URC Round 2 Review

Two teams out on top - and what a result in Parma!

Leinster Rugby and Cardiff Rugby sit level on maximum points at the top of the URC table as the only teams to have claimed back-to-back victories in the opening two rounds.

Leo Cullen’s Leinster ran in six tries during a 34-6 triumph over Dragons RFC, while Cardiff also secured a second successive bonus point victory as they came from behind to win 24-15 at the Scarlets.

Meanwhile, the four South African sides experienced very mixed fortunes as they entered the fray following the postponement of their scheduled Round 1 derbies because of a clash with the Currie Cup final.

The Emirates Lions and the Vodacom Bulls recorded home wins over Ulster Rugby (35-22) and Edinburgh (22-16) respectively, with the free-running Lions particularly impressive in Johannesburg.

But the other two sides from the Rainbow Nation both lost on the road, with the DHL Stormers going down 37-24 away to the Ospreys and the Hollywoodbets Sharks being defeated 36-30 by Connacht Rugby in Galway.

However, the result of the weekend came out in Italy where Zebre Rugby recorded a famous 42-33 bonus point victory over Munster Rugby. More on that to come.

Ospreys stand firm at fortress

Ospreys coach Toby Booth was all smiles as his team recorded another memorable victory at their Brewery Field fortress.

They followed up last season’s thrilling wins over Cardiff and Sale at the Bridgend ground by beating the Stormers 37-24 in another humdinger of a contest.

After holding firm on their own line through 20 phases of defending in the closing stages, they then went up the other end to claim the penalty try which brought them maximum points.

The game had been moved to the Brewery Field as their normal home of the Swansea.com Stadium was unavailable due to a clash with football.

In front of a passionate crowd, the Ospreys produced the goods once more, with skipper Jac Morgan crossing, along with half-backs Reuben Morgan-Williams and Dan Edwards, ahead of the jubilant finale.

“We play well here,” said Booth. “It’s a difficult place to come. It’s a bit of a fortress within a fortress, so long may that continue.

“We have always loved the crowd here. It’s fantastic. You know you can use the atmosphere and the proximity of the fans to the pitch to your advantage.

“It’s a really great ground for players and coaches to be around because it sort of represents us a little bit - sleeves up, prepared to do it tough.

“We might not be too aesthetically pleasing sometimes but we’ll get the job done, so I think it’s quite representative of us as a group.

“If we can get a four-try bonus point into the bargain, then all well and good!”

Booth was left with very contrasting emotions to seven days earlier when his team had let slip a winning position and suffered a last-gasp defeat against the Dragons.

“Obviously last week was very disappointing,” he said.

“But the sign of a good team is they learn quickly. All week we bounced back, we came out with a spring in our step despite the disappointment.

“We prepared really well and we challenged each other, which is fantastic. That’s how winning gets done.

“Sport teaches you a lesson every week and last week taught us the lesson that when you’ve got an opportunity to kill someone off in this league, you need to do that.

“The irony is before that last defensive set here, we were potentially in the same boat, but we came up with the answers this time and then we weren’t going to sit and wait, we were going to grab it and get the bonus point. So that’s a fantastic outcome.

“It shows they are a tight group that cares about each other because you lose those moments if you don’t.

“It shows a never-say-die attitude. It means you are going to finish strong and not go away. That’s a very attractive factor to have. We showed out there we are a good team.”

Summing up his post-match mood, Booth said: “It’s a little bit different to last week! The smile wasn’t around then.

“We got found wanting a little bit at the end last week when we didn’t put the Dragons to bed.

“The good thing this time is we created a lot of opportunities and took them. It was a great second half and a lovely moment at the end.

“This is an incredibly difficult opening block for us, but the train keeps on rolling.”

Glasgow’s title defence up and running

Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith says patience will be the key as he looks for steady progress from his title-holding team.

The champions bounced back from their last gasp defeat to Ulster in Round 1 by claiming a 42-10 bonus point victory over Benetton Rugby at Scotstoun.

Skipper Kyle Steyn claimed two of their six tries from the wing to earn the Player of the Match award, while the visitors had Kiwi lock Scott Scrafton sent off just before the break and then picked up two further yellow cards.

A satisfied Smith said: “We asked for progression from last week and I think we saw that in most areas. It was an important step for us to improve and just to get going in the league.

“We missed some opportunities, but I’m happy with the general performance.

“It was a little bit stop start. The quality of the rugby in this URC competition is so high, we probably got spoiled. We don’t allow the players to make errors anymore!

“It’s the start of a new campaign for everybody which is challenging from a technical detail perspective. With a little bit of patience from everybody, the game will grow.

“It’s important to get players on the field in this first block and for them to find their feet.

“We will take the lessons learned and look to progress again heading down to Cardiff next weekend. It was an important day for us. I am happy with the win.”

Skipper Steyn added: “It was massive to get that first win. I was really proud of the way the boys came out back at home.”

In Friday night’s other game, Leinster claimed a 34-6 bonus point victory over the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium, running away with the contest after turning round with a narrow 10-6 lead.

Skipper Jack Conan said: “We fairly got it in the neck at half-time. The ruck stuff was terrible. We knew the Dragons would be dogged and they were.

“We showed up pretty well in the second half, but we can’t afford to take 40 minutes to sort the ruck out, so that was a little bit frustrating.

“But it was great to be back in the Aviva. It was a really good atmosphere and I think the lads were pretty happy in the end. We will be better next time after this.”

Try-scoring flanker Max Deegan - the Player of the Match - added: “There were about 18,500 here and getting those sort of numbers at a game is always fantastic.

