GUINNESS PRO14: Round 4 Preview

Four teams remain unbeaten as the GUINNESS PRO14 season begins to take shape after three rounds of Championship action. Two of those sides, Glasgow Warriors and Munster, meet on Friday night, while Leinster and Ulster will try to maintain their unblemished records against the Toyota Cheetahs and the Dragons respectively.
 

Three sides claimed their first victories of the PRO14 campaign with Benetton Rugby coming from behind to win away to Edinburgh, while the Toyota Cheetahs won their first ever Championship match coming out on the right side of a 13-try thriller against Zebre in Bloemfontein. The Dragons also saw off Connacht for their first victory under new head coach Bernard Jackman.

The Scarlets suffered their first defeat as defending champions away to Ulster in round 3, but they have the opportunity to return to winning ways when Richard Cockerill takes his Edinburgh team to Parc y Scarlets. Both teams have won two games each and have caught the eye in attack, but the Scarlets have not been beaten in Llanelli since round 1 of last season.
 
Ulster will continue to push Leinster in Conference B, aiming for four wins out of four when they welcome the Dragons to Kingspan Stadium, while the other game hosted in Ireland sees Cardiff Blues travel to the Sportsground aiming to pick up their first victory of the season as they face Connacht. In Treviso, Benetton Rugby will want to pick up back-to-back wins but they will face a serious test as the Ospreys come to town eager to ensure they do not repeat last year’s slip-up at Stadio di Monigo.
 
Leinster and Zebre will complete their tours of South Africa in round 4. Leo Cullen’s men earned a bonus point victory over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth last Saturday and take on the Cheetahs fresh from their triumph over Zebre. Meanwhile, the Italian side will attempt to rebound at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium when they take on the Southern Kings with both sides looking for their first successes in the PRO14.

Two former champions, Glasgow and Munster, are leading the way have won three from three In Conference A and the result of this early season clash will have an influence come the final rounds of the campaign. The Warriors have made an impressive start to the season, beating Connacht and the Ospreys, both former title winners, while they edged a close affair in Cardiff against the Blues last weekend.
 
Munster come into this game after wins against Benetton, the Cheetahs and the Ospreys, and a confident Warriors team will no doubt present their toughest challenge yet, however, the visitors arrive having won on their last two visits to Scotstoun Stadium.

GUINNESS PRO14 – ROUND 4 FIXTURES:

Friday, September 22 –

Benetton Rugby (5th, Con B) v Ospreys (4th, Con A), Stadio di Monigo, 8.35pm local time (live Eurosport Italia/BBC 2 Wales)

Glasgow Warriors (2nd, Con A) v MUNSTER (1st, Con A), Scotstoun Stadium, 7.35pm (live BBC Scotland/TG4)

Toyota Cheetahs (5th, Con A) v LEINSTER (1st, Con B), Toyota Stadium, 8pm local time/7pm Irish time (live SuperSport 1/Sky Sports Action/highlights TG4)

ULSTER (2nd, Con B) v Dragons (6th, Con B), Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland)

Saturday, September 23 –

CONNACHT (3rd, Con A) v Cardiff Blues (6th, Con A), the Sportsground, 3.15pm (live Sky Sports Action)

Scarlets (3rd, Con B) v Edinburgh (4th, Con B), Parc y Scarlets, 7.35pm (live S4C)

Southern Kings (7th, Con B) v Zebre (7th, Con A), Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, 7.35pm local time (live SuperSport 1)

TOP PERFORMERS IN GUINNESS PRO14 AFTER ROUND 3 (Powered by Opta Statistics):

TOP POINTS SCORERS –

Gavin Henson (Dragons) 38
Ross Byrne (Leinster) 33
Duncan Weir (Edinburgh) 32
Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) 29
John Cooney (Ulster) 28

TOP TRY SCORERS –

Alex Wootton (Munster) 5
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 4
Jean Kleyn (Munster) 4
Chris Dean (Edinburgh) 3
Makazole Mapimpi (Toyota Cheetahs) 3

TOP TRY ASSISTS –

Duncan Williams (Munster) 5
John Cooney (Ulster) 3
Darren Sweetnam (Munster) 3
Sam Davies (Ospreys) 3
Luke McGrath (Leinster) 3

METRES GAINED –

Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 340
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) 294
Steff Evans (Scarlets) 263
Andrew Conway (Munster) 256
Alex Wootton (Munster) 246

MOST CARRIES –

Bundee Aki (Connacht) 59
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) 53
Anidisa Ntsila (Southern Kings) 45
Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) 43
Louis Ludik (Ulster) 42

CLEAN BREAKS –

Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 9
John Cooney (Ulster) 7
Steff Evans (Scarlets) 6
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster) 6
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) 6

DEFENDERS BEATEN –

Steff Evans (Scarlets) 14
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) 14
Jeff Hassler (Ospreys) 13
Masixole Banda (Southern Kings) 12
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 12
Ashton Hewitt (Dragons) 12

MOST PASSES –

John Cooney (Ulster) 304
Tom Habberfield (Ospreys) 290
Kieran Marmion (Connacht) 267
Duncan Williams (Munster) 177
Marcello Violi (Zebre) 164

MOST OFFLOADS –

Steff Evans (Scarlets) 11
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) 8
Masixole Banda (Southern Kings) 8
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) 7
Tom Farrell (Connacht) 6
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 6

KICKS FROM HAND –

Carlo Canna (Zebre) 28
Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) 24
Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) 23
Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) 23
Tyler Bleyendaal (Munster) 22

MOST TACKLES –

Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) 43
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 43
Paul Schoeman (Toyota Cheetahs) 42
Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) 41
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) 41

LINEOUTS WON –

Dries van Schalkwyk (Southern Kings) 19
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) 17
Reniel Hugo (Toyota Cheetahs) 17
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) 13
Jean Kleyn (Munster) 12
Bradley Davies (Ospreys) 12
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 12
Cory Hill (Dragons) 12

TURNOVERS WON –

Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets) 7
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) 5
Tommaso Castello (Zebre) 5
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) 5
Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby) 4
Scott Williams (Scarlets) 4
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) 4
Carlo Canna (Zebre) 4
Michael Willemse (Southern Kings) 4
Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh) 4

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