Some Cracking URC Entertainment To End 2023 And Start 2024

 

Round 9 of the United Rugby Championship produced some cracking entertainment to celebrate the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024.

Benetton completed a derby double over Italian rivals Zebre Parma and Glasgow Warriors retained the 1872 Cup despite losing at Edinburgh.

Connacht posted a stunning victory over champions Munster while the Ospreys made it successive Welsh derby wins over the festive period by beating Cardiff.

The other three matches were all decided by a single point as the DHL Stormers overcame the Hollywoodbets Sharks 16-15 in Cape Town, the Dragons edged out the Scarlets 13-12 and Ulster prevailed 22-21 at Leinster.

Here, we take a closer look at all the action from Round 9.

Benetton 36-14 Zebre Parma

Benetton beat Zebre Parma for the second time in the space of a week at Stadio Monigo to maintain their fine form.

Having won 31-24 in Parma last weekend, Benetton overcame their Italian rivals for the eighth successive time with a try count of six to two underlining their superiority.

Gianmarco Lucchesi, Alessandro Garbisi, Ignacio Mendy, Alessandro Izekor, Sebastian Negri and Tomas Albornoz all went in for Benetton, with Rhyno Smith kicking a pair of conversions and Albornoz adding another.

Geronimo Prisciantelli and Luca Bigi scored the Zebre tries, with Prisciantelli converting both.

Edinburgh 19-14 Glasgow Warriors

Edinburgh gained a measure of revenge for last week’s defeat at Scotstoun by snatching a late victory thanks to a Duhan van der Merwe try.

But there was some compensation for the Warriors in their retention of the 1872 Cup despite missing out on the chance to end 2023 top of the table.

Trailing 22-12 from the first leg eight days earlier, the home team needed to win by 13 points or more at Murrayfield to lift the silverware.

But they never really looked like winning by that margin in a game which, despite being played in bitterly cold conditions, attracted a record crowd for a Scottish club rugby fixture of 37,904.

Johnny Matthews and Stafford McDowall crossed for Glasgow, with George Horne adding the extras to both.

Matt Currie also scored for Edinburgh while Ben Healy kicked three penalties.

DHL Stormers 16-15 Hollywoodbets Sharks

The Stormers survived a huge scare in Cape Town.

Adre Smith scored the Stormers' only try, with 11 points from the boot of Manie Libbok proving decisive.

The Sharks scored two tries through Werner Kok and Corne Rahl, with Curwin Bosch kicking a penalty and one conversion.

Connacht 22-9 Munster

JJ Hanrahan’s right boot ensured Connacht ended a run of five defeats in all competitions.

The unrelenting rain made for a dour derby, with Munster leading 6-3 at half-time after Tony Butler’s brace of penalties.

Connacht, who had Byron Ralston sin-binned just before the break, had the better of the second half despite Butler briefly giving Munster a 9-6 advantage.

Adding to his opening 16th-minute kick, a wind-backed Hanrahan fired over four more penalties before converting replacement Jack Aungier’s clinching 77th-minute try.

Ospreys 27-21 Cardiff

Keelan Giles scored a pair of tries as Ospreys moved into the play-off places with a bonus-point win at the Brewery Field.

It gave Ospreys back-to-back Welsh derby victories following their triumph over the Scarlets on Boxing Day.

Teenager Morgan Morse also went over while they were awarded a penalty try with Dan Edwards tagging on a penalty and a conversion.

Owen Lane and Mason Grady scored the Cardiff tries in addition to three penalties and a conversion from Tinus de Beer.

Dragons 13-12 Scarlets

Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow missed two late kicks at goal at a rain-sodden Rodney Parade to allow Dragons to move off the bottom of the table.

For most of the game, the Dragons were marginally the better side but Scarlets still outscored them in terms of tries.

Aaron Wainwright, on his 100th appearance for the club, scored the Dragons’ try with Cai Evans adding two penalties and a conversion.

Tom Rogers and Ioan Lloyd touched down for Scarlets, one of which Costelow converted.

Leinster 21-22 Ulster

Ulster started 2024 with a bang by beating leaders Leinster for only their third win in 22 visits to the RDS Arena.

Billy Burns’ right boot was at its creative best, setting up tries for Nick Timoney (2) and Jacob Stockdale as Ulster deservedly led 19-14 at half-time.

Leinster crossed through Cian Healy and Rob Russell - Sam Prendergast adding the extras on each occasion - to erase an initial 12-point deficit.

A penalty from John Cooney, who earlier converted two tries, put Ulster into a 22-14 advantage.

Despite Dan Sheehan replying from a maul, with Harry Byrne nailing the difficult conversion, a territorially dominant Leinster could not avoid their first defeat since the opening weekend of the season.