Glasgow extend their lead at the top as the Irish go unbeaten in Round 15

The international teams had the weekend off so all eyes turned to the domestic competitions and the hugely entertaining games in Round 15 of the Pro 12. The Irish went unbeaten as Munster pulled off a master escape away to the Scarlets. Glasgow stretched their narrow lead at the top to four points as the Ospreys fell out of the top four. Treviso hammered the Cardiff Blues as Edinburgh’s fine run of wins at home came to an end.

Edinburgh Rugby 17 – 20 Ulster Rugby
Ulster laid down a real marker by ending Edinburgh’s eight game winning run at home. The win has propelled the Irish province into 2nd in the table and defeat has taken the wind out of the Edinburgh’s sails in their pursuit of a top six finish. The home side looked to be in control as they led at the break 14-10; however a second-half try from Darren Cave and points from the precise boot of Ruan Pienaar pushed the visitors out in front until the final whistle. It was backs against the wall for the final few minutes as they were down to thirteen men as Stuart McCloskey saw red and Franco van der Merwe was in the bin but their defence held firm to see them over the line.

Leinster Rugby 29 – 8 Zebre    
Leinster talked of redemption and righting a few wrongs in the lead up to this game after a shock home defeat to Newport Gwent Dragons the week before but the game posed more questions than it answered. The score line flattered the home side as Leinster fell over the line in the last minute to record a bonus point win over basement boys Zebre. A hugely underwhelming performance by the home side was compounded by the number of handling errors in a chilly but dry night in the RDS Arena. Luke Fitzgerald’s Man of the Match performance was the one huge positive they can take from the game and his inclusion for Ireland against England this weekend looks a very real possibility.

Benetton Treviso 40 – 24 Cardiff Blues
A bonus point wrapped up in the first half is not a scenario one would usually associate with Treviso but that is exactly what the Italians delivered against the Blues. Jayden Hayward scored twenty of the home sides forty points as they recorded only their third victory of the season. Preparation for the Blues was disrupted after Gareth Anscombe was forced out of the game with a shoulder injury. The result means that only four points now separates the sides in the table and an eight point gap has opened up between Treviso and their Italian rivals Zebre.

Scarlets 25 – 25 Munster Rugby
Munster thanks largely to replacement JJ Hanrahan pulled off a Houdini style escape when they got out of Parc y Scarlets with two points. Trailing 25-13 with only five minutes left to play Felix Jones and Hanrahan crossed for late tries. Ian Keatley added one of the final two conversions to salvage a draw in Illaneli. Scarlets are hugely proud of their home record having not lost a game since Boxing Day 2013 and it all looked to be going according to plan when Steve Shingler converted a penalty on the sixty-ninth minute to give them a comfortable lead. Munster never know when their beat and battled hard to get something out of the game. The result sees Munster slip to fourth and the Scarlets lose ground on Connacht in the table.

Glasgow Warriors 19 – 16 Ospreys
This top of the table clash was always going to be a tight affair in the Scotstoun Stadium. Ospreys’ young fly-half Sam Davies had a real baptism of fire as three missed kicks proved crucial and in particular a seventy-seventh minute effort that sailed wide of the uprights to deny them the draw. Alastair Kellock in the Glasgow engine room gave a Man of the Match performance as he helped move them four points clear at the top of the table. Last year’s runners-up looking to go one better this time round. The Ospreys will rue those missed chances as they now fall out of the top four and welcome old foes Leinster to the Liberty Stadium on Friday night before another Irish province in the form of Munster travel to Swansea.

Newport Gwent Dragons 25 – 30 Connacht Rugby
A fourteenth minute red card for Rynard Landman for a disgraceful elbow to the head of Connacht’s Jack Carty meant the game was always going to be a massive challenge for the home side. Playing the majority of the first half with fourteen men the Dragons only went in at the break behind by six points. They never gave up throughout the whole contest and pushed the western Irish province close. The extra man told in the end as they saw out the win and now sit comfortably in sixth place in the table. The ban for Landman should be long to add to this disappointing in letting his team down. That is now two consecutive home defeats for the Dragons.

Round 16
Ospreys v Leinster Rugby
This is the meeting of two sides up the right side of the table but struggling to reach third gear let alone top gear. Ospreys have been beaten in their last two games but have a formidable home record having not lost at the Liberty Stadium in their last ten matches. Leinster looked vastly unconvincing last weekend against bottom side Zebre and lost the previous week at home to the Dragons. One telling statistic is Leinster have not won at the Liberty Stadium in the Pro 12 since September 2009. These records are there to be broken but given how poor Leinster have been in their last two games is it difficult to picture the Irish province escaping from Swansea with the win.     

Ulster Rugby v Scarlets    
Ulster’s tails are up after three wins from their last three games including an impressive away win over in form Edinburgh last Friday night. They boost an intimidating home record with only one defeat at the Kingspan stadium since the beginning of the 2013/2014 season. The Scarlets really have it all to do in this one and are on a poor of form. Only two wins in their last seven games and no wins away from home since they beat Treviso in February 2014. They have also failed to win in Ulster since September 2008.
    
Munster Rugby v Glasgow Warriors    
Both teams will take great belief into this game after last weekend’s showing. Glasgow won the battle at the top in their victory over the Ospreys while Munster battled back in the dying minutes to claim a draw away to the Scarlets. Glasgow have only lost once since round 8 of the competition and will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table when they travel to Independent Park on Saturday night. Munster are beginning to establish an excellent record in Cork with seven victories from seven since the Cardiff Blues came to town and beat them in January 2013. Expecting this game to be and almighty tussle with home advantage giving Munster the edge, just.

Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh Rugby
Cardiff suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Treviso last time out and will be reeling from that game. Edinburgh also suffered a deflating loss at home to Ulster ending their three game winning run. Both teams will be taking this game as an opportunity to get back to winning ways. The Scots beat the Blues in the reverse fixture in round 8 ending a three game losing run between the teams. Cardiff are in danger of being caught by Treviso in the table and a win in this one will help reduce the gap between them and their opponents in eight place.

Connacht Rugby v Benetton Treviso    
The sixth place side since round 7 Connacht have had mixed fortunes in recent weeks. They have suffered two defeats in their last two home games but earned a much needed win last week over the Dragons. The red card suffered by Dragons player Landman was hugely influential in the how the game panned out but it was a win none the less for the Irish side. Treviso are on a good run of form with three wins in their last five but they haven’t won outside of Italy since May 2013 when they defeated the Scarlets. This is a game Connacht must win if they hold serious aspirations of finishing in the top six and achieving Champions Cup qualification next season, a feat that seemed unlikely at the beginning of the year.

Zebre v Newport Gwent Dragons
These two sides have really struggled this year as Zebre sit rooted to the bottom of the table and the Dragons languishing in ninth. Bottom teams will feel they have every chance of winning this game as they look to overturn poor runs of form. Zebre have lost their last six games while the Dragons have only one once in their last four. However that solitary win was against the champions Leinster which the Dragons can take great inspiration from. Zebre are yet to beat the Dragons in all of their five previous meetings and this one seem as if it will go the way of previous meetings.