“You could really feel it out there. We were under pressure in the first half and I just thought the energy in that second half definitely gave us life.

“It’s great times for Leinster. We have an unbelievable squad at the moment and I really think we can do special things. If we just keep putting the work in and keep helping each other get better, I think we can really produce some great moments.”

Cardiff keeping feet on ground

Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt insists he won’t be getting carried away by his team having opened their URC campaign with back-to-back bonus point victories.

They followed up the Round 1 maximum against Zebre by coming from behind to claim another as they won 24-15 away to the Scarlets in Saturday’s Welsh derby.

It has put them level on 10 points with Leinster at the top of the table and set them up nicely for Friday’s big Arms Park clash with champions Glasgow.

“It’s a good start overall, but that’s exactly what it is,” said Sherratt.

“I didn’t get carried away last year when it was the other way and I certainly won’t this year. It’s a new group and there will be ups and downs.

“But I’m just pleased that the players have got some reward.”

The signs didn’t look too promising when Cardiff trailed 15-0 early on, having conceded tries to centre Macs Page and No 8 Taine Plumtree.

But they reduced the deficit to three points by half-time and then took control, capitalising on the Scarlets being reduced to 13 men following two yellow cards and sealing the win with a final quarter try from centre Ben Thomas.

Sherratt said: “It’s actually not a bad thing sometimes, going down early, because there is only one way to go then. It’s backs to the wall and you come out fighting.

“We talk about fight and resilience and we showed bucket fulls of that to come back from 15-0 down.

“We played some nice stuff as well and showed flashes of what Cardiff can do. We attacked from deep and had some really good ball movement.

“I am really pleased for the players that they got what they deserved. It’s about enjoying your wins and you have got to enjoy a derby win away against the Scarlets, after two disappointing results against them last season.”

The Player of the Match award went to new Cardiff flanker Dan Thomas, who said: “We didn’t start off the best, but we finished strongly and showed the character in the end, so we are very happy.”

Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel commented: “We started brightly and were in good shape, but we just let Cardiff back into the game.

“In the second half, we just couldn’t get flow in the game and made a lot of unforced errors and turnovers which gave them field position and ultimately they got over in the end, so we are bitterly disappointed from that perspective.”

As a footnote, the try from teenage Scarlets centre Macs Page after 14 seconds was the fastest in the league since Scotland winger Dougie Fife touched down after just 10 seconds for Edinburgh against Connacht in March 2018.

Match of the weekend

Zebre Parma 42, Munster Rugby 33

What a game and what a result!

The scenes of jubilation on the final whistle summed up just how much this victory meant to the Zebre players and their supporters.

It must go down as one of the greatest wins in the club’s history, if not the greatest, given they were up against the 2023 URC champions.

There seemed little prospect of an upset when the hosts trailed 28-15 at half-time, but they produced some scintillating rugby after the break to finish with six tries in all, as wing Jacopo Trulla and scrum-half Alessandro Fusco both crossed twice.

It was a result which ended Zebre's 14-match losing run in the URC, while it was the first time Munster had lost to an Italian team in the league since they were beaten by Benetton Treviso in September 2013.

A momentous match.

Player of the weekend

Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys)

The scrum-half marked his 100th appearance for the Ospreys in style with a Player of the Match display in the 37-24 victory over the Stormers in Bridgend.

He sniped over for one try and set up another, breaking through in midfield off a lineout and collecting his own chip ahead on the bounce before giving a one-handed scoring pass to half-back partner Dan Edwards.

“It was a great game and a brilliant team effort, to be fair,” said the 26-year-old.

“The boys put a hell of a shift in. There’s something about when we play the Stormers, the boys just turn up.

“It was just energy and effort. Late on in the game, we had some big defensive sets, but that’s the thing about this team, we always fight to the end. It was fantastic spirit from the boys and we just kept going.”

Commenting on the atmosphere at the Brewery Field, he said: “The crowd were brilliant. Every time we play here, we can feel them. They were singing Hymns and Arias and it just spurs the boys on.”

Giving his assessment of Morgan-Williams, Ospreys coach Toby Booth said: “He was an absolute stand-out performer. To see him deliver a performance like that in a very big game, on his 100th appearance, with his family here, that’s special and I am delighted for him.”

Quote of the weekend

Leinster coach Leo Cullen on prop Cian Healy who set a new appearance record for the province, surpassing Devin Toner’s tally, as he played his 281st game in the 34-6 victory over the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium.

“He’s a remarkable individual. We had big Devin in the dressing room after the game making the presentation to him,” said Cullen.

“It was a special moment for Cian. Dev says he’s happy he’s passing it on, but I think it’s going to be a while before Cian has to pass it on to someone else. That is the reality. “He is a phenomenal individual and just such a popular member of the squad. It’s an amazing milestone for him and he has plenty more in the tank as well.”

Skipper Jack Conan added: “It was nice to give Cian the day he deserved. It was such a momentous occasion for him.

“All the lads are incredibly proud of him and I’m glad we could do it for him and give him a win because it would have been pretty sickening not to do that for him.”

What’s coming up next?

Round 3 will see league leaders Leinster travel out to Italy to take on Benetton, while second-placed Cardiff will be hoping for a big crowd for Friday night’s Arms Park clash with champions Glasgow.

The Lions and the Bulls will both be looking for further home wins as they entertain Edinburgh and Ulster respectively, with the Sharks and Stormers both out to open their accounts away to the Dragons and Zebre.

Bouncing back from a shock defeat in Parma will be Munster’s focus as they host the Ospreys, while the Scarlets will also want a response when they welcome Connacht to Llanelli.