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FINAL 2010
LEINSTER 12-17 OSPREYS 
ROYAL DUBLIN SHOWGROUND – Saturday 27th May 2010
Attendance: 18,500
DEFENDING champions Leinster lost their first home Magner’s League match since September 2008 and saw their crown whipped away by the Ospreys, who ran in two match-breaking first-half tries to win the inaugural grand final and claim the league title at the Royal Dublin Showground.
The Ospreys became the first team to win the Magners League for a third time, ending their losing streak against table-topping Leinster in an exciting and tense climax to the play-offs, which tries from Tommy Bowe and man-of-the-match Lee Byrne do the damage to Irish hopes of back-to-back titles.
It was a frustrating way for the departing Michael Cheika to end his coaching tenure at Leinster with the Australian left frustrated with an error-ridden display which saw the home side muster four penalty goals from Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton.
Sexton's opposite number Dan Biggar converted the two Welsh first-half tries for a 14-3 half-time lead and then landed a second-half penalty to help the Welsh regional side complete a clean sweep of away victories over Irish sides this season.
The Ospreys showed they meant business early on when Bowe popped up in the middle in a move which led to Biggar darting in under the posts , only for his ‘score’ to be wiped out by a knock- on from Marty Holah early in the move.
Biggar had the first scoring opportunity but he pushed a penalty narrowly wide from just outside the 22 but a flat delivery from Biggar sent Andrew Bishop bursting past Gordon D'Arcy in midfield and faced by Kearney, the centre's well-timed pass sent Bowe charging over for a 19th minute opening try converted by Biggar.
Sexton quickly replied by firing over a penalty from the ten-metre line but, six minutes before the break, Biggar floated a pass to James Hook and he released Byrne, who side-stepped the covering Jamie Heaslip to score with Biggar again adding the extras.
Leinster made a positive start to the second half as Sexton popped over a long-range penalty but Biggar replied to maintain the Osprey’s cushion and the Welsh side looked comfortable after that, soaking up any pressure off-colour Leinster managed to apply.
Sexton landed his third penalty to keep the Irish side alive and when Byrne was penalised for a high tackle on D’Arcy, he kicked Leinster to within a converted try of a comeback victory, but the Ospreys drew on their vast experience to keep their hosts at arm’s length and when Sexton missed a penalty in the dying minutes, the jubilant visitors sealed their first win in Dublin for five years.
Leinster
P: Sexton 4
Ospreys
T: Bowe, Byrne
C: Biggar 2
P: Biggar
SEMI FINALS
THE Ospreys are one match away from winning their first Magners League title after a 20-5 play-off semi-final win over Glasgow Warriors in the Liberty Stadium booked the Welsh heavyweights a mouthwatering Grand Final date with Leinster in Dublin.
A try apiece from Shane Williams and James Hook helped the Ospreys chalk up their fifth win in six games in front of a 7,750 crowd to see off a Glasgow side which had defied the odds to reach the play-offs.
Man-of-the-match Shane Williams scampered through for a ninth-minute opening try, converted by assured fly-half Dan Biggar and, after the Warriors got off the mark two minutes into the second half with an unconverted try from hooker Fergus Thomson , the Ospreys’ composure saw them through.
Biggar added two penalties after the break, sandwiching a classy 54th minute try from Hook which he converted.
Glasgow put up a brave fight but the league’s top points-scorer Dan Parks missed three place-kicks - one from inside his own half - and the Scots saw attack after attack thwarted by the Ospreys' rock-solid defence.
In Dublin, a packed RDS saw Munster's title defence brought to a grinding halt by hosts Leinster, thanks to a performance inspired by man-of-the-match number eight Jamie Heaslip.
Rob Kearney scored the only try of a pulsating all-Irish semi-final but Heaslip was in scintillating form in defence and attack.
Collectively, Leinster were on a different level after the break, scoring 13 points in a 15-minute spell just before the hour mark.
Fly-half Jonathan Sexton, back after recovering from a broken jaw, converted Kearney's try and kicked three penalties while Munster’s stand-in skipper Ronan O'Gara picked off a penalty and a drop-goal for a valiant Munster side that kept fighting until the end.
RESULTS
Friday 14th May 2010
Ospreys 20-5 Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 15th May 2010
Leinster 16-6 Munster
WEEK 19
The Ospreys ran four second half tries past Newport Gwent Dragons to finish second in the Magner’s League end-of-season standings, clinching a bonus-point the league phase with a bonus point 42-10 win which earned them a home semi-final in the Liberty Stadium.
Hampered by injuries, the Newport Gwent Dragons succumbed to a wave of second half attacks from the Ospreys as captain Ryan Jones, fly-half Dan Biggar and replacement duo Nikki Walker and Ryan Bevington helped themselves to tries.
The Dragons, without 14 regulars, hung in there in the first half, restricting the Ospreys to just one try - a 17th minute penalty score – in a first half which ended with the Ospreys 16-3 in front, but they had no answers after the break when the Ospreys stepped up a gear to clinch a home date with Glasgow Warriors on Friday 14th May.
The Scots clinched third place in the end-of-season table, courtesy of a hard-earned 37-32 away win over the ninth-paced Scarlets with Cardiff Blues-bound Scotland fly-half Dan Parks converting tries from DTH van der Merwe, Calum Forrester, Hefin O'Hare and full-back Bernardo Stortoni on his way to a 17-point haul.
The Scarlets led on three separate occasions with full-back Daniel Evans, wing Lee Williams and fly-half Stephen Jones who had become the Scarlets' record points-scorer, with 2612 points to his name, by the end of what proved to be a narrow defeat.
The other semi-final, on Saturday 15th May, pits defending champions and table-toppers Leinster against 2008/9 title-winners Munster at the Royal Dublin Showground after Brian O’Driscoll’s men saw off Edinburgh 37-28 in Dublin and Munster squeezed out a crucial losing bonus-point from a 13-12 away defeat which denied hosts Cardiff Blues a semi-final appearance.
Late converted tries from replacement flanker Stephen Keogh and full-back Rob Kearney helped Leinster beat an Edinburgh side which took a 14-0 lead with tries from full-back Jim Thompson and wing Mark Robertson before man-of-the-match Cian Healy touched down to get Leinster going.
A Shane Horgan try was then cancelled out by scores from hooker Andy Kelly and Robertson to give Edinburgh a 28-20 lead before Leinster came roaring back to win with two late touchdowns and stand-in fly-half Isa Nacewa landing seven kicks from seven attempts.
Cardiff Blues, meanwhile, gave Ulster-bound skipper Xavier Rush a winning send-off in the Cardiff City Stadium, but their narrow defeat of Munster restricted them to fifth place in the end-of-season table an sent Munster marching into an all-Irish semi-final showdown in Dublin.
Wales and Lions centre Jamie Roberts scored the only try of a bitter sweet win for Cardiff.
Elsewhere, Ulster booked Ireland’s third Heineken Cup place with a 41-10 win over bottom-of-the-table Connacht at Ravenhill, which saw the hosts finish in eighth place in the final standings.
Michael Bradley's final match in charge of Connacht saw his side leak 29 second-half points after they trailed 12-10 at the interval with a try from prop Ronan Loughney on the board.
Tries from replacement hooker Andi Kyriacou, centre Ian Whitten, lock Dan Tuohy and full-back Jamie Smith then saw Ulster coast to a second successive bonus-point win.
