Magners League preview: Round 13
Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:42
The big prize: The Magners League Trophy
Round 13 of the Magners League kicks off in Llanelli on Friday, with the Scarlets welcoming Ulster to Parc y Scarlets.
Having topped the table after Round Six, Ulster will be looking to claim the points from this game to bring them back into contention in the play-off zone, but will have to complete a first ever season double over their hosts to do so.
Elsewhere on Friday former leaders Glasgow Warriors visit the Sportsground in Galway to play Connacht. Warriors will set a new record if they achieve victory in this match as they have never before gone undefeated in five successive away league games.
There is just one game on Saturday the focus once again turning to Wales, this time to Rodney Parade where Newport Gwent Dragons host current Magners League champions, Munster. Having been in or around the play-off zone most of the season, Munster currently lie in fourth just three points short of the leaders, an ideal place from which to make a challenge for top spot as the season draws towards its finale.
The round wraps up with two games on Sunday, Edinburgh v Ospreys and Cardiff Blues v Leinster.
Table-topping Ospreys, who took over the lead for the first time this season after their victory against Connacht in the last game of Round 12, will have to complete a season's double over their hosts if they are to claim the win and retain their pole position.
Heineken Cup champions Leinster have remained in the play-off zone for 11 consecutive rounds, and with two games in hand over their nearest rivals, are in a good position going into the last quarter of the season.
Cardiff Blues pulled off perhaps the surprise result of the last round putting an end to their disappointing record against Glasgow Warriors by defeating the then leaders 30-7.
We look at the Round 13 matches!
Friday, March 5:
Scarlets v Ulster
(Parc y Scarlets,
Llanelli - 19.05, 19.05 GMT)
Scarlets' only victory in their last five matches in the Magners League was 14-9 at Newport Gwent Dragons on New Year's Eve. The Welshmen have lost their last seven clashes with Irish teams in all competitions this season.
Ulster have not lost since their 3-15 reversal to Leinster at the RDS in the Magners League on 26 December, and are unbeaten in their last three encounters with Welsh teams.
Ulster's only loss in their last four matches with Scarlets in all competitions was 43-17 at Parc y Scarlets in the Magners League on 16 May 2009. Ulster won 45-24 when the two met at Ravenhill in round 5, but have never achieved a league double over the Welshmen in the same season.
rugby365.com Prediction: We suspect an upset might be on the cards, with the lowly Scarlets keen to use their home ground advantage against an Ulster team that is just one win away from a top-four spot. Scarlets with a margin of five to 10 points.
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Dan Newton, 14 Joe Ajuwa, 13 Regan King, 12 Jonathan Davies 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 David Lyons (captain), 7 Richie Pugh, , 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 1 Iestyn Thomas
Replacements: 16 Phil John, 17 Matthew Rees, 18 Rob McCusker, 19 Johnathan Edwards, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Daniel Evans, 22 Gareth Maule
Ulster: 15 Jamie Smith, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Chris Henry (captain), 7 David Pollock, 6 Dan Tuohy, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Ed O'Donoghue, 3 Brendan Botha, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Andi Kyriacou, 17 Bryan Young, 18 Robbie Diack, 19 Willie Faloon, 20 Paul Marshall, 21 Niall O'Connor, 22 Simon Danielli.
Referee: Peter Allan
Assistant
Referees: Nigel Owens (WRU), Greg Morgan (WRU).
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (WRU)
Connacht v Glasgow Warriors
(Sportsground, Galway - 20.00, 20.00 GMT)
The last five games between the two sides have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst Glasgow's only win in Connacht since the 2001 quarterfinal was 40-23 at the Sportsground on 13 April 2007.
Connacht have lost their last three matches in the Magners League since their 16-10 victory over Scarlets at the Sportsground on 30 October – their most recent home game in the competition. Connacht have not beaten a Scottish side since the 15-8 win over Glasgow in Galway on 19 September 2008.
Glasgow Warriors lie in second spot in the Magners League table following their 7-30 reversal to Cardiff Blues in round 12. The Warriors are unbeaten in their last four away encounters in the Magners League and have never before managed a sequence of five league away games without losing.
rugby365.com Prediction: In European competitions home ground tend to play a major role and we don't see any reason why it should be any different for this game. However, it is going to be a very tight affair between these two Celtic rivals. Connacht by less than 10 points.
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Troy Nathan, 13 Keith Matthews, 12 Aidan Wynne, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Robbie Morris, 18 Bernie Upton, 19 Mike McComish, 20 Conor O'Loughlin, 21 Miah Nikora, 22 Brian Tuohy.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Colin Shaw, 13 Peter Murchie, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Mark
McMillan (captain), 8 Richie Vernon, 7 Calum Forrester, 6 James Eddie, 5 Dan Turner, 4 Tim Barker, 3 Ed Kalman, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Jon Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Kevin Tkachuk, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Chris Fusaro, 20 Colin Gregor, 21 Chris Kinloch, 22 Hefin O'Hare.
