Weekend Round Up

Leinster battle past stubborn Castres

Leinster backed up last weekend’s tight victory over Wasps with an even narrower win over French side Castres on Sunday. While going to the south of France is never an easy task, Leinster would have fancied their chances before the game, with Castres in a poor run of form coinciding with having just three wins from their ten matches so far this season. However they took off like a team brimming with confidence, mauling over the line with consummate ease within the first five minutes. Leinster managed to regain composure and possession, but for the rest of the first half found it difficult to pierce the stubborn Castres defensive line. Three kicks from Ian Madigan were all the Irish side could muster by half time. The second half went much the same way, Leinster with the majority of possession but Castres defending well. The home side dominated minutes 40 to 60, with fullback Geoffray Palis kicking three penalties to leave Leinster with real work to do to salvage a win as time began to get away from them. Castres, for all their good defensive, could not keep their discipline as they began to tire, and a high tackle on Jamie Heaslip gave Madigan the chance to take the spoils, to which he duly obliged. 21-16 the final score in France, Leinster top their pool without really getting into top gear so far this championship. Big improvements are needed for the now crucial visit of Harlequins in December.

Saracens downed by Munster

Saracens made the tough trip to Thomond park on Friday night, looking to add their names to the list of teams who in recent years have come away with a rare European win. On a night when fluid rugby was at a premium, it looked likely from the outset that penalties were going to be what separated the sides. Ian Keatley opened the scoring for the home side with the boot, but this was quickly cancelled out by Owen Farrell minutes after missing one from in front of the posts. That was the story of the first half, with defences clearly on top. The second half saw Munster begin to dominate possession, and they looked to have scored when Andrew Conway got over in the corner. The ref went to the T.M.O, and despite it looking like a perfectly legitimate, and impressive, finish from the diminutive winger, the score was chalked off for an apparent foot in touch. Seconds later Munster were across the line again, this time with no doubt over the legitimacy of the score as David Kilcoyne powered over at the back of a maul. A further kick from Keatley followed, and that was it really as neither side showed a huge amount in attack on night. 13-3 the final score, this group looks like it could be one of the tightest in this years tournament.

Western Province take Currie Cup crown

Western Province were crowned Currie Cup champions after a dramatic victory over the Golden Lions in in Newlands on Saturday. The eventual winners flew out of the blocks, justifying their favourites tag in opening up a 13 point lead by half time. Demetri Catrakilis was in good form with the boot, and a Jaco Taute try in the 34^th minute had Western Province leading 13-0 at the half. The Golden Lions had no intentions of accepting defeat so easily however, and came out after half time looking like a new team. Marnitz Boshoff got the scoreboard moving with a good penalty before a Jaco van der Walt try and a further penalty leveled the scores at 13 apiece with twenty minutes to play. Western Province were clearly rattled but regained some composure to mount a sustained period of pressure, which eventually yielded two kicks for Catrakilis to put over. He obliged, and despite a late Golden Lions penalty, the men from the Cape held on for a famous win.