RESULTS
Friday 7th May 2010
Ospreys 42-10 Newport Gwent Dragons
Scarlets 32-37 Glasgow Warriors
Ulster 41-10 Connacht
Sunday 9th May 2010
Cardiff Blues 13-12 Munster
Leinster 37-28 Edinburgh
SEMI-FINAL FIXTURES
Friday 14th May 2010
Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 15th May 2010
Leinster v Munster
WEEK 18
LEINSTER still lead the way in the Magner’s League table after the penultimate round of regular season fixtures, despite suffering two defeats in a week by bottom-of-the-table Connacht, who pulled off the shock of the season in Galway in a re-arranged midweek game, and Glasgow Warriors, who have guaranteed themselves a play-off place.
Tries from Brian Tuohy, Michael Swift and Troy Nathan helped Connacht chalk up only their second win over Leinster since 2004 with a performance which bodes well for the Galway side’s hopes of booking a Heineken Cup berth by winning the Amlin Challenge Cup next month.
This Irish derby clash seemed set up for Leinster, especially with Brian O'Driscoll back from a knee injury to lead a strong starting line-up.
Trailing 7-0 at the break, Leinster hit back with a second-half try from Johnny O’Connor but they were unable to rein in confident Connaught, who thoroughly deserved their 23-17 victory.
Their lead at the top of the table was eroded again at Firhill three days later, when an understrength side went down 30-6 against Glasgow, who sealed a win which moved them up to third place with two late tries from centre Rob Dewey after Argentinean full-back Barnardo Stortoni opened their account with a first-half touchdown.
Scotland fly-half Dan Parks kicked two penalties and converted Stortoni's try for a 13-6 half-time lead in a game where Leinster’s points came courtesy of two Ian Madigan penalties.
Dan Biggar's right boot helped the second-placed Ospreys claimed their first victory at Thomond Park, where a 15-11 win over Munster moving the Welsh side a step closer to a home semi-final.
Biggar kicked five penalties from five attempts while Munster's stand-in captain Ronan O'Gara scored a try and kicked two penalties in reply, missing four other kicks, totalling 11 points, leaving Munster needing a win over Cardiff Blues in Wales in their final regular season match to reach the semi-finals.
The Blues, who are four points adrift of Munster in fifth place, torpedoed Newport Gwent Dragons' Magner’s League title hopes at Rodney Parade, where quick-fire second-half tries from Ceri Sweeney and Gavin Evans helped them come from behind to win a bruising Welsh Friday night derby.
The battling Blues kept in the hunt for a Magner’s League play-off spot by coming from behind to beat local rivals Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade.
The Dragons, who had only been beaten once at home since March of last year, had an 8-0 half-time lead courtesy of a Ben Castle try and a conversion and a penalty from James Arlidge, but two penalties either side of half-time from Ben Blair closed the gap before Sweeney and Evans both crossed in a two-minute spell which put Cardiff in the driving seat.
Connacht paid the price for their efforts in midweek when they crashed to a 58-10 defeat by the Scarlets in Llanelli, where a brace of tries apiece from Rhys Thomas, Jonathan Davies and Regan King helped the hosts to their first win in six matches to send the visitors back to the bottom of the table.
And Ulster all but killed off Edinburgh’s last remaining play-off hopes and gave themselves a foothold in next season’s Heineken Cup with a five-try, 37-25 bonus-point win over their Scottish hosts at Murrayfield.
Ulster ran in tries from Simon Danielli, Stephen Ferris, Ian Humphries, Ian Witten and Jamie Smith while Edinburgh’s touchdowns came from the Magner’s League’s top try scorer Tim Visser, who bagged a brace, and Andy Turnbull.
RESULTS
Wednesday 21st April 2010
Connacht 23-17 Leinster
Friday 23rd April 2010
Newport Gwent Dragons 14-20 Cardiff Blues
Glasgow Warriors 30-6 Leinster
Saturday 24th April 2010
Munster 11-15 Ospreys
Sunday 25th April 2010
Scarlets 58-10 Connacht
Edinburgh 25-37 Ulster
WEEK 17
THE Ospreys kicked off their Irish mini-tour by bouncing back from their narrow Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat by Biarritz on Tuesday night to pick up a crucial away win over Ulster in Belfast, where Tommy Bowe's late try secured a hard-earned victory which kept the Welsh region on course for a Magner’s League play-off place.
Andrew Trimble nudged Ulster into an 18-12 half-time lead, but they gave away two soft tries in the second period with the Ospreys taking full advantage to finish with tries on the board from Shane Williams, two from James Hook and Bowe’s clincher.
But league leaders Leinster made sure the second-placed Ospreys were unable to close the gap at the top of the table any further by beating them 20-16 at the Royal Dublin Showground four days later, notching a late Shaun Berne try, converted by Fergus McFadden to come out on top after Dan Biggar had converted his own try and kicked four penalties to give the Welsh side a 16-10 half-time lead.
Eighth-placed Ulster‘s second game of the week on Friday night saw them go down to a 25-18 defeat by Glasgow Warriors at the Firhill Arena, where Dan Parks' deadly right boot proved to be the difference.
Paul Marshall's fine breakaway try put Ulster ahead but Parks reduced the deficit to 5-3 before half-time with Ian Humphreys' left boot helping Ulster regain their five-point cushion early in the second half before a Graeme Morrison try and three drop-goals from Parks put the hosts in control.
Replacement Jamie Smith crossed for a late converted try for the visitors, netting them a precious bonus point in their battle with Connacht for Heineken Cup qualification.
Connacht’s cause was not helped by a narrow 18-12 home defeat in Galway by third-placed Munster, who ran in tries from Nial Ronin and Scott Deasy with Paul Warwick kicking a conversion and two penalties to come out on top, sending them back to the league basemen.
Tries from Jonny O’Connor and George Nauopu, one converted by fly-half Ian Keatley, were not enough to prevent Connacht’s eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions grinding to a halt.
Seventh-placed Cardiff Blues, meanwhile, kept their play-off hopes just about alive with a 39-16 away win at the ninth-placed Scarlets, running in two from Lions centre Jamie Roberts and a touchdown apiece from Casey Lualala, Taufa’au Filise and Richie Rees on their way to a bonus-point victory while Regan King grabbed the outgunned Scarlets’ only try in the first half.
But the performance of the week, undoubtedly, came from Newport Gwent Dragons, who tore Edinburgh apart at Rodney Parade, running in seven tries on the way to a thumping 49-28 win which kept them in the hunt for the play-offs and on target for a Heineken Cup place at the Scarlets’ expense.
Wing Will Harries was the Dragons’ star turn with a try hat-trick and Richard Fussell, Wayne Evans, Ashley Thomas and Martyn Thomas all touched down one apiece.
Alan MacDonald, Ben Cairns, Ross Ford and a penalty try saw Edinburgh pick up a try-scoring bonus but they dropped to fifth spot, two points behind Glasgow in the final play-off place.
RESULTS
Tuesday 13th April 2010
Ulster 27-38 Ospreys
Friday 16th April 2010
Glasgow Warriors 25-18 Ulster
Leinster 20-16 Ospreys
Saturday 17th April 2010
Scarlets 16-39 Cardiff Blues
Sunday 18th April 2010
Connacht 12-18 Munster
Newport Gwent Dragons 49-28 Edinburgh
WEEK 16
LEINSTER fly-half Jonny Sexton won the battle of the Ireland fly-halves at Thomond Park, steering his side to 16-15 win over hosts Munster, who were skippered by his national team rival Ronan O'Gara, in the Magners League’s all-Irish, top-of-the-table, Good Friday derby.
