GUINNESS PRO14 PREVIEWS 2017/18

Transcription

1 ROUND 3 PREVIEWS History will be made once again this weekend when South Africa hosts its first-ever Guinness PRO14 matches as the Southern Kings entertain Leinster in Port Elizabeth before the Toyota Cheetahs host Zebre in Bloemfontein. Both South African teams will be looking to make a promising start as they play their first home games of the campaign after their opening tours of the UK and Ireland in Rounds 1 & 2. Six teams enter in Round 3 with undefeated records with champions Scarlets joined by Leinster and Munster as on the only sides with maximum points from the first two rounds. Four teams who have won two from two reside in Conference B (Scarlets, Leinster, Ulster and Edinburgh) as the new Championship format begins to take shape. Five of this weekend s fixtures will be screened live by Sky Sports, SuperSport, BBC Wales, BBC Northern Ireland, Eurosport, S4C and TG4. What s at Stake Leinster look to maintain their hot start to the season after wins against Dragons and Cardiff Blues but they will be up against a Southern Kings team eager to rebound from their losses in the opening rounds. Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will become the 40 th venue to host a Championship fixture and a big crowd is expected to witness this first cross-hemisphere clash on South African soil. Zebre will be the second European team to taste the action in South Africa when they take on the Toyota Cheetahs with both sides looking to pick their first wins of the season. The Scottish teams, Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, will put their unbeaten records on the line when they face Cardiff Blues and Benetton Rugby, respectively. It s a debut campaign for coaches at both clubs Dave Rennie at Glasgow Warriors and Richard Cockerill at Edinburgh and already they have shown that their playing philosophies can work in the Guinness PRO14. In Wales, Ospreys will be keen to strike back against Munster after their loss in Glasgow last weekend. These teams last met in the Guinness PRO12 Semi-Final last May and Steve Tandy s men will be to ensure they claw back some ground on their Conference A rivals. Bernard Jackman s Dragons will host Connacht, one of his former clubs, as he aims to deliver a first win of the season at Rodney Parade where both teams should be able to take advantage of the fantastic new surface which was laid this summer. Pick of the Round Ulster Rugby v Scarlets One team is certain to lose their unbeaten record when Scarlets visit Kingspan Stadium (live on BBC NI, BBC Wales and TG4) with the champions going up against Les Kiss Ulster who have started strongly. Scarlets will arrive with some of the Guinness PRO14 s most impressive attacking players with Steff Evans, Johnny McNicholl and Gareth Davies all continuing on their sharp form that helped win the title in May. But the home-team dressing room contains the likes of Charles Piutau, Christian Lealiifano, Tommy Bowe, Jean Deysel and Marcell Coetzee so this promises to be an explosive affair from the off. Opta Top Performers Round 2 - Tackles made: 21 Callum Gibbins (Glasgow Warriors) - Carries: 25 Olly Cracknell (Ospreys) - Defenders beaten: 9 Ashton Hewitt (Dragons) - Offloads: 4 Masixole Banda (Southern Kings) - Breaks: 4 John Cooney (Ulster) - Metres made: 140 Jacob Stockdale (Munster) - Turnovers won: 4 Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh) - Lineout steals: 2 Quinn Roux (Connacht) GUINNESS PRO14 CONFERENCES CONFERENCE A Cardiff Blues, Toyota Cheetahs, Connacht Rugby, Glasgow Warriors, Munster Rugby, Ospreys Rugby, Zebre Rugby Club. CONFERENCE B Benetton Rugby, Dragons, Edinburgh Rugby, Southern Kings, Leinster Rugby, Scarlets, Ulster Rugby. All kick-off times are local. Page 1 of 8

