guinness pro14 preview 2019/20 · dries swanepoel (toyota cheetahs at connacht, 26 oct) banned for...

GUINNESS PRO14 PREVIEW 2019/20 Round 7: 29 & 30 November 2019

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HOW THEY STAND

Key: Home Semi-final Play-off place

2019/20 ABBREVIATED RULES The Championship will be played in two stages, the League Stage and the Knock-Out Stage, as set out below. The Conference Stage: For the Conference Stage, Celtic Rugby will have divided the Clubs into two conferences of seven Clubs each, Conference A and Conference B, at Celtic Rugby's discretion. Each conference will be made up of two Clubs from each of Ireland and Wales, and a single Club from each of Scotland, Italy and South Africa. Each Club will play:

(a) against each of the other six Clubs in the same conference twice (once at home, once away, i.e. 12 Matches in total);

(b) against each of the seven Clubs in the other conference once (i.e. seven Matches in total, Celtic Rugby will in its discretion determine whether these Matches will be home or away); and

(c) two further Matches against Clubs from the same Union to ensure that (i) the Irish and Welsh Clubs will play home and away matches against all clubs from their Union and (ii) the Italian, Scottish and South African clubs play a further two matches between the clubs from the same Union, either two home matches and one away match or two away matches an one home match.

In all matches in the Conference Stage, four league points shall be awarded for a win and two league points shall be awarded for a draw. One bonus league point shall be awarded to a Team scoring four or more tries and one bonus league point shall be awarded to a Team losing by seven points or less.

The positions of the Clubs in the Conference Stage will be based on the following, in order:

a. the number of League Points awarded to each Club; (b) if unresolved, the number of Matches won by each Club in the League Stage; (c) if unresolved, the difference between the total points scored and the total points conceded on

the field of play for each Club in all Matches in the League Stage; (d) if unresolved, the number of tries scored by each Club in all Matches in the League Stage; (e) if unresolved, the number of points scored on the field of play by each Club in all Matches in

the League Stage; (f) if unresolved, the difference between the number of tries scored and the number of tries

conceded by each Club in all Matches in the League Stage;

GUINNESS PRO14Pos CONFERENCE A P W D L TB LB Tot T C PG DG For T C PG DG Agst TB LB PD

1 Leinster (1) u 6 6 0 0 5 0 29 32 24 4 0 220 9 6 5 0 72 0 2 1482 Ulster (2) u 6 4 0 2 3 1 20 21 17 8 0 167 18 15 5 0 137 1 0 303 Toyota Cheetahs (3) u 6 3 0 3 3 2 17 28 23 5 0 203 15 11 10 0 127 2 0 764 Glasgow Warriors (4) u 6 3 0 3 2 1 15 20 12 4 0 138 14 10 7 0 111 1 1 275 Dragons (5) u 6 2 0 4 1 0 9 14 11 7 0 115 25 19 5 0 180 4 0 -656 Ospreys (6) u 6 1 0 5 1 1 6 9 5 8 0 79 22 18 9 0 175 3 1 -967 Zebre (7) u 6 0 0 6 1 1 2 9 7 2 0 67 30 23 4 0 212 4 0 -145

GUINNESS PRO14Pos CONFERENCE B P W D L TB LB Tot T C PG DG For T C PG DG Agst TB LB PD

1 Munster (1) u 6 5 0 1 4 0 24 21 17 10 0 169 11 10 15 0 120 1 1 492 Scarlets (3) p 6 5 0 1 1 0 21 18 15 7 0 141 13 8 12 0 117 1 3 243 Edinburgh Rugby (4) p 6 4 0 2 2 1 19 20 16 11 0 165 13 9 5 0 98 1 0 674 Connacht (2) q 6 4 0 2 3 0 19 19 14 7 0 144 15 12 4 0 111 1 1 335 Benetton Rugby (5) u 6 2 0 4 1 3 12 14 10 11 0 123 20 15 11 0 163 3 2 -406 Cardiff Blues (6) u 6 2 0 4 1 1 10 13 9 13 0 122 14 12 14 0 136 1 1 -147 Isuzu Southern Kings (7) u 6 1 0 5 0 2 6 11 11 11 0 110 30 23 2 0 204 5 1 -94

TOTALS 42 42 0 42 28 13 209 249 191 108 0 1963 249 191 108 0 1963 28 13

Points

Points

Record Defence

Record

Attack

DefenceAttack


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(g) if unresolved, the number of Players suspended by a Disciplinary Committee or Appeal Committee for incidents taking place in the League Stage;

(h) if unresolved, the number of yellow cards received by Players for each Club in all Matches in the League Stage;

(i) if unresolved, the toss of a coin or as otherwise determined by Celtic Rugby in its absolute discretion.

