Carrying on from round 6 where a record 45 tries were scored, the PRO12 teams have shown attacking intent in Europe as they have contributed 81 tries in just 23 fixtures. Wins against non-PRO12 opposition in both tournaments has backed up the top class rugby seen in the Championship this season with PRO12 sides winning five of the nine fixtures against teams from other leagues.
 
This weekend will see the resumption of more familiar rivalries with derby games fixed for Ireland and Wales as part of the ‘Big Weekend’ concept.
 
Ulster’s unbeaten start to the season finally came to an end in round 6 where they met a resurgent Connacht side who used their interprovincial victory as a springboard into the Champions Cup where they won their first two games.
 
Back in the PRO12, the fiercely competitive race to reach the final at the Aviva Stadium on May 27, 2017 sees just four points separating the top six teams, while Connacht and the Scarlets are looking to regain lost ground after a slow start to season.

Connacht will visit Leinster at the RDS but they have not won in the Irish capital since 2002, while the Scarlets travel to the Welsh capital to take on Cardiff Blues having picked up three wins in their last four fixtures against the other regions.
 
Home records will be a big strength this weekend with Cardiff having suffered just one defeat in almost three years to the other regions, Leinster are 18 games unbeaten at home in the PRO12, while the Ospreys have racked up 31 tries in all competitions in Swansea this season.

GUINNESS PRO12 – ROUND 7 FIXTURES:
 
Friday, October 28 –

ULSTER (1st) v MUNSTER (5th), Kingspan Stadium, 7.05pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland/TG4)

Cardiff Blues (6th) v Scarlets (7th), BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, 7.35pm (live BBC 2 Wales)

Glasgow Warriors (4th) v Benetton Treviso (11th), Scotstoun Stadium, 7.35pm (live BBC ALBA)

Edinburgh (9th) v Zebre (12th), BT Murrayfield, 7.35pm

Saturday, October 29 –

Ospreys (3rd) v Newport Gwent Dragons (10th), Liberty Stadium, 3pm (live Sky Sports 2 HD/S4C)

LEINSTER (2nd) v CONNACHT (8th), the RDS, 5.15pm (live Sky Sports 2 HD/highlights TG4)

Kingspan Stadium in Belfast will host the clash between two teams in the top six of the PRO12 as Ulster entertain their provincial rivals Munster. On the pitch it promises to be an exciting affair with Charles Piutau of Ulster turning in some of the most eye-catching performances of the season so far and he should have the world class talents of Ruan Pienaar beside him.

However, Munster will be eager to put their best foot forward to help cope with the tragic loss of head coach Anthony Foley and they will look to Tyler Bleyendaal, Jaco Taute and the PRO12’s top tackler Billy Holland to steer them back towards to the top of the table.

TOP PERFORMERS IN GUINNESS PRO12 AFTER ROUND 6 (Powered by Opta Statistics):

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

Sam Davies (Ospreys) 51
Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues) 43
Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) 43
Tyler Bleyendaal (Munster) 40
Paddy Jackson (Ulster) 40

TOP TRY SCORERS –

Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 7
Ben John (Ospreys) 5
Sam Parry (Ospreys) 4
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 4

TOP TRY ASSISTS –

Sam Davies (Ospreys) 6
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) 4
Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) 3
Josh Matavesi (Ospreys) 3
Jason Tovey (Edinburgh) 3
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) 3
Carlo Canna (Zebre) 3
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 3
Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) 3

METRES GAINED –

Dan Evans (Ospreys) 537
Liam Williams (Scarlets) 467
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 437
Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons) 431
Steffan Evans (Scarlets) 371

MOST CARRIES –

CJ Stander (Munster) 82
Ed Jackson (Newport Gwent Dragons) 64
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 63
Nick Williams (Cardiff Blues) 60
Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues) 55

CLEAN BREAKS –

Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 12
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 11
Darren Sweetnam (Munster) 10
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 10
Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues) 9

DEFENDERS BEATEN –

Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh) 22
Ben John (Ospreys) 21
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 20
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 18
Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons) 17
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 17
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 17
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 17
Steffan Evans (Scarlets) 17

MOST PASSES –

Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 450
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) 370
Luke McGrath (Leinster) 311
Conor Murray (Munster) 274
Sarel Pretorius (Newport Gwent Dragons) 272

MOST OFFLOADS –

Charles Piutau (Ulster) 10
Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues) 10
Scott Williams (Scarlets) 8
Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons) 7
Ian Keatley (Munster) 7
CJ Stander (Munster) 7
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 7

KICKS FROM HAND –

Sam Davies (Ospreys) 79
Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) 75
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 75
Tommaso Allan (Benetton Treviso) 62
Jack Carty (Connacht) 51
Carlo Canna (Zebre) 51

MOST TACKLES –

Billy Holland (Munster) 90
Sean Reidy (Ulster) 79
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 79
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 78
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) 79

LINEOUTS WON –

Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) 31
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) 23
Rory Thornton (Ospreys) 20
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) 20
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 20
Cory Hill (Newport Gwent Dragons) 20

TURNOVERS WON –

James Davies (Scarlets) 8
John Barclay (Scarlets) 7
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 7
Billy Holland (Munster) 7
Ben John (Ospreys) 6
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) 6

For more statistics, please visit www.pro12rugby.com/powered-by-opta