Following 20 rounds of action in the inaugural Pro14 the final round of matches before the knockout stages of the multinational competition takes place on Saturday 28th April. The 21st round of matches promises to be an exciting affair as all seven matches to take place will be derby matches between the teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
The format of the competition is such that there are two pools/conferences of seven teams – Conference A and Conference B. The winner of each Conference get an automatic home semi-final while the teams who finish 2nd and 3rd in their conference get a chance to qualify for the semi-final by playing a quarter final match. The quarter final match line-ups will be as follows: 2nd in Conference A host 3rd in Conference B, while 2nd in Conference B host 3rd in Conference A.
Tables following Round 20:
Conference A:
| POS | TEAM | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasgow Warriors | 20 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 595 | 342 | 253 | 13 | 75 |
| 2 | Munster | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 544 | 337 | 207 | 15 | 67 |
| 3 | Cheetahs | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 580 | 534 | 46 | 14 | 58 |
| 4 | Cardiff Blues | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 479 | 456 | 23 | 9 | 53 |
| 5 | Ospreys | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 364 | 464 | -100 | 8 | 40 |
| 6 | Connacht | 20 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 398 | 467 | -69 | 9 | 34 |
| 7 | Zebre | 20 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 386 | 576 | -190 | 8 | 32 |
Conference B:
| POS | TEAM | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leinster | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 591 | 327 | 264 | 12 | 70 |
| 2 | Scarlets | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 495 | 357 | 138 | 11 | 65 |
| 3 | Edinburgh | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 470 | 356 | 114 | 8 | 64 |
| 4 | Ulster | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 514 | 458 | 56 | 10 | 60 |
| 5 | Treviso | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 398 | 429 | -31 | 10 | 54 |
| 6 | Dragons | 20 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 370 | 639 | -269 | 8 | 20 |
| 7 | Kings | 20 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 358 | 800 | -442 | 7 | 11 |
The situation in Conference A is pretty straight forward. Glasgow Warriors cannot be overtaken at the top so they have qualified for the semi-final while Munster will end in second place so will host a quarter final. The Cheetahs are in pole position for an away quarter final match although there is still a mathematical chance that 4th placed Cardiff Blues could make it in their place.
Conference B is more open although Leinster should host the other semi-final. In the unlikely event of them not picking up any league points in their match against Connacht they would only miss out if Scarlets picked up a HUGE bonus points win against Dragons.
The real race is on for the two quarter final slots. This will be a three horse race as any two of Scarlets, Edinburgh and Ulster could make it. However, Scarlets only need one league point from their game against the lowly Dragons so surely will get to host a quarter final. That leaves the real race for third place, and an away quarter final match, between Edinburgh and Ulster. Ulster are away to Munster while Edinburgh host Glasgow Warriors in the final round of the league stage.
Fixtures:
Southern Kings 14:00 Cheetahs
Connacht 15:05 Leinster
Dragons 15:05 Scarlets B
Benetton 17:00 Zebre
Blues 17:35 Ospreys
Munster 17:35 Ulster
Edinburgh 19:45 Glasgow
*kick off UK times (1 hour behind SA time)
For later GO GLASGOW!
latest scores: Connacht 33/3 Leinster, Dragons 3/7 Scarlets. Even though Leinster rested some key players definitely didn’t see that happening
Latest scores: Connacht 33/10 Leinster; Dragons 3/26 Scarlets (who have secured try bonus point)
So far the points difference in the games involving Leinster and Scarlets is 49; Scarlets had to make up a 126 points difference before this round and secure a bonus point win and hope Leinster came away with no points. So far the last 2 look like being achieved but still a long way to go to catch up on points difference.
latest: Dragons 8/26 Scarlets, looks like Scarlets will have to be content with 2nd place in Conference B and hosting the Cheetahs in a play off for the semi-final.
Latest : Connacht 38/10 Leinster
Latest: Treviso 17/22 Zebre
Latest: Cardiff Blues 20/13; Munster 14/24 Ulster
Cardiff is against Ospreys
FINAL SCORES: Connacht 47/10 Leinster; Dragons 8/33 Scarlets
Final score: Treviso 17/22 Zebre
Latest: Cardiff 20/20 Ospreys; Munster 21/24 Ulster
No change in the Munster Ulster game. Latest Cardiff 23/20 Ospreys
Half an hour until kick off in the 1872 Cup decider. GO GLASGOW!
Latest: Blues 23/26 Ospreys. Munster 24/24 Ulster
Final score: Cardiff Blues 23/26 Ospreys. Latest drop goal by Dan Bigger got the win for Ospreys.
Final score: Munster 24/24 Ulster
Latest: Edinburgh 0/7 Glasgow, try by DTH converted by Russell
Edinburgh 19/14 Glasgow tries by Jordan Lay and Duhan vd Merwe for Edinburgh
Halftime: Edinburgh 21/14 Glasgow, 3 converted tries Edinburgh, 2 converted tries Glasgow. GO GLASGOW!
Glasgow had to make quite a few late changes to the team: Scott Cummings starting at lock instead of Jonny Gray, while Tommy Seymour, Sam Johnson and Peter Horne’s places were taken by Lee Jones, Alex Dunbar and Ruaridh Jackson.
Latest: Edinburgh 24/19 Glasgow. Penalty for Duncan Weir and 2nd try for DTH the only scores so far in second half
Final score: Edinburgh 24/19 Glasgow Warriors. Well done Edinburgh who win the 1872 Cup, they were already through to play off game away to Munster.
Very disappointing result for Glasgow hopefully we can get all the top players fit and in top form for the semi-final. Going to have to put a lot of work in on the training ground in the next few weeks.
Edinburgh and Glasgow also both qualify for Champions Cup rugby for next season. First time in a while Edinburgh will compete in Europe’s top competition.
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