The climax of the Guinness PRO14 season produced drama galore as Benetton Rugby made history by becoming the first Italian team to reach the Final Series showdown. Glasgow Warriors also sealed a home Semi-Final as Conference A winners, while Ospreys and Scarlets finished in the Champions Cup play-off following Judgement Day. There were further wins for Ulster, Munster and Toyota Cheetahs as they finished the regular season on a high. Here’s the takeaways from an enthralling weekend of action. Zebre 11-25 Benetton Rugby It was an understandably nervy start for Benetton in Parma as Zebre, who had nothing but bragging rights to play for, controlled possession and territory in the first quarter. The hosts were unable to take advantage, though, with only a penalty from fly-half Maicol Azzolini to show for their efforts. This ultimately proved costly after Benetton eventually broke down the Zebre defence to take the lead through Luca Morisi’s try. Another critical period of the game came just before half-time when Toa Halafihi crossed for Benetton’s second try to put them 12-6 ahead at the break after a second penalty from the boot of Azzolini had closed the gap to a point. With a six-point buffer at the restart, Kevin Crowley’s side played with more freedom in the second half and scored further tries through Sebastian Negri and Monty Ioane, before Mattia Bellini grabbed a late consolation. The victory for Benetton, their 11th of the season from 21 games, confirmed their third-place finish in Conference B – no matter what Scarlets or Edinburgh Rugby did in their games later in the day. It means they have broken new ground in the Guinness PRO14, becoming the first Italian side to reach the Final Series, and they will now face Munster at Thomond Park in a Semi-Final Qualifier for the chance to play Leinster in Dublin. Glasgow Warriors 34-10 Edinburgh Rugby With Benetton Rugby winning earlier in the day against Zebre, Edinburgh’s hopes of reaching the Final Series were dashed for another year. A Champions Cup play-off was still up for grabs, though, with Richard Cockerill’s side requiring two points to finish ahead of Scarlets in Conference B, but the visitors looked off the pace from the first whistle as Glasgow Warriors burst out of the blocks to race into a 10-0 lead with less than ten minutes on the clock. Glasgow knew a win would ensure a home Semi-Final in the Guinness PRO14 Final Series and knowing their fate was in their own hands, Dave Rennie’s men played with plenty of conviction in attack. Stuart Hogg was a constant nuisance for the Warriors, while all four of their tries – scored by Sam Johnson, Ali Price, Niko Matawalu and Tommy Seymour – were well worked as they sealed top spot in Conference A with a comprehensive bonus-point win. A semi-Final against either Ulster or Connacht now awaits Warriors as they bid to reach the Guinness PRO14 Final, which will be played in their own city. Edinburgh’s season is over prematurely, though, as they reflect on a frustrating campaign. Ten wins from their 21 games means they finished fifth, just a point behind Scarlets, although back-to-back wins against Glasgow earlier in the season meant they did get the consolation of the 1872 Cup. Munster 27-14 Connacht It could have so easily gone wrong for Munster today. Still licking their wounds after their European loss to Saracens, losing Conor Murray to injury in the warm-up and Andrew Conway fluffing a try in the first half is a tough start. But they bounced back impressively with man of the match Tadhg Beirne to the fore and will welcome Benetton next week as the strong favourites and with an unbeaten record at Thomond Park in the Guinness PRO14 this season. Connacht can take plenty of credit for their performance as well, Finlay Bealham scored a try to mark his injury return and was at the forefront of a Connacht pack that impressed. Meanwhile Conor Dean made his debut at fly-half for the province – the seventh academy player to make his bow under Andy Friend this year – and the son of former Triple Crown winner Paul Dean didn’t look too troubled at this level. Connacht have only ever won three away games against fellow Irish provinces in the Championship – in 2002 against Leinster at Donnybrook, in 2015 versus Munster in Limerick and last October in Ulster. They return to Ulster next weekend hoping to end the disappointment but, as was proven on Saturday night, the Irish provinces are so strong at home. Dragons 34-32 Scarlets It’s hard to overestimate how important this win was for Dragons, enabling them to finish the Guinness PRO14 season in style and in joyous mood heading into the summer. This huge result lifted Dragons from the foot of the Conference B table, earned a fifth win of the season and a