O’Gara, who knocked over five penalties from five attempts kicked all of the home side’s points but Sexton and Leinster came out on top to chalk up their first win in Limerick since 1995, sending the Dublin side seven points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over a chasing pack led by Munster.
After missing a penalty two minutes earlier, Sexton held his nerve to convert a 66th minute penalty to seal a famous victory which saw Ireland and British Lions full-back Rob Kearney score the only try of the contest late in the first half.
Bottom-of-the-table Connacht, meanwhile, were shocking third-placed Edinburgh 22-21 in Galway to pick up only their fourth win of the campaign thanks to a late penalty from New Zealander Miah Nikora.
In an end-to-end game, an early try from winger Brian Tuohy helped Connacht into an 11-0 lead before play-off hopefuls Edinburgh hit back with tries from Tim Visser and Mark Robertson to take a 14-11 half-time lead.
Connacht stand-off Ian Keatley, who finished with 14 points, and Edinburgh flanker Roddy Grant swapped tries in the second half but Keatley's replacement Nikora grabbed the headlines five minutes from time.
On the other side of the Irish Sea, the Ospreys beat the Scarlets 27-19 at the Liberty Stadium to move up to fifth place with a game in hand over three of the four sides above them.
Ireland and British Lions wing Tommy Bowe grabbed two tries, including a late intercept score with two minutes left on the clock, running 70 metres to go in under the posts, after picking off a Stephen Jones pass.
The Scarlets’ defeat - their 11th setback of the season, leaves them in real danger of missing out on Heineken Cup qualification.
In the only game played on Saturday, New Zealanders Casey Laulala and Xavier Rush touched down in the first half at Ravenhill and replacement centre Dafydd Hewitt added a third try after the break to help seventh-placed Cardiff Blues beat eighth-placed Ulster for the second time in eight days.
Blues place-kickers Leigh Halfpenny and Ceri Sweeney booted 18 points between them in a 33-24 victory while Ulster hit back in the second half with tries from back-rowers Stephen Ferris and Chris Henry.
Glasgow Warriors' Bernardo Stortoni, DTH van der Merwe and Colin Shaw grabbed a try apiece to help the fourth-placed side to a 27-19 home win over Newport Gwent Dragons which left the Welsh outfit five points off the play-off pace in sixth spot in the league table.
Cardiff-bound Scotland fly-half Dan Parks kicked four penalties for the Warriors –a tally matched by Dragons opposite number Jason Tovey before his replacement James Arlidge converted a late consolation try from winger Will Harries.
RESULTS
Friday 2nd April 2010
Connacht 22-21 Edinburgh
Ospreys 27-19 Scarlets
Munster 15-16 Leinster
Saturday 3rd April 2010
Ulster 24-33 Cardiff Blues
Sunday 4th April 2010
Glasgow Warriors 27-19 Newport Gwent Dragons
WEEK 15
IRELAND fly-half Jonathan Sexton was the toast of the Royal Dublin Showground after his late drop-goal saw Leinster edge out provincial rivals Connacht for a hard-earned 17-14 win, which gave his side a four-point lead at the top of the Magners League table with a valuable game in hand over the chasing pack.
Bottom-of-the-table Connacht at one stage looked capable of pulling off their first win in Dublin since 2002 with top-scoring wing Fionn Carr, a former Leinster Academy player, showing his home province what they are missing with two excellent tries in the opening 22 minutes.
But Ireland and Lions full-back Rob Kearney touched down to close the gap to 14-8 at half-time and Sexton eventually won his head-to-head with opposite number Ian Keatley by landing two second-half penalties and the decisive last-gasp drop goal.
At Thomond Park, South African centre Jean de Villiers conjured up a crucial try to help defending champions and second-placed Munster overcome fourth-placed play-off rivals Glasgow Warriors in a nip-and-tuck contest which ended with the hosts chalking up a 27-19 win – their 17th straight home win in all competitions – ahead of their critical upcoming clash with Leinster.
The two sides notched a try apiece in the first half with wing Denis Hurley crossing for Leinster and stand-in Glasgow captain John Barclay replying with a fine breakaway effort for the visitors.
Ronan O'Gara, Munster's captain for the night, and Dan Parks, Scotland's Six Nations hero at Croke Park the previous weekend, landed three penalties apiece in a cagey second period, before De Villers made sure the home side came on top with five minutes to go.
Edinburgh, meanwhile, dropped to third, despite a 24-20 Murrayfield win over the Scarlets, courtesy of tries from back-rower Roddy Grant and leading Magners League try-scorer Tim Visser which gave the home side their fourth win on the bounce and denied the Welsh visitors a first win in the Scottish capital.
The Scarlets made a good start when fly-half Rhys Priestland converted an early penalty but Grant’s try and three successful kicks from fly-half Phil Godman gave Edinburgh a 13-3 lead and they looked to have the game won when they went 24-13 ahead on the hour after Visser scored and Godman converted.
But a converted try from Scarlets wing Andrew Fenby made sure Edinburgh had to fight all the way to the end to protect their lead and come out on top.
Newport Gwent Dragons and the Ospreys are just five points behind second-placed Munster in the table after the sixth-placed Dragons beat fifth-placed Ospreys 28-20 at Rodney Parade in a sizzling Welsh derby.
First-half tries from Will Harries and Matthew Watkins helped the Dragons establish a 21-10 half-time lead after James Hook replied with a try for a strong Ospreys side.
Aled Brew stretched the hosts' lead in the second half with their third try before Andrew Bishop's late consolation got the Ospreys within reach off a losing bonus-point which they were unable to secure in the closing minutes.
Elsewhere, replacement flanker Ma'ama Molitika scored the only try in Cardiff Blues’ 19-9 home win over Ulster.
Assured first-half kicking from New Zealander Ben Blair had the Blues 9-3 up at half-time and with Ulster pair Ryan Caldwell and Darren Cave in the sin-bin, Cardiff struck for the only try of a tightly-contested game in the 64th minute.
Ulster fly-half Niall O'Connor then hit back with his third penalty from four attempts, but Blair, celebrating his 31st birthday, had the final say when he took his points tally to 14 points with the match-clinching penalty.
RESULTS
Friday 26th March 2010
Cardiff Blues 19-9 Ulster
Edinburgh 24-20 Scarlets
Munster 27-19 Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 27th March 2010
Leinster 17-14 Connacht
Newport Gwent Dragons 28-20 Ospreys
WEEK 14
FLY-HALF Ian Keatley and flying wing Fionn Carr did all the scoring to help Magners League basement side Connacht celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a surprise 16-3 victory over play-off hopefuls Newport Gwent Dragons in a re-arranged fixture at the Sports Ground in Galway.
Keatley kicked three penalties and converted Carr's first half try to extend Connacht's impressive unbeaten home run in all competitions, which now stretches back to September.
The Dragons, who had Wales squad members Luke Charteris and Danny Lydiate missing on international duty and Adam Jones, Lewis Evans and James Harris ruled out by injury, could only muster a lone penalty from stand-off Jason Tovey.
First-half tries from centre Fergus McFadden, who also kicked two conversions and two penalties, and full-back Girvan Dempsey helped Leinster extend their lead at the top of the Magners League table with a 20-14 win over Glasgow Warriors the following evening at the Royal Dublin Showground.
A Hefin O'Hare try nudged Glasgow ahead briefly but after Leinster led 20-7 at half-time, replacement fly-half Colin Gregor salvaged a losing bonus point for the Scots with a second-half try and the conversion.
Defending champions Munster boosted their chances of featuring in the play-offs with a hard-earned Thursday evening win over the Scarlets at Musgrave Park.