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Ollie Hodges (Ireland)
TMO: Dermot Moloney (Ireland)
Saturday, March 6
Newport Gwent Dragons v Munster
(Rodney Parade, Newport - 18.30, 18.30 GMT)
Newport Gwent Dragons are unbeaten in their last three games in all competitions, however in the Magners League are winless in their last three.
Munster's only defeat in their last seven matches in all competitions was 10-15 at Ulster in the Magners League on 2 January. The last eight games that Munster have played in the Magners League have all been won by the home side on the day.
Dragons have not beaten Munster since a 9-12 scoreline at Rodney Parade in the Magners League on 5 January 2007.
rugby365.com Prediction: This is one game where you will be hard-pressed not to go for the away team, considering the odds in favour of Munster taking the title outright at the end of the season. Munster to win by at least 10 points.
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Will Harries, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans; 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis (captain), 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Pat Palmer, 18 Rob Sidoli, 19 Hoani Macdonald, 20 Tom Riley, 21 James Arlidge, 22 James Leadbeater.
Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Doug Howlett, 13
Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ronan O'Gara (captain), 9 Peter Stringer, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Mick O'Driscoll, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan,
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Ian Nagle, 19 Nick Williams, 20 Duncan Williams, 21 Scott Deasy, 22 Ciaran O'Boyle.
Referee: Dudley Phillips
Assistant Referees: Phil Fear (WRU), Matthew Thomas (WRU).
TMO: Tony Rowlands (WRU).
Sunday, March 7
Edinburgh v Ospreys
(Murrayfield, Edinburgh - 14.00, 14,00 GMT)
Edinburgh have won just one of their most recent four games in the Magners League: 21-12 at home to Cardiff Blues on 9 January. Edinburgh have won their last two matches against the Welsh regions.
Ospreys currently sit atop the Magners League table following four straight victories, whilst they have won just one away game in the Magners League since September: 21-14 at Scarlets on Boxing Day.
Ospreys won 31-10 in the Magners League when the two teams met on 4 October and have not achieved a seasons double over the Scotsmen since 2006/07.
rugby365.com Prediction: This is a tough one to call, simply because they are playing at Murrayfield, negating the 'home ground' advantage. Yes, it is in Edinburgh, but the stadium won't be a quarter full, which negates the advantage you get from a vociferous home crowd. We are leaning towards an Ospreys win, but not by much. Ospreys by about seven points.
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Ben Cairns, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 John Houston, 11 Simon Webster, 10 David Blair, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Roddy Grant, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Steve Turnbull, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle
Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Sean Crombie, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Craig Hamilton, 19 David Callam, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Tim Visser.
Ospreys: 15 Gareth Owen/Barry Davies, 14 Jonny Vaughton, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Filo Tiatia,7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins (captain), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Richard Hibbard/Ed Shervington, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington/Marc Breeze, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Andy Lloyd/James Goode, 19 Steve Tandy/Ben Lewis, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Ashley Beck, 22 Barry Davies/Gareth Owen.
Referee: George Clancy
Assistant Referees: David Changleng (SRU), Bob Nevans (SRU).
TMO: Iain Ramage (SRU).
Cardiff Blues v Leinster
(Cardiff City Stadium - 16.00, 16.00 GMT)
Cardiff Blues have won their last five matches in all competitions since Edinburgh beat them 21-12 at Murrayfield in the Magners League on 9 January. No Irish side has beaten the Blues in Cardiff since Leinster did so at the Arms Park in the Magners League on 28 September 2007.
Leinster are unbeaten in their last six games since the 14-30 loss at Newport Gwent Dragons in the Magners League on 6 December. The Irishmen have not won on the road in the Magners League since 26 September.
The Blues are winless in their last five encounters with Leinster since their 27-11 victory at the Arms Park on 11 May 2007.
rugby365.com Prediction: Another game where the visitors appear to be big favourites. We feel that, along with Munster, Leinster will be in the Final. Leinster by 10 to 15 points.
Teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Tom James, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tom Shanklin, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Gareth
Cooper, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Scott Morgan, 3 Gary Powell, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Taufa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 Huw Dowden, 17 Scott Andrews, 18 Andries Pretorius, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Sam Norton-Knight, 22 Dafydd Hewitt.
Leinster: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Shaun Berne, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Stephen Keogh, 7 Shane Jennings (captain), 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Devin Toner, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bernard Jackman, 1 Stan Wright.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Mike Ross, 18 Trevor Hogan, 19 Rhys Ruddock, 20 Paul O'Donohoe, 21 Ian Madigan, 22 Simon Keogh
Referee: Andy McPherson
Assistant Referees: Leighton Hodges (WRU), Phil Connett (WRU).
TMO: Hugh Watkins (WRU).
With thanks to magnersleague.com
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