Cave Hat-Trick

By Gary Watton
January 26 2015

On the sixth and final weekend of the European group phase, it was hugely ironic that the only Irish province that did not win was the only one which progressed to the last eight of the Champions Cup. Of course, they are not the only Irish club to reach the quarter finals of a European club competition, because Connacht did likewise in the Challenge Cup. Furthermore, while Connacht, Munster, and Ulster shared nineteen tries between them, the men in blue could only muster two tries away to Wasps, but fortunately they held on to a share of the points after the hosts had mounted a storming comeback from 13-3 in interval arrears.

Whilst Leinster survived a late scare at Wasps, and just about avoided being stung by the home team, the men of Munster and Ulster experienced less problems in disposing of English opposition.

In the case of Ulster, they compiled an encouraging twelve points to nil half-time lead, courtesy of a brace of tries from Darren Cave. In the second half, the red-hot Cave and Craig Gilroy added further tries, as the hosts achieved revenge and annihilated Leicester, in spite of being reduced at one stage to thirteen men.

Ironically, Munster emulated Ulster by finishing a disappointing third in their pool, in spite of also accumulating the most bonus points. The men from the south signed off from their mediocre European adventure with an astonishing second-half rout of hapless Sale, during which the monsters of Munster scored fifty-two points without reply. Talk about bowing out in style!

Last, and definitely not least, the warriors of Connacht fought back from an interval deficit to not only win on their French trip, but to record four tries too.

As a consequence, Connacht are now drawn away to Gloucester in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup in April. This is a match that the Oirish province can win. 

Meanwhile, Leinster have also drawn west country of England opposition in early April as they are required to host a fascinating duel with high-flying Bath in the last eight of the Champions Cup. The 'reward' for the winners is a likely trip to Toulon [or Wasps] in the semi finals! 

The results were as follows:

European Rugby Champions Cup

Wasps 20 LEINSTER 20

LEINSTER try-scorers: McFadden, Boss

LEINSTER earn two points for achieving a draw.

MUNSTER 65 Sale 10

MUNSTER try-scorers: Zebo (2), Earls, penalty try, Howard, Conway (2), O'Donnell, Williams 

MUNSTER earn four points, plus one bonus point for scoring at least four tries.

ULSTER 26 Leicester 7

ULSTER try-scorers: Cave (3), Gilroy

ULSTER earn four points, plus one bonus point for scoring at least four tries.

European Rugby Challenge Cup

La Rochelle 20 CONNACHT 30

CONNACHT try-scorers: Marmion, McKeown, Adeolokun, Healy

CONNACHT earn four points, plus one bonus point for scoring at least four tries.