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Here are your rugby evening headlines for Sunday, December 21.
Rival boss blown away by Welsh side
Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster admitted his side were “miles off” the required standard after suffering a shock 48-28 defeat to Dragons — a result that left the Irish province reeling and the Newport-based outfit basking in a rare and emphatic league victory.
The loss came despite Connacht taking an early 7-0 lead and facing a Dragons team who had not won a URC match for 15 months, only for the hosts to respond with a devastating 45-minute spell in which they ran in 48 unanswered points.
While Connacht were poor, Lancaster was full of praise for the Welsh side, insisting their display was no fluke despite their lowly league position.
“I thought Dragons were very good and we were very poor,” the former England head coach said.
“We watched Dragons over the last couple of weeks, played really well against Leinster, street-fight against Lyon and we played Black Lion and it looked like we weren’t battle-hardened, ready for the intensity, the accuracy that they brought, the passion that they brought to play in front of the home fans and fight for every point.
“You could see in the lead-up to this performance how they’d been building. I thought they were exceptional, both sides of the ball, defensively really well organised, aggressive at the ruck, accurate in attack.
“It was a performance that belies their position for sure.”
Coach says Wales veteran has still got it
Gareth Davies is getting better with age, according to Scarlets forwards coach Albert van den Berg, a year after the veteran scrum-half retired from international rugby.
The west Wales region arrived in the capital rooted to the bottom of the URC table, while Cardiff sat second and unbeaten on home soil since January. But it was the visitors who emerged with a 21-17 victory, inspired by a Player of the Match performance from Davies, who scored twice at the Arms Park for the third season in a row.
The 35-year-old opened the scoring by darting down the left touchline before producing a moment of pure instinct and experience for his second, reading a lineout move, intercepting a pass from opposite number Aled Davies and sprinting 65 metres to the line. Despite his veteran status, Davies still had the pace to stay clear of the chasing defenders.
That brace took Davies’ URC try tally to 57, moving him into elite company, with only Tommy Bowe, Craig Gilroy, Tim Visser and DTH van der Merwe now ahead of him on the competition’s all-time list.
Speaking after the game, the former Wales scrum-half said the Arms Park clearly brings out the best in him. “I enjoy a couple of tries at the Arms Park. I enjoy playing here,” Davies said.
“It was a good arm wrestle in the first half. Cardiff threw everything at us and we were down to 13 men for ten minutes, but we weathered the storm. I thought we played well in the second half and deserved the win.”
Scarlets forwards coach Albert van den Berg was full of praise for the veteran No 9, comparing him to a fine wine.
“It’s like red wine, you know,” he said. “Some players, as they get older, they get better. Gareth showed his experience again out there and he’s still got the speed to finish that interception try off.”
Glasgow boss pleased with ugly win over Edinburgh
By Anthony Brown, Press Association
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith made no apologies for the fact his side’s 24-12 derby victory over Edinburgh at Hampden was not illuminated by swashbuckling rugby.
The first leg of the 1872 Cup descended into “an arm-wrestle”, according to the South African, with all six tries scored from close range by forwards.
Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Gregor Hiddleston and sub Seb Stephen notched for Glasgow, with Dylan Richardson and Grant Gilchrist replying for the visitors.
“It was a spectacle anyway,” Smith said of a match watched by a crowd of 21,093 at Scotland’s national football stadium. “You can’t guarantee tries.
“People come to football games and see maybe two goals, that’s the way it goes. We wanted to win, we wanted to grind it out. It’s like Test cricket and 20/20 cricket, there’s a completely different story.
“It’s a derby, there’s more to playing this game than there is to us playing any other team. There’s a little bit of trials in front of Scotland coaches, it’s an arm-wrestle that’s different, and it influences decision-making: do I pass the ball, do I keep it, do I kick it?
“I think that’s one area where Scottish players can improve: not being fazed by the grandeur of the games and the occasions. Just focus on playing the game, and don’t get fazed by anything else.”
There has not been an away win in the 1872 Cup since Glasgow triumphed 32-25 at Murrayfield three years ago, but Smith is hoping his side can secure the silverware with a victory in Edinburgh this weekend.
“That would definitely be nice, but I don’t think Edinburgh will open the gate,” he said. “It will be important for us to balance this week the work, lessons learned and freshness.”
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt was disappointed his side conceded a late try after getting back to 19-12, leaving them facing a tough task to reclaim the 1872 Cup for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
“12 points in a derby game is a big deficit to catch up,” said Everitt, whose side have won the last two Murrayfield derbies. “But we’re positive that if we can put up the same fight and the same physicality next week and be more accurate with ball in hand, that we’ve got an opportunity to do that.
“It’s a pity about the last try that we conceded, I think seven points would have been a hell of a lot easier for us going into next week’s game. But we haven’t lost faith. We’ve shown in the past that we can win, but we haven’t won with big enough margins.”
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