Magners League: Round 5 Review
Munster, the only team left with a 100% winning record this season, returned to the top of the Magners League table thanks to a 25-17 victory over Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night. Meanwhile, round 5 also produced wins for Ulster (against Edinburgh) and Connacht (against Leinster).
Even though the capacity of the newly refurbished Thomond Park Stadium was reduced, the Munster v Glasgow game still produced the biggest gate of the Magners League so far this season. The official attendance was 19,220.
Ulster, meanwhile, claimed their first win of this campaign with a 13-9 victory over Edinburgh at Ravenhill on Friday.
Connacht defeated Leinster by the narrowest of margins to claim their first victory over the Dublin-based side for almost four years – their last success (35-24) against Leinster was also at the Sportsground in November 2004.
The Scarlets now top the Specsavers Fairplay League as after five rounds of the Magners League they are the only team for which no player has been shown a yellow or red card.
2008/09 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 5:
TOP TRY SCORERS –
5 – Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
4 – Keith Earls (Munster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Doug Howlett (Munster)
3 – Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), James Hook (Ospreys), Mark Jones (Scarlets), Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets)
2 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Nathan Brew (Scarlets), Richard Fussell (Newport Gwent Dragons), Deacon Manu (Scarlets), Justin Melck (Munster), Ma’ama Molitika (Cardiff Blues), Martin Roberts (Scarlets), Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Niall Ronan (Munster), Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues), Nikki Walker (Ospreys), Paul Warwick (Munster), Shane Williams (Ospreys)
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
61 – James Hook (Ospreys) (3 tries, 11 conversions, 7 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
59 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (7 conversions and 15 penalty goals)
46 – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (1 try, 7 conversions and 9 penalty goals)
36 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 5 conversions and 7 penalty goals), Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (9 conversions and 6 penalty goals)
33 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (3 conversions and 9 penalty goals)
32 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (4 conversions and 8 penalty goals)
30 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (3 conversions and 8 penalty goals)
25 – Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors) (5 tries), Paul Warwick (Munster) (2 tries, 6 conversions and 1 penalty goal)
22 – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (2 conversions and 6 penalty goals)
21 – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (3 conversions and 5 penalty goals)
20 – Keith Earls (Munster) (4 tries), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster) (4 tries), Doug Howlett (Munster) (4 tries)
17 – Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors) (1 try and 4 penalty goals)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS –
87.50% – Paul Warwick (Munster) (7 successful kicks out of 8 attempts)
78.57% – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (22/28)
75% – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (12/16)
73.33% – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (11/15)
72.73% – Ian Keatley (Connacht) 8/11)
72% – James Hook (Ospreys) (18/25)
71.43% – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (15/21)
66.67% – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (16/24), Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (12/18)
60% – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (3/5)
55.56% – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (5/9)
50% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (12/24)
44.44% – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (8/18), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors) (4/9)
40% – Niall O’Connor (Ulster) (2/5)
RESULTS ROUND-UP –
Friday, October 3, 2008 at Ravenhill
Ulster (7) 13: David Pollock(T) Clinton Schifcofske(C/2P)
Edinburgh (0) 9: David Blair(2P) Phil Godman(P)
Attendance: 8,148
Ulster v Edinburgh Match Report
Saturday, October 4, 2008 at Thomond Park Stadium
Munster (10) 25: Peter Stringer(T) BarryMurphy(T) Doug Howlett(T) Ronan O’Gara(2C/2P)
Glasgow Warriors (6) 17: Hefin O’Hare(T) Colin Gregor(4P)
Attendance: 19,220
Munster v Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Sunday, October 5, 2008 at the Sportsground
Connacht (9) 19: Mike McCarthy(T) Ian Keatley(C/4P)
Leinster (9) 18: Felipe Contepomi(6P)
Attendance: 2,820
Connacht v Leinster Match Report