Magners League: Round 20 Review

Cardiff Blues have gone two points clear at the top of the Magners League table courtesy of Tuesday’s 31-20 home win over the Dragons. That results leaves second-placed Leinster with a fight on their hands to claim the trophy in two weeks’ time.

Friday night was a good night for the Welsh in the Magners League – and a bad night for the Irish as defending champions Ulster’s title hopes dwindled and Leinster’s lead at the top came under pressure from the Ospreys and Cardiff Blues.

James Hook scored three penalties in the second period to overturn a seven-point deficit against Leinster and send the Ospreys temporarily into second place, only two points behind the Irish province with a game in hand.

The Blues, who used their game in hand against the Dragons to hit the summit, had moved into third on Friday by scoring seven tries in an overwhelming win at the Border Reivers.

The title now seems to be down to the top three after Ulster suffered a rare Ravenhill defeat at the hands of Glasgow Warriors – who ran in three tries for a 24-10 victory.

However, there was better news for the third Irish province in action this weekend with Munster scoring a 15-7 win over the Dragons on Saturday evening, while on Sunday Llanelli Scarlets kept their very slim mathematical hopes of taking the title. The Welsh side secured a bonus point 42-17 win over Edinburgh at Stradey Park.

ROUND 20 RESULTS –

– Friday, April 27 –

Border Reivers (14) 14 Cardiff Blues (22) 41, Netherdale (Att: 1,238)

Scorers: Border Reivers: Tries: Kelly Brown, Gregor Townsend; Cons: Steve Jones, Gregor Townsend
Cardiff Blues: Mosese Luveitasau 2, Tom Shanklin 2, Penalty try, Rhys Shellard 2; Cons: Nick Robinson 3

Ospreys (10) 19 LEINSTER (10) 17, Liberty Stadium (Att: 10,702)

Scorers: Ospreys: Try: Justin Marshall; Con: Shaun Connor; Pens: Shaun Connor, James Hook 3
Leinster: Tries: Shane Horgan, Felipe Contepomi; Cons: Felipe Contepomi 2; Pen: Felipe Contepomi

ULSTER (0) 10 Glasgow Warriors (10) 24, Ravenhill (Att: 8,056)

Scorers: Ulster: Tries: Andrew Trimble, Andrew Maxwell
Glasgow: Tries: Rory Lamont, John Beattie, John Barclay; Cons: Dan Parks 3; Pen: Dan Parks

– Saturday, April 28 –

MUNSTER (3) 15 Newport Gwent Dragons (7) 7, Musgrave Park (Att: 4,517)

Scorers: Munster: Tries: Denis Leamy 2; Con: Ronan O’Gara; Pen: Ronan O’Gara
Newport Gwent Dragons: Try: Aled Thomas; Con: Aled Thomas

– Sunday, April 29 –

Llanelli Scarlets (21) 42 Edinburgh (10) 17, Stradey Park (Att: 5,108)

Scorers: Llanelli Scarlets: Stephen Jones, Matthew Watkins 2, Regan King, Scott Macleod, Iestyn Thomas; Cons: Ceiron Thomas, Stephen Jones 5
Edinburgh: Edinburgh: Tries: Allan Jacobsen, David Callam; Cons: Phil Godman 2; Pen: Phil Godman

– Tuesday, May 1 –

Cardiff Blues (17) 31 Newport Gwent Dragons (3) 20, Arms Park (Att: 9,326)

Scorers: Cardiff Blues: Tries: Mike Phillips 2, Xavier Rush, Tom Shanklin; Cons: Ben Blair 4; Pen: Ben Blair
Newport Gwent Dragons: Tries: Joe Bearman, Gareth Maule; Cons: Ceri Sweeney 2; Pens: Ceri Sweeney 2

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

172 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster)
165 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
157 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues)
148 – David Humphreys (Ulster)
137 – Ceri Sweeney (Newport Gwent Dragons)
113 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh)
106 – James Hook (Ospreys)
101 – Mark McHugh (Connacht)
98 – Stephen Jones (Llanelli Scarlets)
90 – Paul Warwick (Connacht)
81 – Ceiron Thomas (Llanelli Scarlets)
72 – Jeremy Manning (Munster)
68 – Calum MacRae (Border Reivers)
64 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster)
55 – Duncan Hodge (Edinburgh)
54 – Shaun Connor (Ospreys)
49 – Paul Steinmetz (Ulster)
47 – Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors)
39 – Nick Robinson (Cardiff Blues)

TOP TRY SCORERS –

7 – Darren Daniel (Llanelli Scarlets), Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
6 – Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Denis Hickie (Leinster), Dafydd James (Llanelli Scarlets), Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues)
5 – Aled Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons), Barry Davies (Llanelli Scarlets), Adam Black (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues), Bryn Cunningham (Ulster), Regan King (Llanelli Scarlets), Paul Steinmetz (Ulster)
4 – John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), Tommy Bowe (Ulster), Lee Byrne (Ospreys), Chris Czekaj (Cardiff Blues), Thom Evans (Glasgowe Warriors), Gavin Evans (Llanelli Scarlets), Shane Horgan (Leinster), Justin Marshall (Ospreys), Matt Mostyn (Connacht), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), Xavier Rush (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Shellard (Cardiff Blues), Kevin Tkachuk (Glasgow Warriors), Nikki Walker (Ospreys), Paul Warwick (Connacht), Simon Webster (Edinburgh)