Magners League: Round 12 Review
Following their success in Newport on Saturday, Munster remain top of the Magners League table. Reigning champions Leinster are keeping up the challenge though, their victory over the Ospreys moved them into second place.
The Ospreys are now six points adrift of leaders Munster, whom they face in the last round of the competition in mid May.
Victory for Ulster in atrocious conditions at Ravenhill saw them swap places in the table with their opponents, Glasgow Warriors, and climb up to sixth spot.
Paul Warwick’s two conversions and two penalties for Munster in their away win over the Dragons took him to within eight points of the 500 Magners League points barrier – only five other players have so far reached this milestone.
Meanwhile, round 12 saw Cardiff Blues lock Deiniol Jones become the seventh player to appear in 100 Magners League games.
2008/09 MAGNERS LEAGUE – AFTER ROUND 12:
TOP TRY SCORERS –
6 – Richard Fussell (Newport Gwent Dragons), Doug Howlett (Munster), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)
5 – Keith Earls (Munster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster)
4 – Darren Cave (Ulster), Deacon Manu (Scarlets), Martin Roberts (Scarlets), Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons)
3 – Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Fionn Carr (Connacht), Darren Cave (Ulster), Simon Danielli (Ulster), James Hook (Ospreys), Mark Jones (Scarlets), Ma’ama Molitika (Cardiff Blues), Timoci Nagusa (Ulster), Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets), Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues), Nikki Walker (Ospreys)
TOP POINTS SCORERS –
138 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (12 conversions and 38 penalty goals)
108 – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (9 conversions, 27 penalty goals and 3 drop goals)
95 – James Hook (Ospreys) (3 tries, 13 conversions, 17 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
91 – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (2 tries, 12 conversions and 19 penalty goals)
90 – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (1 try, 5 conversions, 24 penalty goals and 1 drop goal)
81 – Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues) (1 try, 11 conversions and 18 penalty goals)
78 – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (2 tries, 10 conversions and 16 penalty goals)
69 – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (1 try, 14 conversions and 12 penalty goals)
67 – Paul Warwick (Munster) (2 tries, 12 conversions and 11 penalty goals)
62 – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 6 conversions and 15 penalty goals)
53 – Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (4 conversions, 13 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
50 – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (1 try, 6 conversions and 11 penalty goals)
44 – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (10 conversions and 8 penalty goals)
36 – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (3 conversions, 8 penalty goals and 2 drop goals)
31 – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (3 tries, 5 conversions and 2 penalty goals)
BEST PLACE-KICKERS –
85% – Phil Godman (Edinburgh) (17 successful kicks out of 20 attempts)
81.25% – Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) (26/32)
80% – Matthew Jarvis (Ospreys) (4/5)
79.37% – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (50/63)
74.19% – Paul Warwick (Munster) (23/31)
73.81% – Stephen Jones (Scarlets) (31/42)
71.43% – James Hook (Ospreys) (30/42), David Blair (Edinburgh) (5/7)
70.83% – Shaun Connor (Newport Gwent Dragons) (17/24)
70% – James Arlidge (Newport Gwent Dragons) (21/30)
69.23% – Ronan O’Gara (Munster) (18/26)
69.05% – Ian Keatley (Connacht) (29/42)
68.42% – Ian Humphreys (Ulster) (26/38)
60% – Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons) (3/5)
59.02% – Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors) (36/61)
58.33% – Ceri Sweeney (Cardiff Blues) (7/12)
55.56% – Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues) (5/9)
52.38% – Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (11/21)
50% – Clinton Schifcofske (Ulster) (10/20)
47.62% – Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) (10/21)
44.44% – Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors (4/9)
33.33% – Niall O’Connor (Ulster) (2/6)
RESULTS ROUND-UP –
Friday, March 6, 2009 at the Sportsground
Connacht (14) 14: Ray Ofisa(T), Ian Keatley(3P)
Cardiff Blues (0) 19: Robin Sowden-Taylor(T), Ben Blair(C/4P)
Attendance: 1,373
Connacht v Cardiff Blues Match Report
Friday, March 6, 2009 at the Liberty Stadium
Ospreys (5) 8: Sonny Parker(T), Dan Biggar(D)
Leinster (0) 13: Gordon D’Arcy(T), Felipe Contepomi(C/2P)
Attendance: 8,046
Ospreys v Leinster Match Report
Saturday, March 7, 2009 at Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons (6) 9: James Arlidge(3P)
Munster (13) 20: Ciaran O’Boyle(T), Anthony Horgan(T), Paul Warwick(2C/2P)
Attendance: 6,865
Newport Gwent Dragons v Munster Match Report
Saturday, March 7, 2009 at Ravenhill
Ulster (12) 12: Darren Cave(T), Andrew Trimble(T), Ian Humphreys(C)
Glasgow Warriors (0) 0: –
Attendance: 8.286
Ulster v Glasgow Warriors Match Report
Sunday, March 8, 2009 at Parc y Scarlets
Scarlets (10) 13: Daniel Evans(T/P), Ken Owens(T)
Edinburgh (6) 6: David Blair(2P)
Attendance: 6,302