URC Play-Off Race Blown Wide Open

The Vodacom URC Play-Offrace has been thrown wide open following the dramatic events in Llanelli andTreviso over the weekend.

The Scarlets’stunning 32-20 victory over the star-studded Cell C Sharks and the EmiratesLions’ 32-28 comeback triumph away to Benetton mean 14 of the 16 sides in theleague can still finish in the top eight with just two rounds of matches to go.

Leinster, DHLStormers, Ulster and Glasgow have all booked play-off spots. The first three ofthose have already secured home advantage in the Quarter-Finals and Glasgowlook set to join them after beating Munster 38-26 in Limerick on Saturdayevening.

Then you have 10sides battling it out for the four other spots.

The Lions arethe team really coming up on the rails having seemed out of the picture just afew weeks ago.

They followedup after eye-catching wins over Glasgow and the Bulls by coming from behind tobeat Benetton in Treviso.

They weretrailing 28-13 going into the final quarter, but then scored three tries in thespace of eight minutes, with flanker Vincent Tshituka snapping up two of them.

Although theyare down in eleventh place, they are only three points off the play-offs andtheir last two games are both at home. They are on a roll and very much in thehunt.

In terms of thefight for the top eight, the big match in the next round will be the meetingbetween Connacht and Cardiff in Galway.

The Irishprovince are now up to sixth after a 41-26 bonus point victory over Edinburghon the weekend.

Cardiff - whoalso picked up the maximum away to Zebre - are five points behind in tenth soreally have to win at the Sportsground on April 15 if they are to have a chanceof reaching the Play-Offs.

They are alsoin need of a victory to stay out in front in the contest for the Welsh Shieldand automatic qualification for the Heineken Champions Cup.

At present,they are four points ahead of the Ospreys and six in front of the Scarlets.

It could allcome down to Judgement Day in the final round, when they meet the Ospreys atthe Principality Stadium.

As for thepacesetters, Leinster are now sure of finishing top of the table followingtheir 22-22 draw with the Stormers on Friday night.

It’s gettingtight for the all-important second spot that secures home advantage up untilthe final.

Third-placedUlster are just two points behind the Stormers having fought back to beat theVodacom Bulls 32-23 with a hat-trick from hooker Tom Stewart, the league’s toptry scorer.

SCARLETSPROVE PUNDITS WRONG

Write us off atyour peril was the message from the Scarlets following their thrilling 32-20win over a Cell C Sharks team packed with Springboks stars.

The visitorsfrom Durban came fully loaded with the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi,Lukhanyo Am, Ox Nche, Makazole Mapimpi and Bongi Mbonambi on board.

But DwaynePeel’s team defied the odds to come out on top with wing Steff Evans crossingfor two well-taken tries and fly-half Sam Costelow kicking 22 points.

Speaking afterthe game, skipper Josh Macleod said: “It’s even more pleasing because ofcommentators writing us off. No-one mentioned us leading up to the game withthe Sharks’ team-sheet. But never write this team off. We are buildingsomething and we are building something really special.”

Former Walesscrum-half Peel hailed it as the best victory since his arrival as head coachin the summer of 2021.

“It has to bein terms of the quality of opposition,” he said. “We spoke before the game andsaid there are certain nights you will remember in your careers and we will allremember that. Looking at the calibre of players in the Sharks squad, they areobviously world class.

“I thought itwas fantastic from the word go. We were clinical when we needed to be, Samkicked all his goals and we showed a lot of heart.

“I am delightedwith the win and pleased for the boys because they have put a lot of hard workin and it’s obviously paying off. Our young boys are the future of the regionand it’s great for them. It’s probably the biggest game they have played andthe best opposition. For example you had Joe Roberts playing against LukhanyoAm. It was fantastic for him.”

The Player ofthe Match award went to centre Johnny Williams who was making his first startsince early October after a lengthy lay-off with a persistent calf problem.

Summing up thegame, Williams said: “It was amazing. Honestly, I am just so proud of theeffort and the crowd was class as well. It was just so good to be back outthere at Parc y Scarlets. It was our last home game of the season in the URC,so it’s good to send it off like that.”

Giving histhoughts on Williams. Peel said: “Johnny is a class operator. People appreciatehim as a tough ball carrier, but he’s got good hands as well. He was fantastic.I was really pleased for him.”

As for theother Welsh sides, Cardiff kicked off the weekend with a 34-30 win away toZebre out in Parma. They looked to be in cruise control as they led by 16points with just 12 minutes to go, with fit-again flanker James Botham havingscored two of their four tries on his first outing since January.

