Leo Cullen was a delighted man as league leaders Leinster Rugby bounced back from their first defeat of the season to beat Hollywoodbets Sharks 10-7 in Durban.
They had suffered last gasp heartbreak in losing to the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria in Round 13, but they were not to be denied on the second leg of their South African tour.
Replacements Henry Mcerlean and Scott Penny scored the visitors’ two tries, with skipper Max Deegan named Player of the Match after a huge ball-carrying display.
After the final whistle, No 8 Deegan celebrated in style with a swan-dive into the pitch-side pool!
It was a really gritty performance from the table toppers against the Springbok-laden Sharks and all the more impressive given they were without the majority of their Ireland stars.
Head coach Cullen commented: “I am so impressed with this squad. The Six Nations window allows us to bring guys through the system and, the more guys who play for Ireland, the more opportunities we have at club level. That is how we look at it and the timing of this tour to South Africa gave us opportunities at the right time to grow our squad.”
He added: “We had a good plan, we saw the opportunity to beat the Sharks and we worked out a way to do it. It required good intent, and that was plentiful, and we ground it out. We have no regret that it was not the prettiest of contests. We came to a difficult place to win and we are so pleased to get the result.
“This game was nail-biting, as it was last week in Pretoria, but so many guys were working hard and scrambling. The young guys understood the pride in playing for Leinster. This time, our mental attitude prevailed and we are delighted. To take five points home from South Africa is outstanding.”
Second-placed Glasgow Warriors thumped the Emirates Lions 42-0 - doing all their scoring in the first half - with their bonus cutting the gap at the top by a point to eight.
The Vodacom Bulls also secured the maximum by beating Zebre Parma 63-24 in Pretoria and have strengthened their grip on third spot with the Sharks losing.
Munster Rugby are up to fifth having defeated Connacht Rugby 30-24 on a historic occasion at Castlebar’s MacHale Park.
It was the first time Connacht had staged a game at the home of Mayo GAA and it proved a highly successful move off the field with a 27 580 sell-out.
But they couldn’t mark the day with a win on the park, despite Munster having centre Alex Nankivell red carded on 25 minutes.
Ireland international fly-half Jack Crowley received the Player of the Match award after accumulating a 15-point haul, including a try.
Having been down in 14th not so long ago, Ulster Rugby are now up to sixth, with Friday night’s 38-34 comeback win over the DHL Stormers their third on the bounce in the league.
Benetton Rugby are also on the rise, with their late 20-19 triumph over Cardiff Rugby moving them into seventh spot.
The Welsh visitors looked on course for a crucial victory when their impressive hooker Evan Lloyd powered over for a final quarter try, but Player of the Match Tomas Albornoz snatched the spoils back with a decisive penalty three minutes from time.
Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt said: “Disappointment is the overriding emotion. There’s a lot of it.
“The penalty count was 15-8 and we had three yellow cards. That really gives you an uphill task.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win, but couldn’t quite get over the line.”
With Cardiff dropping down from fifth to ninth, Edinburgh Rugby now occupy the eighth and final play-off spot as things stand thanks to a 38-5 win over Dragons RFC.
PEEL PROUD OF DERBY DAY COMEBACK
Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel said he was proud of the resilience his players showed as they fought back from a nightmare start to claim a vital 38-22 bonus point victory in the big derby clash with the Ospreys in Llanelli.
Peel’s team conceded a try inside 50 seconds and found themselves 17-0 down after 15 minutes in front of a crowd of 11 384 - the biggest for a URC game in Wales so far this season.
But they responded with a six-try blitz to secure the spoils, three of those coming when the Ospreys were down in numbers after having two players yellow carded in quick succession.
The Player of the Match award went to Scarlets back row forward Vaea Fifita, with Wales full-back Blair Murray among the men to touch down.
For the Ospreys, there were 12 points for try-scoring fly-half Dan Edwards, but they were to leave the ground empty handed in terms of league points.
It’s a win that nudges the Scarlets above their west Wales rivals in the table and keeps alive their hopes of making the play-offs.
Reflecting on a fluctuating contest, their coach Dwayne Peel said: “I don’t think we looked like a rugby team for the first 15 minutes.
“Ropey is probably an understatement. I don’t know whether it was the big occasion, but there was error after error.
“I am proud of the resilience we showed after that. For the last 60 minutes, we were a good side.
“When the Ospreys had a few cards, we made them pay and that’s what the game is about. We managed that period well and were clinical when we needed to be.”
Commenting on his team’s play-off prospects, Peel said:
“There is a lot of work to do. We have got four games left, we probably need to win two of them, if not three.
“Sides are going to take points off each other. What we can do is work on the next couple of matches and see where we are going into the last two rounds.
“We have got the Dragons at the Principality Stadium and then Leinster coming here which will be a huge occasion. So that’s two big games coming ahead.”
Giving his thoughts on the derby clash, Ospreys coach Mark Jones said: “We started the game really well. The first 20 minutes were very good from us.