first Dragons league win away from Rodney Parade since 2015. Buoyant stuff that will put a spring in the step for the off-season and the commencement of next year’s Guinness PRO14. This match was also the perfect way to start Judgement Day at Principality Stadium and couldn’t have been any more dramatic. First there was Hallam Amos’ yellow for a knock-down that changed the momentum then came three excellent tries for Scarlets, then three for Dragons. Scarlets re-took the lead through Jonathan Davies and Johnny McNicholl but as the clock ticked down Matthew Screech sealed his double, with TMO drama and Jason Tovey holding his nerve for the match-winning kick. How good was Aaron Wainwright? The Welsh flanker is just 21 but already has eight caps to his name and with outgoing national boss Warren Gatland plus incoming Wales coach Wayne Pivac front of house to view this one he couldn’t have played any better. Wainwright was everywhere, making 18 tackles, claiming 20 metres through several strong carries and acting as the linkman out wide in Jack Dixon’s wonderful try. Cardiff Blues 23-26 Ospreys It was Sam Davies who held his nerve at the end to edge out Gareth Anscombe in the battle of the kickers and secure Ospreys a Champions Cup play-off berth and fourth in Conference A. It was a strange second game at Judgement Day VII with Anscombe playing against the side he will be playing for next season while Davies’ future is still up in the air. The Ospreys were probably just about deserved winners in the end. Their set-piece stood up to a stern examination with skipper Alun Wyn Jones back in the engine room and they weathered the early Blues storm to take full advantage either side of half time, Cory Allen and Nicky Smith scoring their tries. The Blues meanwhile know that their season is now at an end, there will be no Champions Cup rugby for them next season. The loss of Owen Lane to first-half injury was a blow as the winger looked to be firing on all cylinders. But they will come to regret the second half when Ospreys lost first Allen and then Dan Evans to yellow cards but they could not take full. advantage. A word though for man of the match Nick Williams who was everywhere at No.8 for the Blues in an ultimately losing cause. Ulster 14-13 Leinster Many labelled this one a dead rubber prior to kick-off with both teams already qualified for the Guinness PRO14 Final Series and ringing the changes as a result. But it was anything but for the men out on the field with bragging rights on the line for the two Irish provinces, with the defence from both sides was immense at times during the 80 minutes. Leinster were already under the cosh when Josh Murphy was sin-binned in the second-half but they looked to have survived the full ten minutes with resolute defending. However, debutant Marcus Rea stole a march to dot down before debutant Peter Nelson’s extras completed a second-half comeback for Ulster at Kingspan Stadium. Ross Byrne was Leinster’s standout performer, setting up both tries with impressive looping passes, and perhaps rose to the occasion captaining the team for the very first time. While others weren’t quite at his level, the defending champions had already secured their home Semi-Final berth in the Final Series and will now turn their attention to the Champions Cup final with Saracens before taking on the winner of Munster and Benetton. Toyota Cheetahs 61-25 Isuzu Southern Kings There may not have been anything to play for other than bragging rights, but that did not stop Toyota Cheetahs from putting on a show in Bloemfontein. After a bright start from Isuzu Southern Kings, the hosts began to exert their dominance in the forward battle and scored the first try of the game when Abongile Nonkontwana crashed over from the driving lineout maul. They repeated the trick again for their third try, scored by Joseph Dweba. While the final scoreline was comprehensive, Kings showed plenty of fight in the second half to close the deficit to just eight points having trailed 33-13 after Louis Fouche scored Cheetahs’ fifth try moments after the restart. Harlon Klaasen’s second try of the game, plus another score from Bjorn Basson, saw the visitors cut the gap to 33-25 before Cheetahs put their foot on the gas in the final 25 minutes to pull away again with another four tries. Having qualified for the Final Series last season, a sixth-place finish in the 2018⁄19 campaign was a disappointing return for Cheetahs. They finished with eight wins from their 21 games as they took a backward step in the Guinness PRO14, but they finished on a high with back-to-back wins and will hope them can take that momentum into next season. For Kings, it’s back to the drawing board after finishing bottom of Conference B.
