British and Irish Cup Round Two Roundup

Two hat-tricks, a forwards coach appearing as a substitute and an average of 54 points a game - round two of the British and Irish Cup had it all. Lewis Hughes returns with a roundup of all the latest action:

Ealing Slay the Dragon(s)

A nail-biting affair in South Wales saw Ealing Trailfinders surmount a fourteen-point deficit to ultimately prevail 28-27 over Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday courtesy of a 75^th minute penalty from Aaron Penberthy.

Newport’s Premiership Select side had roared (no pun intended) out to a 17-3 lead midway through the first-half courtesy of a brace from outside centre Barney Nightingale before five-pointers from Rhys Lawrence and Curtis Wilson cut the deficit to two points on half-time.

In a back-and-forth second forty Nightingale sealed his hat-trick in fine style shortly after the interval before Ealing No.8 Mark Bright powered over to once again clip the Newport lead at two. Opposing Fly-halves Arwel Robson (Dragons) and Penberthy (x2) then traded penalties to set up a nervous final quarter.

However, it was Penberthy and Ealing who were to emerge victorious, the 23-year-old holding his nerve to kick a fine effort from just inside the Newport half to give the visitors a hard-fought away win.

Eight is Great for London Irish.

London Irish continued their unbeaten start to the season Saturday, making it a perfect eight-from-eight with a 34-3 win over Connacht Eagles.

The victory was doubly sweet for the Exiles however with eight of their matchday twenty-three comprising graduates from the club’s academy.

In a comprehensive bonus-point win, Harry Elrington, Conor Gilsenan, Greig Tonks, Tom Parton and Joe Cokanasiga all crossed the whitewash for the Championship leaders with Tonks adding a further nine points with the boot.

Connacht could muster only a solitary Conor Mckeon penalty in response.

O Capitan, My Captain!

Club captain Robbie Fergusson’s late try – his second of the game - proved decisive as London Scottish climbed to the top of Pool 1 with a thrilling 34-29 win over Ulster ‘A’.

Down 27-29 Inside the game’s final minute, centre Fergusson finished off a superbly-worked team try to bring the scores level before fly-half Harry Sheppard held his nerve to give Scottish the maximum five-point haul.

Fergusson and his midfield partner Alex Coombes each grabbed a brace, which, in addition to Ally Miller’s effort guaranteed another perfect afternoon for teams from the capital (London Welsh won 40-24 over Rothertham).

In a narrow losing effort, tries from Robert Lyttle, Lorcan Dow and John Andrew (x2) ensured Ulster could at least leave the Athletic Ground with two consolatory losing bonus points.

Jersey Boys and Seven Tries

Jersey Reds notched their first win of the competition in impressive style on Friday night putting seven tries past Cardiff Blues at St.Peter.

In a 49-12 win, George Eastwell (x2), Nick Haining, Jake Armstrong, Sam Katz and Kieran Hardy (x2) all touched down for Jersey with Brendan Cope slotting all seven conversion attempts for an impressive evening all-round for the Channel Islanders. Owen Lane and Rhun Williams crossed in reply for Cardiff.

Jersey’s win came despite being without the services of over a dozen first-team players, an injury crisis so severe that Assistant Coach Alex Rae was forced to come out of retirement for the afternoon in order to pack down in the backrow.

Results

Pool 1

London Scottish 34-29 Ulster A

Jersey 49-12 Cardiff Blues Select

Pool 2

London Welsh 40-24 Rotherham Titans

Pool 3

London Irish 34-3 Connacht A

Cornish Pirates 41-5 Ospreys

Pool 4

Scarlets Select 58-7 Richmond

Leinster A 21-29 Nottingham

Pool 5

Yorkshire Carnegie 52-28 Bedford

Newport Select 27-28 Ealing Trailfinders

Statistics

N.B. All statistics through two rounds.

Top Try Scorers

Barry Daly (Leinster A) – 4

Tom Williams (Scarlets) – 4

Barney Nightingale (Newport) – 4

Rob O’Donnell (Yorkshire Carnegie) – 4

Bryan Byrne (Leinster A) - 2

Top Kickers

Lloyd Evans (Rotherham Titans) - 3 Conversions (60%), 9 Penalties (90%), 33 Points

Arwel Robson (Newport) - 5 Conversions (83%), 5 Penalties (100%), 25 Points

Johnny McPhillips (Ulster) - 4 Conversions (100%), 5 Penalties (83%), 23 Points

Ross Byrne (Leinster) - 11 Conversions (91%), 22 Points

Myles Dorrian (Bedford Blues) – 5 Conversions (100%), 4 Penalties (100%), 22 Points

Top Points Scorers

Lloyd Evans (Rotherham TItans) – 3 Conversions, 9 Penalties, 1 Try, 38 Points

Arwel Robson – 5 Conversions, 5 Penalties, 1 Try, 30 Points

Billy Mcbryde (Scarlets) – 2 Conversions, 4 Penalties, Two Tries, 26 Points

Johnny McPhillips (Ulster) – Four Conversions, 5 Penalties, 23 Points

Ross Byrne (Leinster) – 11 Conversions, 22 Points.