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GUINNESS PRO14: Round 16 Preview

GUINNESS PRO14: Round 16 Preview

After a weekend of great drama in the GUINNESS PRO14, the battle to reach the play-offs has reached a fierce intensity. Glasgow Warriors have secured their place in the PRO14 final series thanks to their record-setting pace which has returned 65 points in their first 15 games – beating the previous best mark of 58 after 15 rounds.

Edinburgh have now put themselves in the mix after their late win over Ulster, while round 15 was a terrific one for the Italian clubs who both won away from home in the same round – a first ever for Benetton Rugby and Zebre.

The GUINNESS PRO14 final takes place at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, May 26. See www.ticketmaster.ie or www.pro14rugby.org/final for tickets and more information.

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In a move to reach out across the Gwent region, the Dragons will welcome Edinburgh to Ebbw Vale’s Eugene Cross Park on Friday night. Bernard Jackman’s men are looking to reclaim some form, but Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh team have been incredibly resolute of late and the Dragons will need a vocal support here.

Leinster were one of the first sides to visit the Southern Kings in September and now the South Africans make their first appearance at the RDS. Leo Cullen’s charges came out on top in a tight contest against the Scarlets last weekend, while the Kings came close to their first win against the Ospreys. Both teams like to spread the ball and the visitors will bring plenty of confidence from their last outing.

On Saturday afternoon, Benetton take on Connacht in Treviso. The westerners were undone at home last Friday by Zebre, while Benetton come into this game in their best ever run of form in the Championship after five consecutive wins.

The Ospreys play their final fixture of the season against South African opposition as the Toyota Cheetahs venture to Swansea. The Cheetahs are in need of a win after two consecutive defeats but the Ospreys have won three of their last four Championship fixtures which will provide a renewed confidence for the men in black.

The Scarlets will aim to get back on track against Ulster after back-to-back losses to Benetton and Leinster. The visitors were rocked by Edinburgh’s late drop goal victory last weekend, and a trip to Llanelli presents a tough test for the Ulstermen who need to keep up with the Scottish side who hold third place in Conference B.

Sunday’s only fixture sees Zebre tackle Cardiff Blues with both teams buoyed by recent results. Michael Bradley’s men won convincingly against Connacht last week, while Cardiff have stitched impressive wins together against Cheetahs and Munster as they set a late charge for the final series.

Meanwhile, in the pick of the round, Munster have to take their chance on Friday to close the gap on Glasgow Warriors who are 16 points ahead of them in Conference A. If the three-time Championship winners are to have any chance of reeling in Dave Rennie’s side, they must win here in Cork. However, Glasgow have been playing scintillating rugby in the PRO14 this season. Whatever the result, this is set to be a fascinating encounter.

GUINNESS PRO14 – ROUND 16 FIXTURES:

Friday, February 23 –

MUNSTER (2nd, Con A) v Glasgow Warriors (1st, Con A), Irish Independent Park, 7pm (live Sky Sports Action)

Dragons (6th, Con B) v Edinburgh (3rd, Con B), Eugene Cross Park, 7.30pm

LEINSTER (1st, Con B) v Southern Kings (7th, Con B), the RDS, 7.35pm (live TG4/SuperSport 1)

Saturday, February 24 –

Benetton Rugby (5th, Con B) v CONNACHT (5th, Con A), Stadio di Monigo, 1pm local time/12pm Irish time (live TG4/Eurosport Italia)

Ospreys (6th, Con A) v Toyota Cheetahs (3rd, Con A), Liberty Stadium, 5.30pm

Scarlets (2nd, Con B) v ULSTER (4th, Con B), Parc y Scarlets, 7.35pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland/S4C)

Sunday, February 25 –

Zebre (7th, Con A) v Cardiff Blues (4th, Con A), Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 2pm (live Eurosport Italia)

TOP PERFORMERS IN GUINNESS PRO14 AFTER ROUND 15 (Powered by Opta Statistics):

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

John Cooney (Ulster) 107
Ross Byrne (Leinster) 96
Carlo Canna (Zebre) 93
Jack Carty (Connacht) 91
Ian Keatley (Munster) 85

TOP TRY SCORERS –

Makazole Mapimpi (Toyota Cheetahs) 10
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 8
Craig Gilroy (Ulster) 8
Barry Daly (Leinster) 7

Angelo Esposito (Benetton Rugby) 7
Alex Wootton (Munster) 7

TOP TRY ASSISTS –

John Cooney (Ulster) 10
Steff Evans (Scarlets) 8
Shaun Venter (Toyota Cheetahs) 8
Luke McGrath (Leinster) 8
Darren Sweetnam (Munster) 6
Rory Scannell (Munster) 6

Marty Banks (Benetton Rugby) 6

METRES GAINED –

Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) 1088
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 874
Tiernan O’Halloran (Connacht) 855
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 809
Makazole Mapimpi (Toyota Cheetahs) 801

MOST CARRIES –

Olly Cracknell (Ospreys) 185
Tom Farrell (Connacht) 176
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) 154

Charles Piutau (Ulster) 154
Renato Giammarioli (Zebre) 152

CLEAN BREAKS –

Makazole Mapimpi (Toyota Cheetahs) 22
Jeff Hassler (Ospreys) 18
Mattia Bellini (Zebre) 17
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) 17
John Cooney (Ulster) 17

DEFENDERS BEATEN –

Tom Farrell (Connacht) 48
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) 48
Renato Giammarioli (Zebre) 45
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 45
Jordan Larmour (Leinster) 41

MOST PASSES –

John Cooney (Ulster) 1017
Tom Habberfield (Ospreys) 908
Marcello Violi (Zebre) 877
Kieran Marmion (Connacht) 856
Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) 604

MOST OFFLOADS –

Tom Farrell (Connacht) 34
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 21

Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) 20
Steff Evans (Scarlets) 20
Alex Wootton (Munster) 19

KICKS FROM HAND –

Carlo Canna (Zebre) 102
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 91
Jack Carty (Connacht) 86
Ian Keatley (Munster) 84
Gavin Henson (Dragons) 77

MOST TACKLES –

Bobby de Wee (Southern Kings) 178
Olly Cracknell (Ospreys) 176
James Benjamin (Dragons) 170
Andisa Ntsila (Southern Kings) 164
Paul Schoeman (Toyota Cheetahs) 158

LINEOUTS WON –

Reniel Hugo (Toyota Cheetahs) 66
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) 45
James Cannon (Connacht) 43
Alan O’Connor (Ulster) 42
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) 41

TURNOVERS WON –

Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets) 29
Nick Williams (Cardiff Blues) 18
Michael Willemse (Southern Kings) 15
Will Boyde (Scarlets) 11
Carlo Canna (Zebre) 11
Derick Minnie (Zebre) 11

For more statistics, please visit www.pro14rugby.org/powered-by-opta