“Fair play to the boys, coming away from home, they put their stamp on the game. I was dead chuffed around that.
“Then, after that, the discipline started to come into it and obviously the back-to-back yellow cards changed the whole format of the game. There were three tries, bang, bang, bang.
“Credit to the Scarlets, they exploited the extra players really well. Their identification of space and their execution was good.
“From that point on, it’s very difficult to chase the game and, in the second half, we didn’t deal with their kicking game well enough. They put us on the back fence and forced some errors.
“We have just got to learn the lessons, dust ourselves off and go again.”
On the play-off battle, he said: “There are loads of opportunities. There are four games left, every team is beating every team.
“Clearly, we have lost an opportunity to put some more points on the board and give ourselves a better chance, but the league is going to go down to the last weekend, I am pretty sure of that.”
The two teams will meet again next weekend in the last 16 of the EPCR Challenge Cup down in Swansea.
“We have to switch our minds there now and focus on that,” said Jones.
“Neither team will be short of an edge. We might have an emotional response to this, but I am sure the Scarlets will have an emotional boost from the result.”
Adding his preview, Peel said: “We have got to do it all again. It’s a big challenge for us next week to go away and repeat.
“I am sure the Ospreys players will be hurting after that and it’s going to be a good game. We haven’t won in Swansea for a long time, so we need to go after that.”
The west Wales derby was one of two URC games over the weekend where a team came back from 17 points down to secure a bonus point victory.
Speaking of which…
MATCH OF THE WEEKEND
Ulster Rugby 38, DHL Stormers 34
Ten tries, a red card, two yellows, a grandstand finish and seven match points shared out between these play-off contenders.
This hugely eventful encounter at Belfast’s Kingspan Stadium also saw one of the comebacks of the season.
Ulster suffered a wretched start, conceding 17 points in the opening seven minutes, as Evan Roos and Ben Loader crossed for the Stormers.
But they then rattled up 24 unanswered points to move in front, with eye-catching winger Jacob Stockdale among the try scorers.
After Stormers prop Neethling Fouche was red carded for a dangerous tackle, Ulster went further ahead, taking their try tally to six.
But the 14-man visitors struck twice in the final quarter - with No 8 Roos claiming his second - to set up a nerve-jangling ending to the contest.
Ulster coach Richie Murphy said: “It was an incredible game of rugby, wasn’t it?
“I am absolutely delighted with the win.
“When we went 17 points down at the start, we could have easily fallen away, but the lads showed unbelievable fight. They worked really hard for each other. You could see the hunger with the lads to fight back.
“It shows the character that we are building within the team. The lads really rolled their sleeves up and put in an unbelievable performance in order to get over a very good team.
“Five points keeps us in the hunt and we look forward to the next one.”
As for the four-try Stormers, they picked up two valuable bonus points in defeat and are just a point off the play-off positions with four home games to come to complete their regular season.
PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby)
Edinburgh co-captain Ben Vellacott described Darcy Graham as “a magician” following his display in the 38-5 victory over the Dragons and he was spot on.
On his first outing for the club since before the Six Nations, Scotland winger Graham conjured up all kinds of magic as he scored one try of his own and had a hand in a couple of others.
Speaking after the game, he said: “Sometimes, I don’t know what I’m doing myself. I just get the ball and run and then think afterwards!
“It was good to be back with the boys. We have been in camp for a long time and it feels like that.
“It was good to have everybody back together and to get a good convincing win, so we are happy.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND
Scrum-half George Horne on becoming Glasgow Warriors’ all-time top try scorer by crossing for his 55th touchdown in the 42-0 victory over the Lions at Scotstoun:
“I think it will take a while to sink in, but it sounds pretty cool. I will look back and be really proud of this day.
“I am loving my rugby, I love playing for this club and I am so proud to represent it.”
WHAT’S COMING NEXT?
The league now takes a two week break as the focus switches to the EPCR competitions with the last 16 and quarterfinals of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.
There are no fewer than 13 Vodacom URC teams involved in next weekend’s matches and there are certain to be at least three of them progressing to the last eight stage.
That’s because the Challenge Cup sees a trio of contests between sides from the league as the Ospreys and Scarlets clash for the second week in a row, while Connacht entertain Cardiff and Edinburgh host the Lions.
In the Champions Cup, the top two from the Vodacom URC - Leinster and Glasgow - are home to Harlequins and Leicester respectively.
League action will resume on the weekend of April 18-19 with Round 15, which includes the Judgement Day Welsh double header at the Principality Stadium.
There’s also an Irish derby between Leinster and Ulster in Dublin, while Munster’s Thomond Park showdown with the Vodacom Bulls should be a cracker.
With four rounds of matches to go, it remains very tight in terms of the ‘race for the eight’ with just six points separating fifth and 13th. This play-off battle looks like it’s going to go right down to the wire.