For the purposes of this clause 3.1.4, what qualifies as a yellow card will be determined by Celtic Rugby in its absolute discretion.

The Knock-Out Stage

• The Clubs that rank in the top three positions in each of Conference A and Conference B respectively will qualify for the Knock-Out Stage.

• The Knock-Out Stage will be divided into two Quarter-Final Matches, two semi-final Matches and a Final Match.

• The Quarter-Final Matches will be knock-out, each played over one Match: • the Club ranked second in Conference A will play at home against the Club ranked third in Conference B

(QF1); and • the Club ranked second in Conference B will play at home against the Club ranked third in Conference A

(QF2). • The winners of the Quarter-Final Matches will proceed to the Semi-Final Matches. The Semi-Final Matches

will be knock-out, each played over one Match: • the Club ranked first in Conference A will play at home against the winner of QF2; and • the Club ranked first in Conference B will play at home against the winner of QF1. • The winners of the semi-final Matches will proceed to the Final Match. The Final Match will be knock-out,

played over one Match, at a venue designated by Celtic Rugby. • Based on their final ranking at the end of the Championship some Clubs may be eligible to participate in

European Professional Club Rugby tournaments (South African teams are ineligible for EPCR tournaments).

The above sets out a summary of certain provisions of the Guinness PRO14 Rules for information purposes only. As such these provisions may not be relied upon and for a full and proper understanding of the provisions and rules of the Guinness PRO14, reference must be made to the Guinness PRO14 Rules in their existing and entire form.


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ROUND 6 MICROCOSM

MILESTONES IN ROUND 6 DEBUTS (2) Alun Lawrence (Cardiff Blues), Stephen Kerins (Connacht) 100 GAMES Grant Gilchrist, Tim Swinson

EDINBURGH RUGBY (10)20 DRAGONS (0)7Simon Hickey(2C/2P) Sam Davies(C)Blair Kinghorn(15) Adam Warren(58)Duhan van der Merwe(63) Att: 5,762CONNACHT (6)11 LEINSTER (35)42 (B)Jack Carty(P) Andrew Porter(7/ 30)Darragh Leader(P) Ronan Kelleher(14/ 22)Stephen Fitzgerald(49) Ross Byrne(34/6C)Att: 8,129 James Lowe(69)

ZEBRE (0)7 GLASGOW WARRIORS (19)31 (B)Carlo Canna(C) Ruaridh Jackson(C)Pierre Bruno(57) George Horne(13/ 22)Att: 2,000 Adam Hastings(37/2C)

Ratu Tagive(46)Nick Frisby(74)

(b) OSPREYS (0)14 ISUZU SOUTHERN KINGS (13)16Luke Price(C) Scott van Breda(C/3P)James Hook(C) Erich Cronje(13)Morgan Morris(52) Att: 5,240Hanno Dirksen(71)CARDIFF BLUES (17)30 TOYOTA CHEETAHS (14)17Jason Tovey(2P) Ruan Pienaar(2C/P)Jarrod Evans(C/4P) Rhyno Smith(28)Aled Summerhill(9) Clayton Blommetjies(32)Josh Turnbull(46) Att: 5,698MUNSTER (15)22 ULSTER (6)16 (b)Tyler Bleyendaal(C) John Cooney(C/3P)JJ Hanrahan(C/P) Rob Herring(50)CJ Stander(15) Att: 14,436Rory Scannell(36)Andrew Conway(65)SCARLETS (10)20 BENETTON RUGBY (14)17 (b)Dan Jones(2C/2P) Tommaso Allan(4P)Steff Evans(6) Angelo Esposito(31)Rob Evans(54) Att: 6,383

SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER

Note: (B) denotes a try bonus point and (b) a losing bonus pointKey: winning team shown in green, losing team in red, a draw marked in amber

FRIDAY 8 NOVEMBER


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FAIRPLAY LEAGUE

The Fairplay League rewards the best disciplinary record, with the club with the fewest disciplinary points -1 point for each yellow card (YC) or Citing Commissioners warning (CCW), and 3 points for each red card (RC) or upheld proven citing complaint (PC) that results in a suspension - at the end of the regular season.