2 Friday 15 September DRAGONS v CONNACHT At Rodney Parade, Newport, 7.30pm Referee: Quinton Immelman (SARU, 2 nd competition game) Assistant Referees: Craig Evans, Rhys Thomas (both WRU) Citing Commissioner: John Charles (WRU) Date Venue D C Dragons scorers Connacht scorers Sat 6 Sep 14 Sportsground Jason Tovey(2P) Nic Cudd(T) Danie Poolman(T) Eoin McKeon(T) Darragh Leader(2P) Sun 22 Feb 15 Rodney Parade Jack Dixon(T) Hallam Amos(2T) Tom Prydie(2C/2P) Fri 4 Sep 15 Sportsground Tom Prydie(P) James Thomas(T) Jason Tovey(2C/2P) Sarel Pretorius(T) Thu 11 Feb 16 Rodney Parade Angus O'Brien(C/2P) Adam Hughes(T) Jason Tovey(P) Ashton Hewitt(T) Fri 4 Nov 16 Rodney Parade Angus O'Brien(C/2D/P) Ashton Hewitt(2T) Jack Carty(2C/P) Mick Kearney(T) Eoghan Masterson(T) Darragh Leader(C/2P) Craig Ronaldson(T) Danie Poolman(T) Nepia Fox- Matamua(T) Jack Carty(C/4P) Fionn Carr(T) Matt Healy(T) Tiernan O'Halloran(T) Eoghan Masterson(T) Bundee Aki(T) Craig Ronaldson(3C) Jack Carty(C/3P) Niyi Adeolokun(T) Sat 18 Feb 17 Sportsground 9 14 Angus O'Brien(3P) Tiernan O'Halloran(T) Caolin Blade(T) Craig Ronaldson(2C) Played 28, Dragons won 10 Connacht won 18. Dragons only victory in their last fifteen Guinness PRO14 matches was 26-8 at home to Benetton last January. The Welsh Region s most recent victory at Rodney Parade was over Russian outfit Enisei in round 5 of last season s European Challenge Cup in January. Dragons last win over an Irish province was against this week s opponents, Connacht, in Newport in round 8 last season. Connacht s triumph over Southern Kings on Friday ended a run of five straight defeats in the Guinness PRO14. The Irishmen s only away victory in the last four rounds was in Edinburgh on 7 April. Connacht won on their most recent visit to Wales, beating the Blues in Cardiff in February. Connacht s only loss in their last nine encounters with Dragons was at Rodney Parade on 4 November COMPARISON Dragons Connacht Last 3 PRO14 results: 6 May - Cardiff Blues (H) L May - Munster (A) L Sep - Leinster (H) L Sep - Glasgow (H) L Sep - Edinburgh (A) L Sep - Southern Kings (H) W PRO /18 Conf B: 6th - W0 D0 L2-0pts Conf A: 3rd - W1 D0 L1-6pts PRO14 form Ll (0pts) LW (6pts) Top try scorer 1 - Penalty Try 1 - Darragh Leader, Tom Farrell, Eoghan Masterson, Ultan Dillane Top points scorer 27 - Gavin Henson 24 - Jack Carty All kick-off times are local. Page 2 of 8

3 Friday 15 September EDINBURGH RUGBY v BENETTON RUGBY At Myreside Stadium, Edinburgh, 7.35pm. Referee: David Wilkinson (IRFU, 53 rd competition game) Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton, Dunx McClement (both SRU) Citing Commissioner: John Kirk (SRU) Date Venue E B Edinburgh Rugby scorers Benetton Rugby scorers Fri 19 Dec 14 BT Murrayfield 48 0 Grayson Hart(T) David Denton(T) Willem Nel(T) Tom Heathcote(3C) Roddy Grant(T) Sam Hidalgo- Clyne(T/3C/2P) Mike Coman(T) Sat 7 Mar 15 Stadio Monigo 29 8 Matt Scott(2T) Sam Hidalgo- Clyne(3C/P) Andries Strauss(T) Hamish Watson(T) Sat 12 Sep 15 Stadio Monigo Sam Beard(T) Phil Burleigh(T) Greig Tonks(3C/2P) Damien Hoyland(T) Fri 8 Jan 16 BT Murrayfield Sam Hidalgo-Clyne(2C/3P) Damien Hoyland(2T) Penalty Try(T) Fri 7 Oct 16 BT Murrayfield Tom Brown(2T) Jason Tovey(5C) Magnus Bradbury(T) Damien Hoyland(2T) Blair Kinghorn(T) Hamish Watson(T) Jayden Hayward(P) Simone Ragusi(T) Duncan Naude(T) Jayden Hayward(C/4P) Andrea Pratichetti(T) Robert Barbieri(T) James Ambrosini(C/2P) Tommaso Allan(C/P) Marco Fuser(T) Sat 15 Apr 17 Stadio Monigo 6 21 Jason Tovey(2P) Robert Barbieri(T) Angelo Esposito(T) Ian McKinley(C/3P) Played 14, Edinburgh won 9, Benetton won 5. Edinburgh Rugby have won their last four Guinness PRO14 matches but have not won five in a row in the competition since The Scotsmen have lost two of their last three fixtures against Italian opponents. Benetton s two victories in the last five rounds of the Guinness PRO14 were at home to Edinburgh in April and away at Zebre in round 22 last season. The Italians only victory outside of Italy since 2013 came on a visit to Bayonne in the European Challenge Cup in December Benetton s 21-6 victory over Edinburgh in round 20 last season ended a run of five successive defeats to the Scottish side. The Italian outfit s most recent victory in Scotland was against Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield in October COMPARISON Edinburgh Benetton Last 3 PRO14 results: 6 May - Glasgow (A) W May - Zebre (A) W Sep - Cardiff Blues (A) W Sep - Munster (A) L Sep - Dragons (H) W Sep - Ulster (H) L PRO /18 Conf B: 4th - W2 D0 L0-9pts Conf B: 5th - W0 D0 L2-1pts PRO14 form ww (9pts) ll (1pts) Top try scorer 2 - Blair Kinghorn 1 - Federico Ruzza, Ian McKinley Top points scorer 25 - Duncan Weir 9 - Ian McKinley All kick-off times are local. Page 3 of 8

