GUINNESS PRO14: Round 2 Preview

The GUINNESS PRO14 is underway after round 1 saw the Championship kick off in flying style across Ireland and Wales. The Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings from South Africa made their bows in the Championship and their attacking approach has already won them plenty of admirers.

With five teams making their first appearances on home soil across Ireland, Scotland and Italy this weekend, every country bar South Africa will have had its taste of GUINNESS PRO14 action before the Cheetahs and the Kings kick off their home campaigns in round 3.

The round 2 fare begins on Friday night when Leinster host Cardiff Blues in Dublin where the two teams played out a thrilling game at the RDS last season, scoring three tries apiece. The result went right down to the wire with Leo Cullen’s men managing to claim a 22-21 victory after some incredible counter-attacking play from Cardiff threatened an upset in the Irish capital.
 
Elsewhere on Friday night, Richard Cockerill will get his first experience of Championship action at Myreside fresh from Edinburgh’s win over Cardiff. Bernard Jackman’s Dragons are the visitors to Edinburgh and the Welsh side will be looking to bounce back from their opening round loss to Leinster.
 
Saturday’s matches sees both South African teams complete their initial mini-tours to the northern Hemisphere with Conference A leaders Munster welcoming the Cheetahs to Thomond Park, while the Southern Kings visit the wild Atlantic coast to take on Connacht in Galway.
 
Benetton Rugby and Zebre make their first appearances on home soil this weekend with Ulster and defending champions, the Scarlets, travelling to Italy. Benetton will be eager to improve on their defeat to Munster, while Zebre put in a resolute display away to the Ospreys in round 1 and will want to back that up against the Scarlets.

On paper, Glasgow Warriors v Ospreys looks like a possible GUINNESS PRO14 final match-up with both of these teams boasting robust title credentials. Glasgow secured a durable win in Galway last weekend in their first game under head coach Dave Rennie and they will have the backing of a capacity crowd at Scotstoun.

GUINNESS PRO14 – ROUND 2 FIXTURES:

Friday, September 8 –

Edinburgh (4th, Con B) v Dragons (5th, Con B), Myreside, 7.35pm (live BBC ALBA)

LEINSTER (3rd, Con B) v Cardiff Blues (6th, Con A), the RDS, 7.35pm (live TG4/BBC 2 Wales)

Saturday, September 9 –

Glasgow Warriors (3rd, Con A) v Ospreys (2nd, Con A), Scotstoun Stadium, 3.15pm (live Sky Sports Arena)

Benetton Rugby (6th, Con B) v ULSTER (2nd, Con B), Stadio di Monigo, 6.05pm local time/5.05pm Irish time (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland)

MUNSTER (1st, Con A) v Toyota Cheetahs (7th, Con A), Thomond Park, 5.15pm (live TG4/SuperSport 1)

CONNACHT (4th, Con A) v Southern Kings (7th, Con B), the Sportsground, 7.35pm (live TG4/SuperSport 1)

Zebre (5th, Con A) v Scarlets (1st, Con B), Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 8.35pm local time (live S4C)

TOP PERFORMERS IN GUINNESS PRO14 AFTER ROUND 1 (Powered by Opta Statistics):

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) 14
Carlo Canna (Zebre) 13
Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) 13
Jack Carty (Connacht) 12
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 10
Ross Byrne (Leinster) 10
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 10
Jean Kleyn (Munster) 10
Keelan Giles (Ospreys) 10
John Cooney (Ulster) 10

TOP TRY SCORERS –

Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 2
Jean Kleyn (Munster) 2
Keelan Giles (Ospreys) 2

TOP TRY ASSISTS –

Duncan Williams (Munster) 3
James Davies (Scarlets) 2
John Cooney (Ulster) 2

METRES GAINED –

Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 209
Cory Allen (Ospreys) 121
Steff Evans (Scarlets) 118
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 117
Matteo Minozzi (Zebre) 104

MOST CARRIES –

Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby) 23
Steff Evans (Scarlets) 20
Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) 20
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 18
John Muldoon (Connacht) 18
Cory Allen (Ospreys) 18

CLEAN BREAKS –

Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 4
Ashton Hewitt (Dragons) 3
Keelan Giles (Ospreys) 3

DEFENDERS BEATEN –

Steff Evans (Scarlets) 8
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 7
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 6
Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 5
Marcell Coetzee (Ulster) 5

MOST PASSES –

John Cooney (Ulster) 109
Kieran Marmion (Connacht) 101
Tom Habberfield (Ospreys) 92
Marcello Violi (Zebre) 91
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 77

MOST OFFLOADS –

Steff Evans (Scarlets) 5
Yaw Penxe (Southern Kings) 4
Charles Piutau (Ulster) 3
Marty Banks (Benetton Rugby) 3
Jack O’Donoghue (Munster) 3
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 3

KICKS FROM HAND –

James Hook (Ospreys) 12
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh) 10
Marty Banks (Benetton Rugby) 9
Gavin Henson (Dragons) 9
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 8
Tyler Bleyendaal (Munster) 8
Duncan Williams (Munster) 8

MOST TACKLES –

John Hardie (Edinburgh) 22
Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) 22
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 22
Niell Jordaan (Toyota Cheetahs) 20
Tommy O’Donnell (Munster) 19

LINEOUTS WON –

Rory Thornton (Ospreys) 8
Macauley Cook (Cardiff Blues) 6
Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby) 4
Whetu Douglas (Benetton Rugby) 4
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) 4
Devin Toner (Leinster) 4
Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets) 4 
Niell Jordaan (Toyota Cheetahs) 4
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) 4
Cory Hill (Dragons) 4

TURNOVERS WON –

Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) 3
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 3
Renato Giammarioli (Zebre) 3

For more statistics, please visit www.pro14rugby.org/powered-by-opta