Magners League: Round 8 Review
Glasgow Warriors top the Magners League table for the first time ever after a complete round of games. The Warriors have also become the fifth different team to lead the table in the eight rounds of games played so far this season.
Scottish teams claim the top two spots in the table for only the second time – the first occasion this happened was after the second round this season.
Richard Fussell’s 35th-minute try for the Dragons against Leinster on Sunday was the fastest bonus point-clinching try this season.
This weekend also saw the first penalty try awarded in the Magners League this season – Munster the beneficiaries against Ospreys at Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
Matthew Watkins (Dragons) and Connacht duo John Muldoon and Michael Swift all made their 100th Magners League appearances while, after his man-of-the-match performance against Ulster that netted him six penalties and a conversion, Glasgow Warriors number 10 Dan Parks is now just five points short of becoming the first player to score 1000 points in the Magners League.
Having led the table at the start of the season, the Dragons returned to the play-off zone after an absence of five weeks.
Edinburgh and Leinster both maintained a place in the top four, they have only missed the cut-off for the play-offs after first round.
2009/10 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 8:
TOP TRY SCORERS –
4 – Tommy Bowe (Ulster), Fionn Carr (Connacht), Nick Williams (Munster), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
3 – Aled Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jerry Collins (Ospreys), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Tom James (Cardiff Blues), Tim Visser (Edinburgh)
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
106 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (8 conversions, 28 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
78 – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (2 tries, 10 conversions and 16 penalty goals)
77 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (2 tries, 14 conversions and 13 penalty goals)
73 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 7 conversions and 18 penalty goals)
71 – Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (7 conversions, 18 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
67 – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (2 conversions, 20 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
57 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (2 tries, 4 conversions, 12 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
54 – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (9 conversions, 9 penalty goals and 3 drop goals)
45 – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (3 conversions and 13 penalty goals)
30 – Jeremy Manning (Munster) (3 conversions and 8 penalty goals)
24 – Fergus McFadden (Leinster) (8 penalty goals)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS –
90% – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (27 successful kicks from 30 attempts)
83.33% – Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) (25/30)
73.53% – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (25/34)
72% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (36/50)
69.23% – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (18/26)
64.71% – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (22/34)
61.90% – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (26/42)
61.54% – Fergus McFadden (Leinster) (8/13)
61.11% – Jeremy Manning (Munster) (11/18)
59.26% – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (16/27)
57.14% – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (16/28)
45.45% – James Hook (Ospreys) (5/11)
31.58% – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (6/19)
Qual: 10 place-kicks at goal
RESULTS ROUND-UP –
Friday, December 4, 2009 at Ravenhill
Ulster (13) 13: Tom Court(T), Ian Humphreys(C/2P)
Glasgow Warriors (6) 25: Tom Evans(T), Dan Parks(C/6P)
Attendance: 8,761
Ulster v Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Friday, December 4, 2009 at Parc y Scarlets
Scarlets (8) 16: Richie Pugh(T), Lee Williams(T), Rhys Priestland(P), Stephen Jones(P)
Edinburgh (3) 17: Greig Laidlaw(T), Craig Hamilton(T), David Blair(D), Chris Paterson(2C)
Attendance: 5,540
Saturday, December 5, 2009 at the Liberty Stadium
Ospreys (6) 19: Tommy Bowe(T), Dan Biggar(C/3P/D)
Munster (7) 14: Penalty try, Nick Williams(T), Ronan O’Gara(2C)
Attendance: 8,077
Ospreys v Munster Match Report
Sunday, December 6, 2009 at Cardiff City Stadium
Cardiff Blues (18) 21: Tom James(2T), Ben Blair(C/3P)
Connacht (3) 9: Ian Keatley(3P)
Attendance: 7,105
Cardiff Blues v Connacht Match Report
Sunday, December 6, 2009 at Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons (24) 30: Aled Brew(T), James Arlidge(T/C/P), Wayne Evans(T), Richard Fussell(T), Jason Tovey(C/P)
Leinster (6) 14: David Kearney(T), Fergus McFadden(2P), Ian McKinley(D)
Attendance: 5,437
Newport Gwent Dragons v Leinster Match Report