4 Friday 15 September ULSTER RUGBY v SCARLETS At Kingspan Stadium, Belfast, 19.35pm. Live on Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR, 70 th competition game) Assistant Referees: Vincenzo Schipani (FIR), Kieran Barry (IRFU) Citing Commissioner: Eddie Wigglesworth, (IRFU) TMO: Alan Falzone (FIR) Date Venue U S Ulster scorers Scarlets scorers Sat 6 Sep 14 Parc y Scarlets Dan Tuohy(T) Ian Humphreys(3C/2P) Andrew Trimble(T) Franco van der Merwe(T) Louis Ludik(T) Fri 27 Feb 15 Kingspan Stadium Craig Gilroy(T) Luke Marshall(T) Ruan Pienaar(T/2C/2P) Sat 12 Sep 15 Parc y Scarlets Rory Scholes(T) Stuart McCloskey(C) Penalty Try(T) Sun 21 Feb 16 Kingspan Stadium Craig Gilroy(T) Paddy Jackson(2C/D/P) Luke Marshall(T) Fri 16 Sep 16 Kingspan Stadium 19 8 Paddy Jackson(3P) Iain Henderson(T) Louis Ludik(T) Fri 6 Jan 17 Parc y Scarlets Paddy Jackson(C/2P) Jacob Stockdale(T) Harry Robinson(T) Gareth Davies(2T) Rory Pitman(T) Rhys Priestland(3C/2P) Steve Shingler(2C/2P) Kristian Phillips(T) John Barclay(T) Dan Jones(C/4P) Hadleigh Parkes(T) Aled Thomas(P) Mike Collins(2T) Aled Thomas(C/3P) Rhys Patchell(P) Will Boyde(T) Dan Jones(C/3P) Penalty Try(T) Played 29, Ulster won 15, Scarlets won 12 with 2 games drawn. Ulster have won their last three Guinness PRO14 encounters since slipping up at Ospreys at the end of April. The Ulstermen have lost just once at Kingspan Stadium in the Championship since Scarlets beat them there by a single point in February 2016: to Munster in round 7 last season. Scarlets have won their last nine Guinness PRO14 encounters, whilst another victory would equal their best ever sequence in the competition, set in Scarlets have lost only one of their last eight encounters with Irish provinces: 9-45 to Leinster at the RDS Arena in March. When the two sides met last season the home team were triumphant on both occasions whilst Scarlets only victory in Belfast since September 2008 was in February COMPARISON Ulster Scarlets Last 3 PRO14 results: 6 May - Leinster (H) W May - Munster (N) W Sep - Cheetahs (H) W Sep - Southern Kings (H) W Sep - Treviso (A) W Sep - Zebre (A) W PRO /18 Conf B: 3rd - W2 D0 L0-9pts Conf B: 1st - W2 D0 L0-10pts PRO14 form Ww (9pts) Ww (10pts) Top try scorer 2 - Andrew Trimble 3 - Johnny McNicholl Top points scorer 16 - John Cooney 29 - Rhys Patchell All kick-off times are local. Page 4 of 8