Jean de Villiers and James Coughlan scored a try apiece to give the hosts a 17-8 half-time lead and fly-half Paul Warwick maintained his 100% kicking return with two second-half penalties.
Munster were made to fight all the way for the points, though, as the spirited Scarlet mustered a try and four penalties from Rhys Priestland to claim a losing bonus point.
RESULTS
Wednesday 17th March 2010
Connacht 16-3 Newport Gwent Dragons
Thursday 18th March 2010
Leinster 10-14 Glasgow Warriors
Munster 23-17 Scarlets
WEEK 13
LEINSTER moved back to the top of the Magners League table after a battling 29-20 win over Cardiff Blues in the Cardiff City Stadium, where a 21-point haul from stand-in goal-kicker Fergus McFadden gave the European champions their first league win on the road since September.
McFadden scored an eighth-minute try off a deft pass from fly-half Shaun Berne and kicked 11 points to help Leinster grabbed led 16-12 at half-time.
Blues winger Chris Czekaj crossed for an unconverted score in the opening minute of the second half, adding to earlier tries from prop Gary Powell and flanker Sam Warburton.
But Leinster regained the lead when hooker Bernard Jackman forced his way over the whitewash and the visitors sealed the deal with a Berne drop-goal and a fourth penalty from McFadden.
Edinburgh’s Dutch winger Tim Visser etched his name into the Magners League record books at Murrayfield with the fastest hat-trick in the competition's history to set the Scots up for a 33-17 victory over the Ospreys.
First- half replacement Visser touched down in the 47th, 49th and 52nd minutes to become the first Edinburgh player to score three tries in a Magners League fixture as Rob Moffat's men stormed into a 33-0 lead in a devastating third quarter on their way to a bonus-point victory.
The Ospreys, who topped the table going into round 13, roused themselves with tries from Nikki Walker, Jerry Collins and Sonny Parker, but their run of four straight wins was brought crashing to a halt.
Glasgow Warriors missed their chance to go back to the top of the table in Galway on Friday night but they fought back valiantly against hosts Connacht to claim a 19-19 draw at the Sportsground, where a stoppage-time try from flanker James Eddie dashed the home side’s hopes of a much-needed win.
Replacement fly-half Colin Gregor flashed his touchline conversion wide of the uprights but Glasgow were relieved to get the draw after they had looked likely winners after three Ruaridh Jackson penalties and a try from DTH van der Merwe had earlier given them a 14-3 leads.
Connacht, though, fought back hard with four Ian Keatley penalties and a slick converted solo try from Gavin Duffy and they looked to have turned the table on Glasgow until Eddie intervened at the death.
Wing Aled Brew scored a superb opening try to light the touch paper under Newport Gwent Dragons' first win over Munster since January 2007 at Rodney Parade, while young fly-half Jason Tovey kicked 16 points in a man-of-the-match performance which denied the reigning champions their chance to go back to the top of the table.
Paul Turner's men crossed for tries from Brew, right wing Will Harries and full-back Martyn Thomas, with 20-year-old fly-half Jason Tovey kicking the rest of their points tally.
Munster notched tries from Tony Buckley and Tommy O’Donnell and a penalty score with skipper-for-the-day Ronan O’Gara kicking a [penalty and two conversions.
The Scarlets, meanwhile, ran in two tries in the opening quarter from wing Andy Fenby and scrum-half Tavis Knoyle on their way to 25-8 win over Ulster in the Parc y Scarlets.
Ireland centre Paddy Wallace nudged Ulster back into contention with a try after they had trailed 15-3 at the interval but while flanker David Pollock was sin-binned, Scarlets fly-half Rhys Priestland took his tally to 15 points with a 60th minute try which he converted himself.
RESULTS
Friday 5th March 2010
Scarlets 25-8 Ulster
Connacht 19-19 Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 6th March 2010
Newport Gwent Dragons 31-22 Munster
Sunday 7th March 2010
Edinburgh 33-17 Ospreys
Cardiff Blues 20-29 Leinster
WEEK 12
The Ospreys went top of the Magners League table after they scraped a 19-17 win over Connacht at the Liberty Stadium, where tries in each half from youngster Gareth Owen and Dan Biggar helped the Welsh region extend their current winning home run to six matches.
Bottom-of-the-table Connacht went perilously close to ending their run of 14 away defeats in the Magners League with two late penalties from Ian Keatley closing the gap to just two points, although Ospreys held on to restrict the Irish side to a losing bonus point.
Ospreys fly-half Biggar, released for the match by Wales, provided 14 of his side’s points with a try and three penalties in a match-winning display while Owen’ first-half score helped the home side build an 11-6 interval lead.
A penalty and Biggar’s try took the Ospreys 13 points clear after the break but Connacht roared back with an unconverted try from Sean Cronin and two Keatley penalties to keep the home side sweating until the final whistle.
Glasgow Warriors' six-match unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt in a 30-7 defeat by Cardiff Blues, who grabbed three converted tries after the break at the Firhill Arena, a setback which knocked the home side off top spot in the table.
The Warriors were sent sliding to their first league defeat since September and their first setback against Cardiff on home soil since 2005 after Blues full-back Ben Blair won the place-kicking battle in the first half, giving the visitors a 9-0 lead before they added three converted tries before the hour mark, through scrum-half Gareth Cooper, centre Casey Laulala and winger Tom James.
Trailing 30-0 at that stage, Glasgow grabbed a late consolation try from centre Max Evans, who dedicated the score to his brother, Warriors and Scotland winger Thom, who suffered a serious neck injury in the previous weekend's Six Nations defeat by Wales.
Munster lost Donnacha Ryan, Paul Warwick and Niall Ronan to early injuries inside the first 15 minutes in Cork and had two sent to the sin-bin, but they still threw the skids under play-off hopefuls Edinburgh to extend their unbeaten run to 15 matches.
Despite missing five kicks Warwick's replacement, Academy player Scott Deasy, stamped his mark on the game with the decisive 58th minute try and Edinburgh, who had gone 12-8 ahead early in the second half courtesy of three penalties and a drop-goal from fly-half David Blair.
But Munster hit back in typically dogged fashion to extend their unbeaten home run to 15 matches, adding a second-half touchdown from Deasy, who also kicked three penalties, to a first-half try from veteran prop Marcus Horan.
Newport Gwent Dragons, in seventh place in the table, were outscored by two tries to one at Ravenhill but 17 points from fly-half Jason Tovey, including a late drop-goal equaliser, earned the Welsh side a valuable 22-22 draw with hosts sixth-placed Ulster.
Ulster fly-half Ian Humphreys opened the scoring in the second minute and he and Tovey shared four penalty goals in the opening quarter before Ulster went up a notch with a 24th minute try from centre Paddy Wallace.
Humphreys missed the conversion attempt but added two more penalties before Tovey cut the home side’s lead to 17-9 four minutes before the break –a lead Tovey reduced to five points early in the second half.
And when hooker Steve Jones crashed over for the Dragons’ lone try with Tovey converting, Ulster needed a try in the corner from wing Simon Danielli to get back in front, but the home side’s lead was short-lived with Tovey coolly dropping a goal to tie it up again before the end.
Leinster climbed into second place a point behind Glasgow after Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton amassed 22 points in a 24-17 win over the Scarlets at the RDS.
Sexton drove a rusty Leinster to their 11th straight league win at their Dublin base, converting Isa Nacewa's try, firing over five penalties and grabbing a late try of his own for a 22-point haul.
