URC Round 4 Review

An “incredible” Croke Park occasion

Leinster Rugby remain the maximum men having secured their fourth successive bonus point victory on a record-breaking derby day at Croke Park.

The early season pacesetters beat arch rivals Munster Rugby 26-12 in front of a crowd of 80,468 - the biggest ever in league history.

Spurred on by the huge attendance, they came flying out of the blocks, crossing three times inside the opening 13 minutes and had the four-try bonus point in the bag by half-time.

One of those early touchdowns came from No 8 Caelan Doris who led by example as skipper with a Player of the Match performance.

Reflecting on the occasion, he said: “It’s incredible. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. It’s pretty unique having 80,000 filling out this place. There aren’t many clubs in world rugby have a fan base that big. So we massively appreciate them, we felt them out there.”

The Irish international continued: “We had a fast start. We felt our fans behind us and wanted to put on a good show for them early on. I think we did that. We got two tries in the first 10 minutes.

“With the quality of Munster, we knew they would fight back and it was more of a battle in the second half definitely.”

Leinster are four points clear at the top of the table, with champions Glasgow Warriors in second spot after a 33-3 bonus point victory over Zebre Parsma at Scotstoun.

South African high-fliers the Emirates Lions and the Vodacom Bulls lie third and fourth respectively after they both made it three wins out of three with victories on the road in Wales.

The Lions were actually outscored by three tries to two at Rodney Parade, where No 8 Taine Basham forced his way over twice for Dragons RFC. But five successful kicks at goal saw the visitors come through 23-19.

As for Jake White’s Bulls, they raced into a 26-0 lead inside 23 minutes against the Ospreys in Swansea, but then had centre David Kriel red carded early in the second half and were twice reduced to 13 men following further yellow cards. But the team from Pretoria saw the game out to claim a 29-19 bonus point win.

Player of the Match Willie le Roux commented: “What can I say? That’s a game of two halves.

“We started so well. We played in the right areas, we wanted them to make mistakes and we capitalised on that.

“Then, second half, red card, yellow card, but we all stuck together. We had a plan and I’m just glad we ground it out.”

In the weekend’s other Irish interprovincial match, Ulster Rugby overcame Connacht Rugby 32-27 in Belfast, while the Scarlets defeated Cardiff Rugby 25-19 in the Welsh derby at a sold out Arms Park.

Elsewhere, Edinburgh Rugby and Benetton Rugby joined the Scarlets in claiming their first wins of the season, defeating the DHL Stormers (38-7) and the Hollywoodbets Sharks (38-10) respectively. The Stormers are now bottom of the table.

Scarlets “warriors” hold on for derby win

Scarlets skipper Josh Macleod paid tribute to his team of “warriors” and to the support from the travelling fans after a nerve-jangling 25-19 victory over Cardiff at a sold-out Arms Park.

Flanker Macleod had to watch on from the sin bin as the visitors were left with just 13 men for eight minutes in the closing stages after both he and wing Tom Rogers were yellow carded in quick succession.

But they dug deep and held on to claim their first win of the season in front of a capacity 12,125 crowd, gaining sweet revenge for the home defeat to Cardiff a fortnight ago.

“It was pretty stressful on the bench. I will be honest, I was nervous,” said Macleod.

“But the 13 men who were on the pitch showed plenty of resolve and resilience. Cardiff kept bashing at the door and we kept shutting it. It was some effort from the team. We had 13 warriors out there.”

Macleod added: “I’d also like to say thank you very much to our fans.

“We always have an amazing travelling support coming up here. That doesn’t go unnoticed. In the last 10-15 minutes, they didn’t go away, they kept backing us and that really helped.

“There was 12,000 out there, it was a special day.”

The win was all the sweeter for the Scarlets as they had been denied at the death by both Benetton and Connacht.

“We have had a couple of victories snatched pretty cruelly from us at the end of the games,” said Macleod.

“This time the tide turned and hopefully that momentum can carry us forward now.”

Adding his thoughts, Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel said: “From a character perspective, I am really pleased.

“Defending with 13 men is pretty savage and the way we managed that period was excellent. I was immensely proud of that effort.

“We have had three games now where it has gone down to the wire in the last play. We have let leads slip, but we managed to stick in there this time and it was nice to get the win.

“It’s important to mention the travelling support. That really spurred us on at the end. It matters in the final few minutes when you are fighting for the game.”

Giving his verdict on the contest, Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt said: “It was about who took their chances and who didn’t. The ten minutes when they were down to 13 men is where we could have scored again.

“We had a bit of sustained pressure, but just couldn’t get over the line. The game kind of petered away from us.

“Obviously it stings and it hurts. That hurt has got to look like positive action. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”

It was three tries apiece in a fluctuating encounter, with Cardiff wing Harri Millard and Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies both crossing twice.

Having also claimed a brace against Connacht last week, the prolific Davies is now up to 54 league tries, drawing him level with regional team-mate Steff Evans for the most by a Welshman.

