GUINNESS PRO12: Round 21 Preview
All eyes return to the GUINNESS PRO12 Championship with four teams still fighting to join Leinster and Munster in the semi-finals. The Ospreys and Scarlets form the Welsh challenge, while Ulster have it within their control to make it three Irish representatives in the final series.
Glasgow Warriors, who won their first PRO12 title in 2015, can still make it into the semi-finals but they will need to take maximum points from their final two matches while relying on other results to go their way.
Glasgow arrive in Dublin to take on Leinster who will be recovering from their Champions Cup semi-final loss to Clermont Auvergne. If the Warriors are to have any chance of reaching the PRO12 semi-finals, they will need to take maximum points against Leinster who have already secured a home berth in the knock-out stages.
Cardiff Blues will continue their build-up to the Champions Cup qualification play-offs by hosting Zebre at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park. The Blues have been in terrific try-scoring form of late with 22 tries posted in their last six games and they are prime contenders to score the Championship’s 652nd try of the season and set a new record.
The final clash on Friday night sees Edinburgh welcome the Newport Gwent Dragons to Myreside where the hosts will be eager to record their first win since making the move from BT Murrayfield in January.
On Saturday, Munster make their way to Italy to take on Benetton Treviso who have won their last two fixtures at Stadio di Monigo against the Ospreys and Dragons. Connacht are also expecting a big crowd for the visit of the Scarlets as the 2016 champions play their final home game of the season.
GUINNESS PRO12 – ROUND 21 FIXTURES:
Friday, April 28 –
Cardiff Blues (7th) v Zebre (12th), BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, 7.05pm (live BBC 2 Wales)
Edinburgh (9th) v Newport Gwent Dragons (10th), Myreside, 7.35pm (live BBC ALBA)
LEINSTER (1st) v Glasgow Warriors (6th), the RDS, 7.35pm (live TG4)
Saturday, April 29 –
Benetton Treviso (11th) v MUNSTER (2nd), Stadio di Monigo, 7.05pm local time/6.05pm Irish time (live Eurosport Italia/TG4 Player/www.tg4.ie)
Ospreys (4th) v ULSTER (5th), Liberty Stadium, 3pm (live Sky Sports 1 HD/BBC 2 Northern Ireland)
CONNACHT (8th) v Scarlets (3rd), the Sportsground, 7.35pm (live TG4/S4C)
In the pick of the round, Ospreys v Ulster promises to be a dramatic affair live on Sky Sports and BBC 2 Northern Ireland, with both sides aware that victory in the fixture will represent a huge step forward in their bid to reach the semi-finals.
The Ospreys will be looking to arrest a run of results which have stalled their Championship assault, while Ulster will be encouraged by their losing bonus point performance against Munster in round 20.
Home advantage and the second-best defence in the Championship will give the Ospreys confidence at the Liberty Stadium, however, Ulster know that defeat would likely end their ambitions of reaching the knock-out stages for the fifth season in succession.
TOP PERFORMERS IN GUINNESS PRO12 AFTER ROUND 20 (Powered by Opta Statistics):
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
Steve Shingler (Cardiff Blues) 128
Tyler Bleyendaal (Munster) 117
Angus O’Brien (Newport Gwent Dragons) 112
Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) 107
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 106
TOP TRY SCORERS –
Ronan O’Mahony (Munster) 9
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) 8
Joey Carbery (Leinster) 8
Steffan Evans (Scarlets) 8
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster) 8
TOP TRY ASSISTS –
Tyler Bleyendaal (Munster) 11
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 9
Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) 9
Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) 8
Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 8
Ross Byrne (Leinster) 8
Duncan Williams (Munster) 8
Stuart Olding (Ulster) 8
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 8
METRES GAINED –
Tiernan O’Halloran (Connacht) 1904
Matthew Morgan (Cardiff Blues) 1430
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 1424
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 1392
Steffan Evans (Scarlets) 1090
MOST CARRIES –
Tiernan O’Halloran (Connacht) 270
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 230
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 224
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 200
Dan Baker (Ospreys) 196
CLEAN BREAKS –
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 24
Ronan O’Mahony (Munster) 23
Tom James (Cardiff Blues) 22
Steffan Evans (Scarlets) 22
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster) 21
Darren Sweetnam (Munster) 21
Dan Evans (Ospreys) 21
Matthew Morgan (Cardiff Blues) 21
DEFENDERS BEATEN –
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 66
Willis Halaholo (Cardiff Blues) 58
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 54
Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) 52
Steffan Evans (Scarlets) 51
MOST PASSES –
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 1344
Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) 1130
Tom Habberfield (Ospreys) 1009
Luke McGrath (Leinster) 881
Duncan Williams (Munster) 874
MOST OFFLOADS –
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 27
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 26
Jake Heenan (Connacht) 25
Josh Matavesi (Ospreys) 23
Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues) 22
KICKS FROM HAND –
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 165
Carlo Canna (Zebre) 152
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster) 142
Angus O’Brien (Newport Gwent Dragons) 130
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 117
MOST TACKLES –
Sean Reidy (Ulster) 227
Lewis Evans (Newport Gwent Dragons) 222
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) 222
Billy Holland (Munster) 215
James Davies (Scarlets) 214
LINEOUTS WON –
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) 130
Macauley Cook (Cardiff Blues) 68
Rory Thornton (Ospreys) 65
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) 54
Dean Budd (Benetton Treviso) 53
TURNOVERS WON –
James Davies (Scarlets) 27
Dan Leavy (Leinster) 25
Ollie Griffiths (Newport Gwent Dragons) 20
Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets) 15
Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) 15
For more statistics, please visit www.pro12rugby.com/powered-by-opta