The Scarlets were left kicking themselves after they missed out on a number of gilt-edged try-scoring chances, the most notable of which saw Rob McCusker knock on after blocking down Shaun Berne's 70th-minute clearance kick.
They ended up having to settle for a lone try from hooker Ken Owens and three penalties from fly-half Rhys Priestland in a match which still finely poised when the Scarlets led 14-13 with 47 minutes gone.
RESULTS
Friday 19th February 2010
Ulster 22-22 Dragons
Glasgow Warriors 7-30 Cardiff Blues
Munster 19-12 Edinburgh
Saturday 20th February 2010
Leinster 24-17 Scarlets
Sunday 21st February 2010
Ospreys 19-17 Connacht
2009/10 MAGNERS LEAGUE – PLAYER STATS (AFTER ROUND 12)
TOP TRY-SCORERS
5: Simon Danielli (Ulster), Tom James (Cardiff Blues).
4: Aled Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons), Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Fionn Carr (Connacht), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Nick Williams (Munster), Nikki Walker (Ospreys)
TOP POINT-SCORERS
138: Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (9 conversions, 36 penalty goals and 4 drop-goals)
115: Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (2 tries, 15 conversions and 25 penalty goals)
105: Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 14 conversions and 24 penalty goals)
95: Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (2 tries, 11 conversions and 21 penalty goals)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS
88.89% - Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (40 from 45)
83.78% - Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (31/37)
83.33% - Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (10/12)
74.51% - Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (38/51)
72.58% - Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (45/62)
WEEK 11
EDINBURGH climbed back into third place in the Magner’s League table after chalking up a 21-12 win over Cardiff Blues at Murrayfield in the only match to survive the arctic weather that gripped the British Isles over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, 9th and 10th January 2010.
Following back-to-back festive derby defeats by top-of-the-table Glasgow Warriors, Rob Moffat’s men needed a win to stay in the play-off hunt and they did so in front of a 1,569 crowd which braved freezing cold conditions to see Jim Thompson and Ross Rennie score tries either side of half-time and Chris Paterson kick the rest of his side’s points with a conversion and three penalties.
Cardiff, winless in their last four outings against Scottish opposition, had three penalties from fly-half Ceri Sweeney and a further three-pointer from full-back Leigh Halfpenny to show for their efforts.
RESULTS
Friday 8th January 2010
Connacht P-P Newport Gwent Dragons
Ulster P-P Ospreys
Leinster P-P Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 9th January 2010
Edinburgh 21-12 Cardiff Blues
Sunday 10th January 2010
Munster P-P Scarlets
WEEK 10
GLASGOW Warriors started 2010 in style as the Magner’s League two-point table-toppers after they scored two tries to none on Saturday to chalk up their first league win over Edinburgh at Murrayfield since 2000.
Overseas stars DTH van der Merwe and Bernardo Stortoni touched down in either half as Glasgow completed a memorable festive double over Edinburgh with Dan Parks, who made his 100th Magner’s appearance, kicking the rest of the visitors’ points.
Full-back Chris Paterson kicked all of Edinburgh's points with his fifth penalty salvaging a losing bonus point for the home side in stoppage time, which left them seven points adrift of Glasgow in fifth place in the table.
On New Year’s Day, the Ospreys climbed into second place courtesy of a 26-0 Liberty Stadium whitewash of Cardiff Blues, who were ‘nilled’ for the first time in three years just six days after they had handed their hosts a bonus-point hiding in the first festive derby meeting between the two in Cardiff.
Scotland wing Nikki Walker set the Ospreys on the road to their fifth successive victory in all competitions with two of their three tries while fly-half Dan Biggar chipped in with an 11-point kicking haul.
The second festive fixture weekend started on New Year’s Eve at Rodney Parade, where the ninth-placed Scarlets won on the road for the first time this season at the expense of the Newport Gwent Dragons, who dropped to seventh place after a 14-9 defeat which cost them their 100 per cent Magner’s League home record.
Second-half penalties from Stephen Jones and Rhys Priestland earned the Scarlets their win after teenage scrum-half Gareth Davies set full-back Priestland up for the only try of the match in the first half.
The home side’s points came from the boot of outside-half Shaun Connor who kicked an early drop goal and two penalties in a first half which ended with the Dragons 9-8 ahead.
With Leinster’s game against bottom-of-the-table Connacht at Galway’s Sportsground frozen off on Saturday, Irish eyes were focused on Ravenhill in Belfast, where Ulster climbed into sixth place after claiming the prized scalp of visiting Munster, winning 15-10.
Scotland international Simon Danielli scored both of Ulster’s tries in a three-minute first-half spell with fly-half Ian Humphreys kicking a conversion and a penalty, while South African centre Jean De Villiers touched down Munster’s first-half try with Paul Warwick, standing in fly-half for Ronan O’Gara, adding the conversion and a penalty.
RESULTS
Thursday 31st December 2009
Newport Gwent Dragons 9-14 Scarlets
Friday 1st January 2010
Ospreys 26-0 Cardiff Blues
Saturday 2nd January 2010
Edinburgh 15-22 Glasgow Warriors
Connacht P-P Leinster
Ulster 15-10 Munster
WEEK 9
GLASGOW Warriors’ Scotland fly-half Dan Parks has become the first player to pass the 1,000-point mark in Magner’s League history, thanks to a 20-point kicking haul which helped his side beat Scottish rivals Edinburgh 25-12 at Firhill in front of a bumper 8,830 crowd.
Parks kicked five penalties and a drop-goal and converted the only try of the game from number eight Richie Vernon to see Glasgow, who led 15-12 at half-time, to victory over an Edinburgh side which could only muster four penalties from full-back Chris Paterson in the opening 40 minutes.
The result took Glasgow's unbeaten league run to five games ahead and gave them a one-point lead at the top of the table over Leinster, while Edinburgh dropped to fifth place.
Leinster’s 15-3 Boxing Day win over Ulster at the packed Royal Dublin Society Showground, thanks to tries from full-back Rob Kearney and number eight Jamie Heaslip, had sent them top overnight.
Fly-half Shaun Berne opened Leinster’s account with an early penalty and opposite number Niall O'Connor cancelled that out but five minutes before the break, Gordon D’Arcy sent Kearney over for the opening try with Berne converting to send the home side in 10-3 up at the break.
Ulster's defence was breeched again six minutes into the second half, when Kearney turned provider for Heaslip and that proved enough to see the visitors from the north off.
Munster ended 2009 in fourth place, two points behind the league leaders after they thumped Connacht 35-3 at Thomond Park, where a last-minute try from Jean de Villiers sealed a bonus-point win in front of a 15,440 Boxing Day crowd.
Stand-in captain Ronan O'Gara kicked two penalties and converted tries from Ian Dowling and Damien Varley as the defending Magner’s champions cantered into a 20-0 lead inside half-an-hour.
Connacht fly-half Ian Keatley kicked a penalty in first-half stoppage time but late tries from man-of-the-match Paul Warwick and de Villiers saw Munster home comfortably.
In Wales, the Ospreys reached the halfway point in the regular season in third place, courtesy of a 21-14 away win over the Scarlets, who dropped to ninth place after two tries from prop Paul James helped the visitors chalk up their fourth win in a row in all competitions with fly-half Dan Biggar kicking a conversion and three penalties.
Scarlets, who lost for the seventh time in nine Magner’s games this season despite leading 9-7 at the break, secured a consolation losing bonus point through flanker Johnathan Edwards' converted try, two Stephen Jones penalties and a third from Rhys Priestland.