Only Tommy Bowe (67), Craig Gilroy (59), Tim Visser (58), and former Scarlets winger DTH Van der Merwe (58) lie above them on the all-time list.

Edinburgh bounce back after character is questioned

Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt said he was proud of the way his players bounced back from the heavy loss to the Lions to beat the Stormers 38-7.

They were thumped 55-21 in Johannesburg last week after trailing by a league record margin of 48-0 at half-time.

Everitt revealed his players had taken the criticism aimed at them following that game personally, while he admitted it hadn’t been an easy week for him.

But he was a happy man following the five-try bonus point victory over the side from Cape Town.

“There is a perception about Edinburgh Rugby that the team has a soft underbelly,” said the South African.

“The character of the team was questioned last week, the work-rate, the effort and the passion.

“The guys took those comments personally and certainly bounced back with vigour. I am sure they made the supporters proud.”

As for the flak that was fired in his direction after the Lions game, he said: “It comes with the territory. For me, it was about taking responsibility for our actions last week, leading the way forward and getting the team up to put in a good performance.

“It wasn’t easy for me personally, but I enjoy the challenge, otherwise I wouldn’t be in this job.

“I am really proud of how the guys responded. I am a happy man.

“Had we lost again, then you suddenly start doubting what you are doing. We can take confidence out of the fact that when we manage the game properly, we perform well. It was a great victory and good for the team.

“The first three weeks have been tough for us, so hats off to the leadership group for pulling it together and getting the guys back on track. I am very happy to get the win. It was a really good performance.”

Skipper Grant Gilchrist said: “A lot of questions were asked of us after last week and rightly so. It wasn’t acceptable.

“Every time we wear this jersey, we wear it with pride, we didn’t do that last week. Our character was questioned. We had to show who we are as people and what this club stands for.

“For our fans who stuck with us and supported us, all I  can say is thank you. They showed a lot of faith in us, turning out in their numbers and cheering us on. I hope they went home happy.

“We build from here, our season starts here.”

The Player of the Match award went to two-try flanker Ben Muncaster, who said: “We needed that after three losses in a row. Actions speak louder than words and I think we did that.”

Match of the weekend

Ulster Rugby 32, Connacht Rugby 27

The previous four meetings between these two sides had been one-score affairs and it was the same again in this see-saw Irish derby at Belfast’s Kingspan Stadium.

There were nine tries in all, with Ulster picking up five match points and Connacht two.

It was 19-17 at the break and then all square at 24-24 going into the closing stages.

But the visitors had second row Josh Murphy red carded nine minutes from time and Ulster made the victory safe when No 8 Nick Timoney went over.

The final word went to Connacht, however, as fly-half Josh Ioane landed a penalty with the last kick of the game to secure a second losing bonus point.

Reflecting on the win, Ulster coach Richie Murphy said: “It’s massive for us. Five points at home is exactly what we needed to get ourselves back into the competition.

“It was made very difficult by a really good Connacht team. But I thought our fight, commitment and toughness was really good. We are delighted with the win.”

Player of the weekend

Rhyno Smith (Benetton Rugby)

The fleet-footed full-back has proved such a valuable acquisition for Benetton since arriving from South Africa in 2021.

He’s been a Leopard, a Shark and a Cheetah in the past, now he’s an Italian Rhyno!

A real fan’s favourite in Treviso, he showed again what an attacking threat he is with a two-try Player of the Match display in the much-needed 38-10 victory over his former team, the Sharks.

He popped up in support on the shoulder of fly-half Jacob Umaga for his first and then cut a great line for his second, slicing through and stepping around the last man to touch down. Just a class act.

Quote of the weekend

Ospreys boss Toby Booth on Kevin Bowring - the former Wales coach and ex-RFU head of elite coach development - who died last week at the age of 70.

“I worked with Kev for 20-plus years. I was in the first cohort of coaches in the England elite coach development system, with Shaun Edwards, Stuart Lancaster and people like that. It’s a sad day. Without him, I wouldn’t be standing where I am today, for sure. He was an unbelievable coach educator and an unbelievable person and rugby is poorer for his loss.”

Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt added his thoughts on Bowring’s passing following the Welsh derby clash with the Scarlets at the Arms Park.

“I actually spoke to the players about him before the game, the impact he has had on Welsh rugby and rugby in general. He did everything under the radar, Kevin. He never wanted any credit. He was brilliant for me for 20 years, like a rock in the background.”

What’s coming next?

It’s another Irish derby for table-topping Leinster next weekend as they travel to Galway to take on Connacht.

Second-placed Glasgow and Munster both begin two-week tours of South Africa as they head for the Sharks and Stormers respectively.

There are two games in Wales, with the Scarlets hosting the unbeaten Bulls and the Dragons entertaining Benetton, while the other Round 5 fixtures are Ulster v Ospreys, Zebre v Lions and Edinburgh v Cardiff.