URC Round 13 Review
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Glasgow Take Top-Of-The-Table Spoils
League leaders Glasgow Warriors summoned up the Guinness Six Nations spirit as they took the spoils in their top-of-the-table clash with Leinster Rugby.
They ran in six tries in all as they played some thrilling attacking rugby to claim a 38-17 bonus point victory over the defending champions at Scotstoun.
“It’s the way we train and the way we try to develop the game,” said head coach Franco Smith.
“I think the game is going that way. If you look at the Six Nations, there were a lot of tries scored. It’s maybe what’s demanded of the game now.
“That is the ingredient that brings enthusiasm to club rugby as well.
“We were going to try and score as many tries as possible, but I didn’t think we would get to that many. I thought we played really well. I was really proud of the boys.”
Glasgow scored four tries in the space of eight minutes as they capitalised on two Leinster yellow cards to lead 26-12 at the break and they then sealed the win with two final quarter touchdowns.
Scrum-half George Horne crossed twice and also landed four conversions to finish with an 18 point match haul.
Speaking after the game, he provided further insight into the team’s attacking mindset.
“Franco is so good at keeping it simple for us,” he said.
“Usually, it’s be brave and move the ball. You saw that in the first half. We were moving Leinster around and they had to make 130 odd tackles, I think.”
Horne went straight into the Glasgow starting line-up despite having featured in all five of Scotland’s Six Nations matches.
“I couldn’t go a week without this place!” he said.
“Coming back to play Leinster makes it pretty special. They have been the best team in the league for a few years now.
“It was good. It makes Monday morning a lot easier when you come in after a win like that.”
The DHL Stormers are in second spot having claimed a 29-21 victory over a dogged Dragons RFC side in Cape Town with fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu touching down twice as he finished with 19 points.
Looking at the table, you’ve then got four teams who all lost over the weekend – Ulster Rugby, Leinster Rugby, Cardiff Rugby and Munster Rugby.
The Fidelity SecureDrive Lions are up to seventh having run in eight tries in beating Edinburgh Rugby 54-17 in Johannesburg, with fly-half Chris Smith becoming the first player to go past 100 points in the league this season.
It’s the Vodacom Bulls who occupy the final play-off spot in eighth, having claimed a 40-7 bonus point victory over Cardiff at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld.
Their try-scoring skipper Marcell Coetzee was pleased with the way they bounced back from the previous week’s home defeat against the Stormers.
“That was a disappointing loss for us. We had a lot of things to reflect on, culture-wise and tactics-wise, and I’m proud of the boys for stepping up.”
Cardiff’s coach Corniel van Zyl said: “It’s the first time we didn’t pick up any points this season in a URC game, so that’s a first for us. It was challenging.
“It just feels like the pressure is building every game now with the run-in.”
Looking at the other play-off hopefuls, Connacht Rugby, the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Benetton Rugby all boosted their hopes with bonus point victories.
Connacht won away in Ulster – more on that to follow – while the Sharks thumped Munster 45-0 in Durban where veteran Springboks winger Mazakole Mapimipi marked his 100th appearance for the franchise with a late try double.
Meanwhile, over in Treviso, Benetton beat the Ospreys 31-19, with powerful Fijian winger Onisi Ratave crossing twice amid an outstanding individual performance.
Centre Keiran Williams also claimed a brace for the visitors, while Wales and Lions flanker Jac Morgan impressed on his first appearance after four months out with a dislocated shoulder.
Looking at the weekend as a whole, all four South Africans sides claimed bonus point victories. They appear to be running into form in ominous fashion as the Race to the Eight hots up.
Connacht’s Derby Delight
There was no disguising Stuart Lancaster’s delight as Connacht ended their derby drought by recording a 26-19 bonus point win away to high-flying Ulster.
It was their first Irish inter-provincial victory since January 2024 and they also became the first team to beat Ulster in Belfast this season.
That’s now four league wins on the bounce for the Galway-based outfit who are very much back in the play-off race.
“There was a great feeling in the dressing room afterwards,” said head coach Lancaster.
“We knew how good Ulster were going to be. I am just delighted with the squad effort.
“We have had ten inter-pros and ten losses, so it’s a big win for us.
“Ulster are such a good attacking team, but we contained them really well. I thought the intent was excellent and we worked hard.
“On the flip side, once you’ve defended, you’ve then got to be able to attack with the same accuracy and intensity as Ulster do and I think we did that.
“The tries we scored, there were no gimmes. We had to earn them. I think when we look back and analyse them we will be really proud of what we achieved.”
Connacht’s triumphant run is a real turnaround given they only won two of their first nine league matches.
Lancaster said: “Even though we were losing games earlier in the season, the boys could see the progression we were making. We could all see the direction we were going.
“We have still got a long way to go. We’ve still got to work hard to try and get into the play-offs. You’ve got to be careful not to get too carried away because every game starts at zero.”
BKT URC top try scorer Sean Jansen set the ball rolling by touching down for the ninth time this season, while winger Finn Treacy crossed twice after the break.
Captain Cian Prendergast said: “I am unbelievably proud.
“Ulster are a brilliant attacking side, so we knew we would really have to dig in. We did that and came out with the win.”
The flanker added: “We have got some super young backs that are starting to really push the door down now and really starting to play well for us. It’s just brilliant to see them deliver it in an inter-pro on a big night like this.
“We are trusting our training, we are building every week. We have tough games to come up. We will enjoy this, recover and we will bring on Ospreys next week.”
Scarlets Eye Up International
The Scarlets are readying themselves for a “huge international challenge” in the wake of their 36-17 bonus point victory over Zebre Parma.
They racked up six tries against the Italian visitors with South African flanker Jarrod Taylor crossing the whitewash twice.
Now they turn their attention to next Friday’s clash with star-studded defending champions Leinster at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
“We are looking at that game as an international,” said interim director of rugby Nigel Davies.
“The boys deserve a lot of credit for what they are doing and deserve to enjoy this win, but we have told them we are going to play an international rugby game, so we need to get into that mindset.
“It is a huge challenge for us, but we have a capable bunch of players who can go there and put a big performance in and who knows?”
Reflecting on the victory over Zebre, former Wales centre Davies said: “I am really pleased for the boys.
“We were clinical, we were clear in terms of what we wanted to do and we delivered a performance out there.
“The first half was very pleasing. We planned not to give them any ins, our set piece was excellent, our scrum and line-out gave us a good platform to play off and we managed the game very well.”
The BKT URC Player of the Match award went to the Scarlets’ strong-scrummaging Aussie tighthead prop Archer Holz.
He said: “We are really happy. To get a result at home really means a lot. We love playing here, we have got really good fans and to turn up for them was really good.”
On his own performance, he said: “I just try to do my job. That’s being physical at collision and set piece.
“As a pack, I thought we worked really well which makes my life a hell of a lot easier.”
What’s Coming Next?
There’s another full round of league matches next weekend as the competition moves into Round 14 and the Race to the Eight gathers momentum.
Leaders Glasgow are at home to Benetton on Friday when there are three matches in all with the Sharks hosting Cardiff and Leinster entertaining the Scarlets.
Then, on the Saturday, there are five further games. The second-placed Stormers welcome Edinburgh to Cape Town, while elsewhere it’s Bulls v Munster, Connacht v Ospreys, Lions v Dragons and Zebre v Ulster.