5 Saturday 16 September CARDIFF BLUES v GLASGOW WARRIORS At Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff, 7.35pm. Live on Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 7 th competition game) Assistant Referees: George Clancy (IRFU), Mike English (WRU) Citing Commissioner: Dennis Jones (WRU) TMO: Simon McDowell (IRFU) Date Venue C G Cardiff Blues scorers Glasgow Warriors scorers Sun 14 Sep 14 Cardiff Arms Park Rhys Patchell(4P) Henry Pyrgos(C/2P) Duncan Weir(2C/2P) Nikola Matawalu(2T) Sean Lamont(T) Fri 10 Apr 15 Scotstoun Stadium Gareth Anscombe(2C/P) Gareth Davies(T) Dan Fish(T) Sat 7 Nov 15 Cardiff Arms Park Rhys Patchell(6P) Gavin Evans(T) Jarrod Evans(C) Penalty Try(T) Sun 6 Mar 16 Scotstoun Stadium Rhys Patchell(C/P) Ellis Jenkins(T) Macauley Cook(T) Dan Fish(T) Fri 16 Sep 16 Cardiff Arms Park Rey Lee-Lo(T) Gareth Anscombe(2C/2P) Steve Shingler(P) Alex Cuthbert(T) Sat 7 Jan 17 Scotstoun Stadium Steve Shingler(C/P) Blaine Scully(T) Rhun Williams(T) Pete Horne(3T/3C/P) Finn Russell(C) Adam Ashe(T) Dougie Hall(T) Taqele Naiyaravoro(T) Finn Russell(3C/3P) Jonny Gray(T) Ryan Grant(T) Leone Nakarawa(T) Duncan Weir(3C/2P) Gordon Reid(T) Tim Swinson(T) Simone Favaro(T) Pete Horne(T) Ali Price(T) Stuart Hogg(T) Rory Clegg(2C) Finn Russell(3C/P) James Malcolm(T) Pat MacArthur(T) Peter Murchie(2T) Played 28, Blues won 11, Warriors won 17. Cardiff Blues have begun the season with a pair of defeats, at home to Edinburgh and away to Leinster, but have not started a Guinness PRO14 campaign with three successive reversals since The Blues last five matches at the Arms Park in the Championship have resulted in two wins and three defeats. Glasgow Warriors have beaten Connacht and Ospreys in rounds 1 and 2, but have not started a Guinness PRO14 campaign with three successive wins since 2014/15, when they went on to take the title. The Scotsmen s victory in Connacht in round 1 was their first on the road in the Championship since they visited Treviso on New Year s Eve, whilst their only win in Wales last season was against Dragons in round 5. The Warriors only defeat to Blues in their last dozen PRO14 fixtures was at the Arms Park in round 3 last year. COMPARISON Blues Warriors Last 3 PRO14 results: 6 May - Dragons (A) W May - Edinburgh (H) L Sep - Edinburgh (H) L Sep - Connacht (A) W Sep - Leinster (A) L Sep - Ospreys (H) W PRO /18 Conf A: 5th - W0 D0 L2-0pts Conf A: 2nd - W2 D0 L0-9pts PRO14 form Ll (0pts) ww (9pts) Top try scorer 1 - Josh Navidi 2 - Alex Dunbar Top points scorer 9 - Steve Shingler 11 - Finn Russell All kick-off times are local. Page 5 of 8

6 Saturday 16 September OSPREYS RUGBY v MUNSTER RUGBY At Liberty Stadium, Swansea, 3.15pm. Live on Referee: Stuart Berry (SARU, 2 nd competition game) Assistant Referees: Dan Jones, Adam Jones (both WRU) Citing Commissioner: Ray Wilton (WRU) TMO: Tim Hayes (WRU) Date Venue O M Ospreys scorers Munster scorers Sat 23 May 15 Thomond Park (SF) Jeff Hassler(T) Dan Biggar(C/2P) Rhys Webb(T) Paddy Butler(T) Denis Hurley(T) Ian Keatley(2P) Simon Zebo(T) Sun 13 Sep 15 Liberty Stadium Sam Davies(6P) CJ Stander(T) Tyler Bleyendaal(C/2P) Stephen Fitzgerald(T) Ian Keatley(C) Sun 14 Feb 16 Fri 4 Nov 16 Irish Independent Park Irish Independent Park Sam Davies(T/C/3P) Owen Watkin(T) Sat 18 Feb 17 Liberty Stadium Sam Davies(2C/3P) Hanno Dirksen(T) Kieron Fonotia(T) Francis Saili(T) Robin Copeland(T) Ian Keatley(C) Duncan Williams(T) 0 33 Dave Kilcoyne(2T) Darren Sweetnam(T) Tyler Bleyendaal(4C) Ronan O'Mahony(T) Robin Copeland(T) Dave Kilcoyne(T) Jack O'Donoghue(T) Tyler Bleyendaal(2C/2P) Francis Saili(T) Sat 20 May 17 Thomond Park (SF) 3 23 Dan Biggar(P) Andrew Conway(T) Tyler Bleyendaal(C/2P) Francis Saili(T) Simon Zebo(T) Played 32, Ospreys won 15, Munster won 16 with 1 game drawn. Ospreys only victory in the last four rounds of the Guinness PRO14 was against Zebre in round 1 in the only home game in that sequence. Ospreys have won just two of their last eight matches at Liberty Stadium against Irish provinces over Connacht in January and Ulster in April. Munster s solitary defeat in their last ten Guinness PRO14 fixtures was in last year s final to Scarlets at Aviva Stadium. Munster are in the midst of their best ever away record in the Championship having won on each of their last eight trips away from home since losing in Leinster in round 6 last season. Munster have lost just one of their last six fixtures against Ospreys: in Cork in February 2016 whilst the Munstermen have been victorious on three of their last four visits to Liberty Stadium. COMPARISON Ospreys Munster Last 3 PRO14 results: 20 May - Munster (A) L May - Scarlets (N) L Sep - Zebre (H) W Sep - Treviso (H) W Sep - Glasgow (A) L Sep - Cheetahs (H) W PRO /18 Conf A: 4th - W1 D0 L1-4pts Conf A: 1st - W2 D0 L0-10pts PRO14 form Wl (4pts) WW (10pts) Top try scorer 2 - Keelan Giles 5 - Alex Wootton Top points scorer 10 - Keelan Giles 25 - Alex Wootton All kick-off times are local. Page 6 of 8