In the second Welsh derby played on Sunday, Cardiff Blues continued their march up the table to finish the calendar year in seventh spot, thanks to a 42-13 demolition job on Newport Gwent Dragons in the Cardiff City Stadium, which featured five second-half tries from the rampant home side.
The Dragons had started the match as the leading Welsh region in the league and a 13-3 lead at half-time supplied by an Aled Brew try, a conversion and a penalty from fly-half James Arlidge and a Jason Tovey drop-goal had them on course to go top of the table at the interval.
The Blues, though, then romped to victory with Tom Shanklin, Richard Mustoe, Richie Rees, Bradley Davis and Tom James all crossing the Dragon’s line while full-back Ben Blair chipped in with four conversions and three penalties.
RESULTS
Saturday, 26th December
Scarlets 14-21 Ospreys
Leinster 15-3 Ulster
Munster 35-3 Connacht
Sunday 27th December 2009
Glasgow Warriors 25-12 Edinburgh
Cardiff Blues 42-13 Newport Gwent Dragons
WEEK 8
GLASGOW Warriors moved back to the top of the Magner’s League table thanks to an impressive 25-13 Friday night away win over Ulster in front of the weekend’s biggest crowd – 8,761 - at wet and windy Ravenhill in Belfast.
Fly-half Dan Parks kicked 20 points to move to get five points of the magic 1,000 league points barrier and Scotland wing Thom Evans grabbed the clinching try in an encouraging win for Glasgow, who had trailed 13-6 at the interval.
Four penalties in 18 minutes from Parks erased the half-time deficit after a try from Ireland prop Tom Court had nudged Ulster ten points and Evans’ fourth try of the season clinched it for the Warriors.
Second-placed Edinburgh held station in the table after a narrow 17-16 away win over the Scarlets in Llanelli, where a 5,540 crowd saw the home side’s three-match winning run brought to an end.
A late penalty from replacement Stephen Jones set up a grandstand finish in the rain, but Edinburgh determinedly held on to their hard-won one-point lead after they had trailing railed 8-3 at half-time.
Second-half tries from scrum-half Greig Laidlaw and replacement Craig Hamilton were enough to set Edinburgh up for their second win in five league games.
The Ospreys climbed up to firth place on Saturday, when fly-half Dan Biggar's 14-point haul and a second half try from Tommy Bowe saw them come out on top against Munster in the Liberty Stadium.
Munster hit the front thanks to a 13th minute try but Ireland and Lions fly-half Ronan O'Gara’s place-kicking missed four penalties and second half yellow cards for forwards Denis Fogarty and James Coughlan did little to help the Irish side’s cause.
Biggar, meanwhile, fired over three penalties and a drop-goal and he also converted Bowe's 43rd-minute try.
Two quick-fire first half tries from winger Tom James set the Cardiff Blues on their way to a 21-9 home win over bottom side Connacht in the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday.
A cold, biting wind disrupted the place-kickers with Cardiff full-back Ben Blair, who notched three penalties and a conversion, getting the better of his personal duel with Connacht fly-half Ian Keatley, who kicked all of the visitors’ points in a game which the home side had in the bag when they went in 18-3 ahead at the interval.
Newport Gwent Dragons chalked up the weekend’s biggest victory with a bonus-point 30-14 win over Leinster at Rodney Parade which lifted the Welsh side into fourth place in the table.
The Dragons had their try-scoring bonus point in the bag by the 35th minute after Aled Brew, James Arlidge, Wayne Evans and Richard Fussell helped themselves to tries, exploiting gaps in the young Leinster side’s defence.
Arlidge and James Tovey added a conversion and a penalty apiece, while wing Simon Keogh grabbed Leinster’s lone try with centre Fergus McFadden kicking two penalties and a drop-goal.
RESULTS ROUND-UP
Friday 4th December 2009
Scarlets 16-17 Edinburgh
Ulster 13-25 Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 5th December 2009
Ospreys 19-14 Munster
Sunday 5th December 2009
Cardiff Blues 21-9 Connacht
Dragons 30-14 Leinster
WEEK 7
TRIES from Shane Horgan and Stephen Keogh helped Leinster to a 23-6 win over struggling Cardiff Blues at the Royal Dublin Showground, a home win which lifted the reigning European champions into top spot in the Magner’s League table.
Cardiff place-kicker Ben Blair had an off night with the boot, kicking only two out of five penalty attempts, while Leinster stand-half Jonathan Sexton booted 13 points to help his side to a well-deserved victory in front of a bumper 15,910-strong Saturday afternoon crowd.
The Ospreys had seen their grip on a 9-3 lead prised loose in the Liberty Stadium the previous evening by battling Glasgow Warriors, who climbed two places into second spot in the league table thanks to a fight back which earned them a share of the spoils from a 9-9 draw.
Two penalty goals from Scotland fly-half Dan Parks got the Warriors back on terms and after a couple of near misses, he finished all-square with opposite number Gareth Owen, who also clipped over three penalty goals.
The Swansea stalemate, watched by 6,661 spectators, was the first draw in this season's Magners League and the Ospreys were left to rue a win that got away after twice taking the lead.
In the other Friday night game, the Scarlets’ three-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end in Galway’s Sportsground, where they went down 16-10 against battling Connacht in front of a poor 1,610 crowd.
Home stand-off Ian Keatley kicked 11 points, including the conversion of Mike McComish's first-half try, to drive bottom-of-the-table Connacht to their first win in four league games.
The Scarlets, who were off the boil, trailed 13-0 at half-time but wing Lee Williams broke through for a consolation try converted by replacement Daniel Newton to collect a losing bonus-point.
Defending Magner’s champions Munster, meanwhile, maintained their progress towards the right end of the table with a 24-10 home win over Ulster, which dropped the men from Ravenhill back to third place in the table and lifted the winners into fourth spot.
Two tries in each half earned Munster a five-point return, with full-back Paul Warwick getting the crucial fourth try just seconds from the end after Jean de Villiers, David Wallace and Keith Earls touched down with fly-half Ronan O’Gara kicking two conversions.
O’Gara’s opposite number Ian Humphreys scored a try, a conversion and a penalty for the visitors in front of a 16,700 Thomond Park crowd.
Edinburgh missed their chance to go back to the top of the table on Sunday, when they went down to a 9-8 Murrayfield defeat by the Dragons.
Three first-half penalties from Japan international fly-half James Arlidge set the Dragons up for their third win over Scottish opposition with Edinburgh mustering a try from Andrew Turnbull and a lone Phil Godman penalty in reply.
RESULTS
Friday 30th October
Leinster 23, Cardiff Blues 6
Connacht 16, Scarlets 10
Ospreys 9, Glasgow Warriors 9
Saturday, 31st October
Munster 24, Ulster 10
Sunday, 1st November
Edinburgh 8, Dragons 9
WEEK 6
ULSTER moved to the top of the Magners League table after an against-the-odds Round 6 16-14 home win saw them leapfrog European champions Leinster at Ravenhill to climb into pole position.
Half-backs Ian Humphreys and Isaac Boss grabbed the starring roles in front of 11,253 Belfast crowd as Ulster saw off the visitors who grabbed a losing bonus point courtesy of a late, converted Luke Fitzgerald try.
At half-time, Leinster were 7-3 in front after Humphreys landed a penalty and Leinster hit back with a converted try from Shaun Berne.
After the break, Humphreys nailed a 46th minute penalty, Boss nipped over for a try which Humphreys converted before his third penalty gave Ulster a nine-point cushion which Fitzgerald’s try and Jonathan Sexton’s conversion cut to just two by the finish.
