Guinness PRO12 Previews Round 3
The try-fest continued in Round 2 of the Guinness PRO12, the aggregate number of tries scored, 57, now being the best total for the first two rounds since home and away format was introduced in the 2003/04 season. Newport Gwent Dragons’ Angus O’Brien made his debut in the competition last week, and his four successful penalty attempts elevated him to joint top penalty kicker in a game so far this season, along with Rhys Patchell.
All four Irish provinces recorded wins last weekend, but will not be able to repeat that feat as Friday night sees two of them go head to head when Connacht welcome Leinster to the Sportsground in Galway. Unusually, Connacht are the only province still with a 100% winning record.
The two other games on Friday night see the remaining Irish provinces in action, Munster hosting Zebre at Thomond Park and Ulster travelling to Wales to face Cardiff Blues. Zebre have never won in Ireland, whilst Ulster have only been victorious once in Cardiff since 2005, so both visiting teams will have their work cut out.
There are two Welsh v Scottish games this round, table topping Ospreys in action on Sunday when Edinburgh Rugby visiting Liberty Stadium, a ground they have not won on since 2009. Second placed Glasgow Warriors take centre stage with their game at Rodney Parade Saturday afternoon and will be hoping to reverse the result of last season when Newport Gwent Dragons did the double over them, the only team to do so in 2013/14.
The remaining game of the round is the Saturday evening fixture at Parc y Scarlets when Benetton Treviso are the visitors. Following a draw and a loss in the opening two rounds Scarlets will be looking for their first win and will be keen to avoid history repeating itself as it is just under two years since Treviso pulled off a shock result at the ground.
