Leinster Squeeze past Connacht

Isa Nacewa's five penalties gave Leinster a RaboDirect PRO12 win over provincial rivals Connacht in Galway.

A Matthew Jarvis penalty put Connacht ahead but three Nacewa kicks gave the leaders a 9-3 lead at the break.

Tiernan O'Halloran went over for a Connacht try between two further Nacewa penalties, while Leinster pair Issac Boss and Leo Cullen were sinbinned.

Ethienne Reynecke charged over to close the gap to two but Miah Nikora missed the conversion and a late drop-goal.

Gunning for their first win in 12 outings, Connacht showed early signs of intent in front of a league-record crowd of 6,582 at the Sportsground.

The best move came when an in-form O'Halloran split open the Leinster defence on an eye-catching counter-attack.

Jarvis, a late inclusion in the starting line-up, missed his first shot at the posts in the sixth minute and was wayward from further out five minutes later.

But the young out-half was then successful with a 35-metre effort, punishing Leinster for bringing down a maul illegally.

Leinster were quick to respond, drawing a ruck infringement from John Muldoon which resulted in Nacewa slotting over his first penalty.

Another sweetly-struck kick into the wind from Nacewa, this time from 38 metres out, moved Joe Schmidt's men in front despite Connacht controlling much of the play.

Defences were on top in the period leading up to half-time and it took a muscular drive from Rhys Ruddock to tee up Nacewa's third penalty.

Backchat led to referee John Lacey moving the penalty into kickable range and the full-back managed to squeeze his attempt inside the left-hand post.

The Leinster pack built some momentum before the break, however an important steal by Ronan Loughney helped the home side clear the danger.

Connacht were back on the defensive in the early part of the second half, Nacewa maintaining his impressive form with a precise 49th-minute kick.

The arm wrestle up front continued, with a number of promising phases strangled into submission by the sheer force of the tackling.

The sin-binning of Boss for interfering with Frank Murphy's pass from a midfield ruck gave Connacht a chance to hit back - and they duly did with O'Halloran getting over.

A string of quick passes created the space on the right with Jarvis putting O'Halloran over just moments after fellow winger Brian Tuohy was stretchered off.

The try was unconverted though, and Nacewa soon struck his fifth penalty goal of the night to move the league leaders 15-8 clear.

But Connacht stuck doggedly to their task and with Cullen carded for taking out a lifter at a five-metre lineout, Reynecke charged over off a subsequent maul.

Nikora slipped as he tried to convert from a right-sided position and agonisingly the New Zealander had the accuracy but not the distance when attempting that drop-goal at the death.

Connacht: Duffy, Tuohy, Griffin, Tonetti, O'Halloran, Jarvis, O'Donohoe, Wilkinson, Flavin, Loughney, Naoupu, McCarthy, Kearney, J. O'Connor, Muldoon.

Replacements: Fa'afili for Tuohy (57), Nikora for Griffin (66), F. Murphy for O'Donohoe (45), Reynecke for Flavin (57), Rogers for Loughney (57).

Not Used: Buckley, McKeown, Anderson.

Leinster: Nacewa, D. Kearney, O'Malley, Macken, Conway, Madigan, Boss, J. McGrath, Strauss, Hagan, Cullen, Browne, R. Ruddock, Jennings, Auva'a.

Replacements: van der Merwe for J. McGrath (63), Cronin for Strauss (59), White for Hagan (57), Toner for Browne (71).

Not Used: Murphy, Cooney, Fitzgerald, Carr.

Att: 6,582

Ref: John Lacey (Ireland)

Ospreys Liberty Win Over Munster

The Ospreys overcame the absence of 19 players through Wales and Wales Sevens calls as well as injuries to beat Munster in the Pro12 League.

Victory left the Welsh region second behind Leinster in the table.

Richard Fussell and Rhys Webb went over for the hosts with Doug Howlett replying.