The other Irish heavyweights, Munster, fared little better in Edinburgh, going down 12-7 at Murrayfield, where Chris Paterson clipped over four penalties for the home side with Ronan O’Gara converting number eight David Wallace’s second-half try for the visitors.
Glasgow picked up the weekend’s only bonus-point victory, thumping Connacht 34-20 at Firhill, where Thom Evans grabbed two tries and his brother, Max, touched down another with number eight Johnny Beattie also crossing the whitewash.
Scotland fly-half Dan Parks kicked 14 points – three conversions and two penalties - while Connacht replied with a touchdown from try machine Fionn Carr and 15 points from fly-half Ian Keatley.
Tries from Tom James and Gareth Cooper laid the foundations for Cardiff's well-merited 20-12 derby win over the Ospreys in front of a 16,341 record Blues crowd in the Cardiff City Stadium.
Full-back Ben Blair kicked two conversions and a penalty and fly-half Sam Norton-Knight clipped over a drop-goal for the Blues to clip the Ospreys’ wings, despite tries for the visitors from Tommy Bowe and Jerry Collins.
In the other Welsh derby, the Dragons could only muster a lone James Arledge penalty at the Parc y Scarlets in response to six penalties from Rhys Priestland, which earned the Scarlets an 18-3 win.
RESULTS
Friday, October 23rd
Scarlets 18, Newport Gwent Dragons 3
Glasgow Warriors 34, Connacht 20
Edinburgh 12, Munster 7
Saturday, October 24
Ulster 16, Leinster 14
Cardiff Blues 20, Ospreys 12
WEEK 5
European champions Leinster limbered up for the opening qualifying pool games in the 2009/10 Heineken Cup with a stunning 30-0 rout of defending Magners League winners Munster on Saturday evening at the Royal Dublin Showground.
That saw the home side chalk up their biggest win over their bitterest rivals since they beat Munster 32-0 in 1958, leaving embarrassed Munster without a point on the scoreboard for the first time since the league’s inception.
Leading 13-0 at half-time, Leinster stepped up another gear in the second half to run out easy winners thanks to tries from Gordon D’Arcy, Shane Horgan and Brian O’Driscoll and 15 points from the boot of Jonny Sexton, who kicked three conversions and three penalties.
That sent Michael Cheika's side to the top of the Magners League table, leap-frogging Ulster, who had assumed top spot on Friday night after a bonus-point 45-24 home win over the Scarlets at Ravenhill.
Two tries from Andrew Trimble and one each from Timoci Nagusa, Willie Faloon and Ian Whitten did most of the damage to the Welsh side with Ian Humphreys chipping in with four conversions and four penalties for a 20-point haul.
Jonathan Davies touched down twice for the Scarlets with returning Lions fly-half Stephen Jones kicking a conversion and two penalties.
Previous leaders Edinburgh were unable to climb back to the top of the table on Saturday, thanks to a 31-10 defeat by the Ospreys, who claimed a bonus-point victory at the Liberty Stadium.
Lions Tommy Bowe and Lee Byrne both grabbed tries along with Ryan Jones and Jonathan Thomas with Dan Biggar converting all four touchdowns and adding a penalty, while Tim Visser grabbed Edinburgh’s only try.
A late try from Sam Warburton spared Cardiff Blues' blushes at the Cardiff City Stadium, where the Blues were only eight minutes away being ‘nilled’ by enterprising Glasgow Warriors.
Number eight Johnnie Beattie and Scotland wing Thom Evans scored Glasgow’s tries and fly-half Dan Parks clipped over a conversion and three penalties for the Scots.
Elsewhere, early-season table-toppers Newport Gwent Dragons claimed their third victory of the campaign with a 23-10 Rodney Parade success against Connacht, which kept the Welsh side in the top half of the table.
RESULTS
Friday, October 2nd
Ulster 45 - 24 Scarlets
Saturday, October 3rd
Leinster 30 - 0 Munster
Cardiff Blues 5 - 21 Glasgow Warriors
Newport Gwent Dragons 23 - 10 Connacht
Ospreys 31- 10 Edinburgh
WEEK 4
ULSTER fly-half Ian Humphreys, Leinster full-back Fergus McFadden and Munster try hat-trick hero Nick Williams were the star turns in week 5 of the Magners League title race on a weekend when three of the four Irish provincial sides picked up victories to help Munster, Leinster and Ulster join leaders Edinburgh in the top four.
Some 6,000 spectators saw Edinburgh take on reigning European champions Leinster at Murrayfield and they witnessed a tight contest, a grandstand finish and a 21-19 Leinster victory which ended the Scottish side’s to set a league record for consecutive Magners League wins.
A try from Ben Cairns, converted by top Magners League points-scorer Chris Paterson, who also kicked four penalties, looked to have Edinburgh on course for victory but a late Jonny Sexton drop-goal won it for Leinster after McFadden had chipped in with six penalties to keep the Irish side in the hunt.
Defending Magners League champions Munster moved up into second place, courtesy of a bonus point Sunday home win over the Newport Gwent Dragons, which saw number eight Williams grab a touchdown treble in a 27-3 win.
Cardiff Blues finally broke their duck for the season, beating the Scarlets 19-15 in a tense all-Welsh, Cardiff City Stadium derby clash.
Skipper Paul Tito ran in the Blues’ try with full-back Ben Blair contributing the conversion and four penalties, while Jonathan Thomas and David Lyons grabbed the Scarlets’ touchdowns.
The weekend’s other big derby encounter – an all-Irish battle - saw Ulster score a comfortable 30-6 bonus-point win over hosts Connacht in Galway, where Timoci Nagusa, BJ Botha, Darren Cave and Ian Humphreys grabbed the tries for the visitors.
Elsewhere, the Ospreys turned a 10-point half-time deficit into a 10-point winning margin, scoring 20 unanswered points in the second half 26-16 win over Glasgow Warriors at Firhill.
Ospreys’ win included an excellent try from Tommy Bowe, while Glasgow fly-half Dan Parks kicked 11 points to move closer to the magical 1,000-point mark in the Magners League.
RESULTS
Friday - September 25th
Connacht 6 - 30 Ulster
Glasgow Warriors 16 - 26 Ospreys
Saturday - September 26th
Edinburgh 19 - 21 Leinster
Cardiff Blues 19 - 15 Scarlets
Sunday - September 27th
Munster 27 - 3 Newport Gwent Dragons
WEEK 3
CONNACHT chalked up their first win of the new Magners League season in Round 3, digging deep for a deserved victory over Cardiff Blues ahead of their crunch derby clash with Ulster.
The league's top try-scorer, Connacht wing Fionn Carr, who has scored all three of his side’s tries this season, grabbed the starring role at the Sportsground in Galway with two tries while Ian Keatley chipped in with a conversion and two penalties in a tight 18-16 victory.
Full-back Ben Blair scored all of the Blues’ points, running in their only try and kicking a conversion and three penalties.
Ulster, meanwhile, were edged out by table-topping Edinburgh – the only team left in the championship boasting a 100 per cent record just three weeks into the new season - in their first home game of the campaign at Ravenshill in Belfast.
Edinburgh’s former Newcastle wing, Dutch flier Tim Visser, grabbed their try with Chris Paterson adding the conversion and two penalties to a drop-goal from Phil Godman.
Stephen Ferries and Clint Schifcofske ran in Ulster’s tries with Ian Humphreys kicking a penalty.