But they had todig deep to hang on in the end, down to 14 men following a yellow card to ShaneLewis-Hughes.

Director ofrugby Dai Young said: “We probably won that game three times but that’s Zebreweek-in, week-out. If it gets loose, they can score from anywhere. They havebeen knocking on the door all season. That game wasn’t won right until the end.

“We’ve got fivepoints, we couldn’t have got any more. Our driving maul was really good, ourscrum was good, we set a platform to get that real good result.

“Obviouslythere are things to improve on, but I am pleased to come away with five pointsand we march on.”

It’s a resultthat means Cardiff have kept alive their hopes of a top-eight finish with a bigtrip to play-off rivals Connacht coming up in Round 17 on April 15.

They also haveto watch over their shoulder in the battle for the Welsh Shield with theOspreys having produced a dominant display to beat the Dragons 37-18 at theSwansea.com Stadium.

They led 18-6at the break and then pulled well clear following a red card to visiting centreSio Tompkinson for a high tackle on No 10 Jack Walsh early in the second half.

It leaves themwithin four points of Cardiff with both teams having two league matches left toplay, including that big Judgement Day clash at the Principality Stadium onApril 22.

The Ospreys arestill mathematically in the hunt for the play-offs, while their immediate focusnow turns to next Sunday’s Champions Cup last 16 tie away to Saracens.

Their Player ofthe Match against the Dragons, try-scoring No 8 Morgan Morris, said: “Hopefullywe can win the last few games and go as far as we can in Europe and thiscompetition. Obviously, in the back of our mind we are all thinking World Cupas well and trying to put our hand up for that.”

GAME OF THEWEEKEND

Leinster 22,DHL Stormers 22

It always hadthe makings of being a cracker at the RDS with the top two going head to headand so it proved.

A crowd of15,653 watched an engrossing contest that swung one way and then the other,ultimately ending up with honours even.

The reigningchampions from Cape Town roared into a 17-0 lead with tries from fly-half ManieLibbok and winger Suleiman Hartzenberg and were 12 points up at the break.

But with thewind behind them in the second half, Leinster turned the contest on its head asPlayer of the Match Scott Penny, Rob Russell and Max Deegan touched down to addto Michael Milne’s earlier effort and make it 22-17.

ClatyonBlommetjies crossed 12 minutes from time to level the scores and set up atitanic finish, but both defences then held firm with a nerve-jangling draw theeventual outcome, although Leinster came away with one more point through theirfour-try bonus.

It’s a resultwhich ensures they will finish the regular URC season at the top of the table –and they are still unbeaten in all competitions.

Their headcoach Leo Cullen said: “It was a very exciting game and it had a bit ofeverything really, didn’t it? It was a really good advert for the competitionoverall.

“You could seeit was a really big game with both teams going at it. In terms of the productof the competition, it’s bloody exciting isn’t it?

“The challengefor the Stormers is coming from 30-plus degrees up to here where it’s wet andwindy and challenging conditions, but it still doesn’t take away from thecontest. It’s two teams going full throttle at the game and that’s exactly whatyou want. It was brilliant.”

Cullen’sopposite number John Dobson commented: “It was an intense, high-level game ofrugby. I spoke to Steven Kitshoff afterwards and he said it felt like a Testmatch; the intensity, the competition in every breakdown, the quality of hitsfrom both sides.

“Leinsterplayed really well. They’ve so much depth. It was a superb game of rugby.”

PLAYER OFTHE WEEKEND

Caolin Blade(Connacht)

The scrum-halfclaimed his second hat-trick of the URC campaign in Saturday’s 41-26 victoryover Edinburgh in Galway.

His first was along-range interception, his second a close-range snipe where he did well toretain control of the ball and his third a classy effort as he cut inside andtwice kicked ahead before winning the race for the touchdown.

It was a realcaptain’s effort from the Irish international who has now scored seven tries inhis last four games and 11 in the league this season, putting him second behindUlster hooker Tom Stewart.

QUOTE OF THEWEEKEND

Leinster centreCiaran Frawley on the atmosphere during the 22-22 Dublin draw with theStormers: “It’s definitely the best I’ve ever felt in the RDS. We were down by12 points at half-time, but the crowd were behind us and we got into the lead.They really helped us there. The energy they gave us was unbelievable. It’sprobably one of the toughest games I’ve played in physically, but the crowd gotus through it. It was a brilliant occasion to be a part of.”