Celtic League - Round-up: Scarlets see off Ulster

Eurosport - Sat, 16 May 23:39:00 2009

Six-try Scarlets ended their home campaign in style with a 43-17 victory which saw them leapfrog Ulster into fifth place in the Magners League.

RUGBY Llanelli Scarlets - 0

Dan Evans opened the scoring within 80 seconds, while Dominic Day and Lee Williams also went over and Rhys Priestland kicked a penalty.

Paul Marshall reduced the deficit to 22-10 but Scarlets made Ulster suffer after Robbie Diack was sin-binned, and ran over three more times.

Newport Gwent Dragons 18-9 Leinster

The Dragons inflicted a defeat on Heineken Cup finalists Leinster after seeing off the Irish club in a disjointed match at Rodney Parade.

Leinster, unsurprisingly, were resting a host of top stars with one eye on next week's final, and the Dragons took full advantage as they never looked in danger of losing.

The home side built a 12-6 half-time lead thanks to a penalty try after Jason Tovey was impeded going for the line, with Martyn Thomas also crossing to score.

Leinster's Fergus McFadden kicked the visitors to within three points of their hosts, but James Alridge sealed the spoils for the Dragons with a couple of late penalties to open the gap back up.

Munster 36-10 Ospreys

Two weeks before the Lions roar into action, tour captain Paul O'Connell finished his club season by lifting the Celtic League trophy for Munster and seeing his side to a 36-10 win over Ospreys at Thomond Park.

Already assured of the title before kick-off, Munster secured their third win of the season over the Ospreys thanks to tries from Paul Warwick, David Wallace (two - pictured), Denis Leamy and Anthony Horgan.

The result also saw Federico Pucciariello, John O'Sullivan, Mike Prendergast, Kieran Lewis, Frankie Sheahan and Horgan end their Munster careers on a triumphant note, the latter two after 12 years with their home province.

In what was Sean Holley's last game in charge of the Ospreys, James Hook kept himself in the running for a late Lions call-up with a 10-point haul.

Hook succeeded with his second penalty attempt and although there was little on the line, this Celtic encounter soon burst into life.

Munster struck for the opening try when Niall Ronan ripped the ball free from his opposite number Marty Holah, setting off a fluid attack which ended with Warwick handing off debutant David Evans and racing 40 metres in behind the posts.

Ronand O'Gara converted and both sides continued to attack from deep. Mafi, Ronan and Leamy simmered for the hosts, while Holah, Hook and Sonny Parker, in his 100th game for the Ospreys, led by example for the Welshmen.

Wallace's unconverted effort had Munster 15-10 ahead at the break and the newly-crowned champions upped the gears in the third quarter.

They scored two tries in the space of three minutes through Leamy, who spun out of two tackles to dot down from metres out, and Wallace, who profited from some excellent interplay which included a midfield break from Peter Stringer and a powerful run from Denis Fogarty.

Fogarty was back in defence to help force a knock-on from Beck as the Ospreys winger dived over the try-line, while Tiatia missed out on a try thanks to some committed defending from Ian Dowling.

Glasgow 30-9 Connacht

Glasgow stuttered to a 30-9 victory against the Magners League basement boys Connacht at rain-lashed Firhill.

But their sloppy performance just summed up their roller-coaster campaign as they had to rely on a late Hefin O'Hare double to make sure of the bonus award.

Glasgow held the upper hand during the jittery opening sparring session but they were unable to turn their superiority into a significant points advantage.

Colin Gregor edged them in front with a penalty from close range, only for Ian Keatley to reply in identical fashion from 45 metres at the other end.

Warriors surged ahead again with their first fluent attack with a fine try by Colin Shaw.

Connacht's problems began when full-back Troy Nathan was yellow carded for deliberately palming a Graeme Morrison chip into touch.

From the set piece, Glasgow swung the ball across the field to Lome Fa'atau, whose grubber kick was perfectly weighted for Shaw to pounce.

Warriors carved out plenty of chances before the break, but a combination of sloppy handling and stout Connacht defence gave the Irishmen the lead as Keatley completed his treble with the final strike of the half.

The contest was lit up midway through the second half thanks to a moment of magic by O'Hare. O'Hare marked the extension of his Glasgow contract by swerving past at least four defenders before squeezing over for a remarkable touchdown.

Low atoned for his earlier blunder by ploughing through for the third try, goaled by Gregor. He added another when O'Hare again left the Connacht markers for dead to put a flattering complexion on the Glasgow tally.

PA Sport / Eurosport

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  1. ya we will have to get the hc back from tigers next­ year

    From frankkenny96, on Sat 16 May 8:52PM
  2. yeah well done boys.. would have loved to see yas in­ the heineken cup final but great season anyway..­ MUNSTER FOREVER
    From NZ rugby fan

    From wflorence14, on Sat 16 May 4:28AM
  3. well done lads great finish

    From frankkenny96, on Sat 16 May 2:00AM
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