That gave Edinburgh a four-point lead over the best of the Welsh regional sides – Newport Gwent Dragons, who are tied with European champions Leinster in second place – at the top of the league table.
Edinburgh's win at Ulster was their ninth consecutive Magners League victory.
Elsewhere, Irish honour was upheld by Leinster and Munster, who both won on the other side of the Irish Sea in Wales.
Leinster won 18-11 in the Liberty Stadium, where Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton kicked five penalties and Isa Nacewa clipped over a drop-goal to clip the Ospreys’ wings, despite a try from former all-Black Jerry Collins – his first Magner’s League touchdown - and two penalties from Wales fly-half James Hook.
At the Parc y Scarlets, tries from skipper Mark Jones and Deacon Manu a lone penalty from full-back Daniel Evans and a conversion and two penalties from fly-half Rhys Priestland were not enough to stop Nigel Davies’ side sliding to a 22-20 home defeat by Munster.
The Irish side eased to a valuable victory courtesy of a Denis Hurley try double, a touchdown from Toby Morland and two conversions and a penalty from fly-half Jeremy Manning.
The weekend lived up squarely to the Magner’s League’s reputation for producing tight contests with four of the weekend’s defeated sides claiming a losing bonus point.
Indeed, the high-flying Dragons were the only team to win by more than a seven-point margin and they also picked up a try-scoring bonus point when they saw off Glasgow Warriors 30-19 at Rodney Parade.
Jason Tovey, Aled Brew, James Arlidge and Ashley Smith grabbed a try apiece for the Dragons with Arlidge converting two touchdowns and Tovey chipping in with two penalties.
Colin Shaw scored the Warriors’ lone try with Scotland fly-half Dan Parks, the league’s top points-scorer along with Edinburgh’s Paterson, kicking a conversion and two penalties.
RESULTS
Friday, September 18
Connacht 18 - 16 Cardiff Blues
Ulster 13 - 16 Edinburgh Rugby
Ospreys 11 - 18 Leinster
Newport Gwent Dragons 30 -19 Glasgow Warriors
Saturday, September 19
Scarlets 20 - 22 Munster
WEEK 2
The Irish provincial sides bounced back to something like their usual form to record three wins in the second round of the 2009/10 Magners League Championship.
Munster and Leinster chalked up home wins over Welsh opposition, while Ulster's terrific win over the Ospreys in Swansea was the outstanding result of the round.
Connacht, meanwhile, had a nightmare at Murrayfield, shipping 62 points against an in-form Edinburgh side on Friday night.
Edinburgh's bonus point victory over Connacht featured tries from Ben Cairns, Roddy Grant, Alan MacDonald, Mark Robertson(2), Allister Hogg, Andrew Turnbull and Chris Paterson, who also kicked eight conversions and two penalties for a 27-point haul.
That was followed up by Glasgow Warriors' 19-11 win over the Scarlets on Sunday, courtesy of a Rob Dewey try and three penalties, a conversion and a drop-goal from fly-half Dan Parks, left the two Scottish regional sides sitting top of the table for the first time in the league’s history after two rounds of matches.
A Scottish side has not topped the table since Edinburgh led the at the end of September 2005.
The two teams also have the only 100 per cent records left in the competition with le Edinburgh's eight-try demolition job on Connacht, earning them the Magners League's first try-scoring bonus point of the season.
Reigning champions Munster recorded their first victory of the new season over the Cardiff Blues at Thomond Park – maintaining an unbeaten home record against Welsh opposition stretching back to March 2004.
Marcus Horan and Denis Leamy touched down Munster’s tries with fly-half Jeremy Manning kicking a conversion and four penalties, while former All Black Xavier Rush grabbed the Blues’ only try of the match.
Leinster also saved the first win of their 2009/10 campaign for a home game, beating the Newport Gwent Dragons 23-14 and they have not now lost at the Royal Dublin Showground for almost 12 months.
Isa Nacewa grabbed Leinster’s lone try, former Bath centre Shaun Berne clipped over two drop-goals and fly-half Jonny Sexton kicked four penalties.
The remaining Irish province, Ulster, turned all the forecasts on their head when they defeated the Ospreys 20-16 at Liberty Stadium - ending a run of 15 successive games in Wales without a victory.
Scottish international wing Simon Danielli (2) and Dan Tuohy scored Ulster’s tries with fly-half Ian Humphreys kicking a conversion and penalty, while the Ospreys replied with a try apiece from Duncan Jones and Nikki Walker and two James Hook penalties.
RESULTS
Friday, September 11th
Munster 24 - 13 Cardiff Blues
Edinburgh 62 - 13 Connacht
Saturday, September 12th
Leinster 23 - 14 Newport Gwent Dragons
Ospreys 16 - 20 Ulster
Sunday, September 13th
Glasgow Warriors 19 -11 Scarlets
PLAYER STATS (After Round 2)
TOP TRY SCORERS:
2 – Simon Danielli (Ulster), Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh), Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh).
TOP POINTS SCORERS:
39 - Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (2T, 10C, 3P)
29 - Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (1C, 8P, 1DG)
23 - Jeremy Manning (Munster) (1C, 7P), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (1C, 7P)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS
100% - Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1/1), Miah Nikora (Connacht) (1/1)
88.89% - Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (8/9)
87.5% - Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (7/8)
86.67% - Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (13/15)
72.73% - Jeremy Manning (Munster) (8/11)
69.23% - Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (9/13)
WEEK 1
Celtic rugby came out of hibernation for its last season before the Italians add a Latin flavour to the Magners League with most teams opting to allow their British and Irish Lions tourists more time to recover from their efforts in South Africa.
The Ospreys, however, fielded fly-half James Hook and Mike Phillips in their 19-12 win over Connacht in Galway 9n front of a poor 1,912 crowd, while Lee Halfpenny turned out for Cardiff Blues in a surprise 22-21 home defeat by Edinburgh.
Elsewhere, their were opening weekend wins for Glasgow and the Dragons but the Blues’ home setback was the biggest shock with ex-Waratah Sam Norton-Knight, signed as the replacement for Nicky Robinson, now with Guinness Premiership side Gloucester, having a debut he will want to forget at fly-half.
The Scarlets’ 18-16 win over Heineken Cup winners and European champions Leinster, came despite the Irish province putting out a strong starting line-up and enjoying the bulk of possession and territory as the home side persisted in kicking away good possession.
Scotland and former Northampton wing Sean Lamont and former Wallabies number eight David Lyons starred for the Scarlets.
A bad weekend got worse for the Irish provincial sides with defending Magners League champions Munster, minus their sizeable Lions contingent, crashing to a heavy 22-9 defeat in Glasgow.
And the Dragons beat Ulster convincingly 23-6 at Rodney Parade in a contest which underlined suggestions that the pair may prove to be the league’s strugglers in a campaign which will, for the first time, feature play-offs and a grand final.
Despite the opening weekend’s results, Munster and Leinster are short-odds, pre-season bets to take two of the play-off slots with the Ospreys and Cardiff Blues, both laden with internationals, the best bets to make up the play-off foursome.
But nobody should discount Edinburgh with the strongest of the two Scottish regional sides capable of mounting a challenge for a play-off place if their away form stacks up over the course of the next eight months.
RESULTS
Friday, September 4th 2009
Connacht 19 - 12 Ospreys
Cardiff Blues 21 - 22 Edinburgh
Glasgow Warriors 22 - 9 Munster
Saturday, September 5th
Llanelli Scarlets 18 - 16 Leinster
Sunday, September 6th
Newport Gwent Dragons 23 - 6 Ulster