7 Saturday 16 September SOUTHERN KINGS v LEINSTER At Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, 2.15pm. Live on Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 36 th competition game) Assistant Referees: Mike Adamson (SRU), Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU) Citing Commissioner: Nomsebenzi Tsotsobe (SARU) TMO: Johan Greeff (SARU) First PRO14 meeting between the teams. Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth becomes the 40 th different venue to host a Guinness PRO14 encounter, and the first in South Arica. Southern Kings have lost their last three matches since beating the Bulls in Pretoria in Super Rugby in July. Kings most recent victory in Port Elizabeth was against The Sharks on 13 May. Leinster have begun their Guinness PRO14 campaign with maximum points but have not started a Championship season with wins in their first three matches since 2001/02. The Leinsterman s only defeat in their last six away games in the Championship was to Ulster in Belfast in round 22 last season. The two sides have never met before. COMPARISON Kings Leinster Last 3 results: 14 Jul - Cheetahs (H) L May - Scarlets (H) L Sep - Scarlets (A) L Sep - Dragons (A) W Sep - Connacht (A) L Sep - Cardiff Blues (H) W 37-9 PRO /18 Conf B: 7th - W0 D0 L2-0pts Conf B: 2nd - W2 D0 L0-10pts PRO14 form ll (0pts) ww (10pts) Top try scorer 1 - Berton Klaasen, Luvuyo Pupuma, Yaw Penxe 1 - Nick McCarthy, Dan Leavy, Sean Cronin, James Tracy, Cathal Marsh, Barry Daly, Jamison Gibson-Park, Top points scorer 5 Kurt Coleman, Berton Klaasen, Luvuyo Pupuma, Yaw Penxe Jordan Larmour, Penalty Try 27 - Ross Byrne All kick-off times are local. Page 7 of 8

8 Saturday 16 September TOYOTA CHEETAHS v ZEBRE RUGBY At Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein, 7.30pm. Live on Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 26 th competition game) Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher (IRFU), Jaco Peyper (SARU) Citing Commissioner: Marius van Rensburg (SARU) TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU) First PRO14 meeting between the teams. The Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein becomes the 41 st different venue to host a Guinness PRO14 encounter. Toyota Cheetahs most recent victory was against Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth in July, whilst they have not been victorious in Bloemfontein since beating Japanese outfit, Sunwolves, in Super Rugby in early March. Zebre Rugby s most recent victory in the Guinness PRO14 was at home to Dragons on 8 April, whilst they have not won away from home since beating Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield in round 7 last season. This is the two sides first ever meeting. COMPARISON Cheetahs Zebre Last 3 results: 14 Jul - Kings (A) W May - Treviso (H) L Sep - Ulster (A) L Sep - Ospreys (A) L Sep - Munster (A) L Sep - Scarlets (H) L PRO /18 Conf A: 7th - W0 D0 L2-0pts Conf A: 6th - W0 D0 L2-0pts PRO14 form ll (0pts) ll (0pts) Top try scorer 1 - Sergeal Petersen, Clayton Blommetjies, 1 - Carlo Canna, Mattia Bellini Makazole Mapimpi, Henco Venter, William Small-Smith Top points scorer 9 - William Small-Smith 18 - Carlo Canna All kick-off times are local. Page 8 of 8