28-10-18 pro 14 Irish
PRO 14 IRISH TEAMS
OSPREYS 22-17 CONNACHT
GREAT GILES
Wing Keelan Giles, on his PRO14 return after a 10-month
injury absence, found space on the left wing after a charge-down, chipped into
space and won the race to touch down.
There was a sense of urgency about the way the Ospreys began
the encounter, and before the 10 minute mark there was more joy for Giles when
the ball bounced kindly from a Sam Davies cross-kick for him to notch his
second try.
A scruffy drop goal from Connacht No.10 Jack Carty got the
visitors off the mark soon after and from that point the Irish province came
much more into it, gradually imposing themselves.
While the Ospreys preserved their seven-point advantage at
the interval, McCusker's illegal challenge on Cian Kelleher's neck as the wing
tried to launch a counter-attack, and his subsequent trip to the cooler,
threatened to set them back.
Intelligent decision making allowed them to establish good
field position and when centre Allen sliced through a midfield gap, young
scrum-half Morgan was on his inside shoulder to take the scoring pass.
Davies' first successful conversion crafted a 17-3 cushion,
handing Clarke's men a three-score advantage and the platform to strike out for
victory.
Aki and flanker Jarrad Butler got across the line for
Connacht tries in the final quarter before the grandstand finish
MY
OPINION
This was a disappointing result
for Connacht as it was a result that they must have felt that they deserved to
win but they do seem to be moving backward rather than forward. If Connacht had
got the win then they would have been level they should have felt that little
bit gutted.
ULSTER 36-18 DRAGONS
MIGHTY MC CLOSKEY
Dragons prospects of ending that unwanted 35-match
streak looked bleak when they fell 10 points behind inside the opening 12
minutes.
Ulster set a blistering tempo with Johnny McPhillips varying
the attack cleverly in his first start of the season and the passing of the
young fly-half was able to create space for the likes of Will Addison, Lowry
and McCloskey to exploit.
McPhillips teed-up Speight for the opening try with a
delayed pass for the Australian wing before Addison's superb break left Rhodri
and Jordan Williams trailing in his wake and the supporting Shanahan scored
under the posts.
In between those tries, Jason Tovey became the fifth-highest
points scorer in Pro14 history when he tapped over a penalty for Dragons, who
deservedly pulled a try back when Adam Warren's attack was finished off by
Taylor, who showed impressive strength to wriggle his way over
The home side responded with a try just before the break
when Iain Henderson's charging run gave them field position before Lowry
demonstrated his electric footwork to accelerate past Brok Harris and Warren to
score a spectacular try.
The bonus-point try arrived in the 49th minute when
McPhillips and Lowry combined once again to attack the left channel before
switching play across field for the excellent McCloskey to exploit a clear
overlap but, in a blow for the hosts.
MY OPINION
This result puts Ulster back in
control of their group and will have what should be considered a vital match
this time next week and th3ey do look to be on the right track but we will see
some inexperienced players making a name in the autumn internationals so how
many will be being disused and leave the province.
MUNSTER 25-24 GLASGOW
MIGHTY MATHEWSON
In a feisty start to the game, Munster quickly settled to
their task with Keith Earls continuing his impressive run of form with an early
attack to bring his side to within striking distance before James Cronin was
shunted over the line by his front-row colleague John Ryan
Rory Hughes gathered a superb Fagerson pass before dashing
up the left wing and his inside pass found Pete Horne, who had younger brother
George running a trademark support line and the scrum-half held off the chasing
Earls to score in the corner.
The home side failed to learn their lesson and were under
their own posts once again in the 36th minute when Mathewson's loose kick was
returned with interest by Nick Grigg and the centre found George Horne for a
stunning score.
Glasgow were back on the front-foot from the start of the
second half thanks to another searing break by Grigg, who was hauled down just
short of the line by Darren Sweetnam.
Munster captain Peter O'Mahony then had to make a try-saving
tackle on Ruaridh Jackson but the Television Match Official had spotted an
off-the-ball tackle by Chris Cloete in the build-up and, with the flanker in
the sin bin, the Munster pack were powerless to stop Fagerson from thundering
over.
Hanrahan attempted to spark something for the home side when
he stepped inside Scott Cummings and scampered towards the posts but he was
held up over the line by three covering defenders and Munster ultimately had to
settle for a penalty.
The home side were rewarded for a change in approach as they
patiently retained possession and sucked in the Glasgow defenders before
swinging the ball left where Mike Haley drew the tackle and slipped Wootton
over in the corner.
Substitute Ian Keatley missed his conversion attempt but had
another opportunity seven minutes later when another well-worked attack created
the tiniest of cracks for Mathewson to dive and stretch to brush the ball
against the whitewash.
MY
OPINION
This was a lucky win for Munster
but it might be an advantage moving forward as this is the type of game that
everyone would want to watch. I think that a lot can be learned here from both
sides and going into the Autumn Interne nationals more people will hopefully
break through for both sides. Hanrahan might be one to look at
TREVISO 3-31 LEINSTER
POINT PORTER
Captain Sean O'Brien had revealed that there was a scramble
for places in the Leinster squad for the visit to Stadio Monigo and it was no
surprise that the visitors scored within the opening five minutes.
The Leinster pack held onto the ball for three
energy-sapping minutes as they pounded away at the Benetton line before
scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park spotted some open space in the right corner and
Adam Byrne won the race to his speculative chip.
Benetton were not intimidated by their opponents' fast start
and spent much of the next 20 minutes camped in the Leinster half but their
desire to run the ball at every opportunity against a dogged Blues' defence
proved unwise as 20-year-old Rizzi's penalty was all they had to show for their
efforts.
In contrast, Leinster seemed capable of scoring on every
venture into their opponent's half with Tracy finishing-off a lineout maul to
give his side a 12-3 half-time lead.
A scrum in the 50th minute was the platform for the holders'
third try as Max Deegan and the excellent Gibson-Park combined to find Conor
O'Brien on an unstoppable burst for his first senior try.
The game became increasingly scrappy as the surface began to
cut up underfoot but Leinster's bonus-point score arrived just before the hour
mark when Benetton full-back Jayden Hayward was left isolated on a bouncing
ball and the visitors piled through to regain possession with replacement prop
Porter bulldozing over from six inches out.
But the changes did little to blunt their attack as Tomane
rounded-off the scoring in the 76th minute when Reid cleverly adjusted his feet
to find his team-mate with a delicate chip-kick and the Australian wing
MY
OPINION
Treviso are improving season on
season and could be a force in the next few years but will learn more about
where they are when they play Ulster next week. Leinster have shown again that
they have got the best squad in the pro 14 and should easily reach the semi
finals.
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