Matthew Morgan kicked nine Ospreys points with Ian Keatley and Ronan O'Gara claiming eight points between them.

Wales international props Adam Jones (calf) and Paul James (thumb) were among the Ospreys absentees and they were also without injured lock Alun Wyn Jones (foot).

Seven players were on duty in Wales' defeat by Australia and three played for Wales in the International Rugby Board Dubai Sevens.

Marcus Horan won his 200th Munster cap and was one of only one of two forwards, Donncha O'Callaghan the other, retained in the starting line-up.

Despite their absentees, the hosts were still able to field seven internationals in match that which pitted second against third in the table.

Visting fly-half Ian Keatley was off target with two early penalty shots and Munster's early momentum was hit by hooker Damien Varley's sin-binning for some over-vigorous use of the boot at a ruck.

Morgan failed with the Ospreys' first scoring chance after 19 minutes, but took his second chance to break the deadlock from 30 metres.

Keatley replied and Munster, restored to 15 men, took he lead when Doug Howlett gathered Will Chambers' kick over the line.

Morgan kicked a second penalty before the break and scored two tries within five minutes after it.

Scrum-half Webb put Fussell over before quickly tapping a penalty and haring over.

Munster responded by sending British and Irish Lions Paul O'Connell and Ronan O'Gara into the fray off the bench.

O'Gara made an immediate impact, kicking a 63rd-minute penalty only for Morgan to knock over his third in reply.

Munster put the hosts under huge pressure in the dying stages, but were unable to deliver the winning score they craved.TEAMS

Ospreys: Barry Davies; Tommy Bowe; Andrew Bishop, Ashley Beck; Richard Fussell; Matthew Morgan, Rhys Webb; Duncan Jones, Richard Hibbard, Aaron Jarvis, Ian Gough, Jonathan Thomas, Tom Smith (capt), James King, Joe Bearman.

Replacements: Mefin Davies for Hibbard, 57, Cai Griffiths for Jarvis, 48, Hanno Dirksen for B Davies, 48.

Not used: Joe Rees, George Stowers, Sam Lewis, Tom Isaacs, Sonny Parker.

Munster: Denis Hurley; Doug Howlett, Will Chambers, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Tomas O'Leary; Marcus Horan, Damien Varley, BJ Botha; Donncha O'Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan; Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan, Peter O'Mahony (capt).

Replacements: Wian du Preez for Horan, 51, Paul O'Connell for D Ryan, 46, James Coughlan for Leamy, 61, Ronan O'Gara for Barnes, 51, Johne Murphy for Howlett, 77.

Not Used: Denis Fogarty, Stephen Archer, Conor Murray.

Referee: Peter Allan (SRU)

Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell, Huw David

Citing Commissioner: Gwyn Boden

TMO: Paul Adams

New RaboDirect Pro 12 Launched

Munster will aim to retain their league title when competing in what will be known as the RaboDirect PRO12 next season. The online banking firm has signed a four-year contract with the league, succeeding Magners as the competition’s title sponsors.

“We are delighted to welcome RaboDirect as our new title sponsor alongside our new brand PRO12,” said John Feehan, chief executive of the league. “Securing the support of an international business with the reputation of the Rabobank Group will raise the profile of the RaboDirect PRO12 and enhance the investment in the competition.”

He added: “Our competition has experienced a huge growth over the last few years and it was time to move it to the next level. Our new brand, the PRO12, encapsulates the structure, growth and energy of our competition. We look forward to working with RaboDirect, developing and nurturing the RaboDirect PRO12 competition for many years to come.”

Roel van Veggel, general manager of RaboDirect in Ireland said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be embarking on this high profile sponsorship deal. Rabobank Group, throughout its 100 year history, has always sought to put down firm roots in the communities where it operates.

“At RaboDirect we believe that our values of passion, honesty, commitment and responsibility echo the values of this professional competition and so we’re very confident that we’ve achieved an exceptional fit in securing this sponsorship.”