The Bulls have been the one triumphant South African workforce within the URC this previous weekend, with the Lions, Sharks and Stormers all dropping their away matches.
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With a number of necessary video games being determined with late scores, there was actually lots to interact rugby followers and have them biting their nails within the newest spherical of the United Rugby Championship, none extra so than the Glasgow thriller that ended the spherical.
Just like England Test cricket captain Ben Stokes is reinventing the wheel within the format together with his aggressive and revolutionary model of management, so the 2 teaching protagonists who met at Scotstoun Stadium on Sunday, John Dobson of the Stormers and Franco Smith of the Glasgow Warriors, are doing the identical for his or her sport.
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The upshot was an exhilarating recreation that was determined off the final transfer, and in the event you look again on the lengthy vary tries that made up 75% of the 4 strive haul that secured Glasgow their bonus level win, you could possibly argue that the Stormers have been crushed by their very own revolutionary model of rugby.
The wheel may properly have began turning for Glasgow once they have been crushed by the Stormers in Cape Town in April, and their coach on the time was so appreciative of the type embraced by his opponents.
Life is popping out to be good for the Warriors beneath their new coach. With six wins in a row the Warriors now have spectacular momentum beneath Smith, and you’ll think about European Challenge Cup wins over Bath and Perpignan into his successful sequence. And Sunday’s 5 level haul has introduced them into touching distance of the highest 4 on the general log, one thing that appeared unlikely a couple of weeks in the past.
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But that is how thrilling the URC season is popping out to be — whereas Glasgow are styling in the intervening time, they’re nonetheless removed from protected of their battle for supremacy within the Scotland/Italy Shield. That is as a result of Benetton additionally now have that unmeasurable but so critically necessary sporting ingredient on their facet – momentum.
Benetton have been concerned in one other thrilling recreation this weekend, successful off the final transfer of their recreation towards Ulster in Treviso on Saturday afternoon. It was a outcome that leaves them only one level behind Glasgow within the Shield, with the bonus level that got here with Sebastian Cancellieri’s successful strive towards the Stormers being the distinction between the 2 groups at current.
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Benetton, the Rainbow Cup champions the season earlier than final, ought to actually be happy with the way in which their season is popping out, and there are a couple of different groups that ought to really feel the identical, most notably the Welsh workforce, the Ospreys.
They misplaced in Swansea to the match frontrunners, Leinster, however there was no denying their dedication and confidence as they took an early lead earlier than ultimately dropping by simply 5 factors.
With Cardiff Rugby being upset at house in one other thrilling recreation by Scarlets, who many would agree have been most likely due for a superb win as they’ve so typically proven promise in defeat, the 2 Welsh frontrunners have dropped out of the highest two.
However, the outcomes have stored the battle for Shield honours within the Principality attention-grabbing, as there are simply 5 factors separating leaders Cardiff from the Ospreys with a 3rd of the league part of the competitors nonetheless to run.
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Returning to the Scotland/Italy convention, the Benetton recreation wasn’t the one one which was determined off the final transfer. Edinburgh stored the Shield a 3 method race by beating the competitors’s backside workforce, Zebre, however they left it late. Very late. They needed to wait till the final transfer of the sport to attain the strive that gave them a 24-17 win over the Italian facet.
Indeed, it was a weekend full of some irony within the two video games performed on Scottish soil, properly on Scottish synthetic surfaces, for each video games ended with the identical rating – 24-17 – and each of them have been additionally determined in favour of the Scottish groups off the final transfer of the sport when a draw regarded possible. Those type of wins at all times have the punters eager to return, so they’re good for the competitors.
With the Bulls getting full factors towards the Dragons whereas the Stormers solely managed a dropping bonus level in Glasgow, the South African convention has develop into tighter, however what the Scotstoun outcome, coupled with the one in Swansea, did do was widen the hole on the prime between Leinster and the second positioned Stormers.
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The Ospreys threw all the things into the sport so Leinster, in coming from behind to attain their win in entrance of a partisan crowd and towards robust opponents, underlined their championship qualities.
They at the moment are 11 factors forward on the prime after being unbeaten after 12 video games, and though the Stormers have a recreation in hand, that’s an enormous hole because the URC season takes a two week break for 2 rounds of European Champions Cup fixtures.
When the competitors returns there’s a probably thrilling face-off between the second and third positioned groups, the Stormers and Ulster, to look ahead to in Belfast, with Ulster seemingly on the slide and in determined want for good leads to the Champions Cup to regain successful momentum.
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Munster 33 Lions 3
Dragons 14 Bulls 29
Benetton 31 Ulster 29
Edinburgh 24 Zebre 17
Cardiff Rugby 22 Scarlets 28
Connacht 24 Sharks 12
Ospreys 19 Leinster 24
Glasgow Warriors 24 Stormers 17