RED CARDS (7) Luke Morgan (Ospreys at Ulster, 27 Sep) The sending off was sufficient and no further action was required Iliesa Ratuva (Benetton v Leinster, 28 Sep) banned for a period of two weeks, Charlie Walker (Zebre v Dragons, 5 Oct) The sending off was sufficient and no further action was required Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton at Ospreys, 12 Oct) banned for a period of three weeks. Dries Swanepoel (Toyota Cheetahs at Connacht, 26 Oct) banned for a period of three weeks, is free to resume playing from midnight on Sunday, December 1, 2019. Johan Meyer (Zebre at Glasgow Warriors, 9 Nov) banned for a period of two weeks, he is free to play from midnight on Sunday, November 24, 2019. Jasper Wiese (Toyota Cheetahs at Cardiff Blues, 9 Nov) has been banned for three weeks, he will be free to play from midnight on Sunday, January 26, 2019.

PROVEN CITINGS (0)

CITING COMMISSIONERS WARNINGS (0)

YELLOW CARDS (44*) Benetton (1) Toa Halafihi Blues (7) Jarrod Evans(2), Keiron Assiratti, Will Boyde, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Nick Williams Connacht (3) Paul Boyle, Tom Daly, John Porch Cheetahs (2) Joseph Dweba, Gerhard Olivier Dragons (3) Taine Basham, Richard Hibbard, Huw Taylor Edinburgh (4) Fraser McKenzie(2), Jamie Bhatti, Ben Toolis Kings (4) Erich Cronje, Ruaan Lerm, Jerry Sexton, S’bura Sithole Leinster (2) Michael Bent, Joe Tomane Munster (3) James Cronin, Mike Haley, Rhys Marshall

Pos Team YC CCW RC PC Pts1 Glasgow Warriors 1 0 0 0 12 Leinster 2 0 0 0 22 Scarlets 2 0 0 0 22 Ulster 2 0 0 0 25 Connacht 3 0 0 0 35 Dragons 3 0 0 0 35 Munster 3 0 0 0 38 Edinburgh 4 0 0 0 48 Isuzu Southern Kings 4 0 0 0 410 Benetton Rugby 1 0 2 0 710 Cardiff Blues 7 0 0 0 712 Ospreys 5 0 1 0 812 Toyota Cheetahs 2 0 2 0 814 Zebre 3 0 2 0 9

TOTALS 42 0 7 0 63

FAIRPLAY LEAGUE


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Ospreys (6) Olly Cracknell, Sam Cross, Gareth Evans, Dan Lydiate, Luke Morgan*, Scott Williams Scarlets (2) Josh Macleod, Lewis Rawlins Ulster (2) Adam McBurney, Luke Marshall Warriors (1) George Turner Zebre (4) Giovanni Licata(2), Ian Nagle, Charlie Walker*

*Note: Luke Morgan received two technical yellow cards in the same game (Ospreys at Ulster, 27 Sep) and was subsequently sent off. Charlie Walker received two technical yellow cards in the same game (Zebre v Dragons, 5 Oct) and was subsequently sent off.

TOP GUINNESS PRO14 ACCUMULATORS

TOP GUINNESS PRO14 TRY SCORERS

Rank Name Team Apps Mins Try Conv PG DG Points1 John Cooney Ulster 5+1 346 2 14 7 0 592 Ruan Pienaar Toyota Cheetahs 5+1 364 1 19 4 0 553 Jarrod Evans Cardiff Blues 6 450 0 8 11 0 494 Ross Byrne Leinster 5 350 1 17 3 0 485 JJ Hanrahan Munster 4+2 309 0 13 7 0 476 Dan Jones Scarlets 6 397 0 11 7 0 437 Sam Davies Dragons 6 468 0 11 7 0 438 Jaco van der Walt Edinburgh Rugby 4+1 289 0 9 8 0 429 Conor Fitzgerald Connacht 5 375 0 13 5 0 4110 Demetri Catrakilis Isuzu Southern Kings 4 253 0 6 8 0 3611 Rhyno Smith Toyota Cheetahs 6 480 7 0 0 0 3512 Ian Keatley Benetton Rugby 4 272 1 6 5 0 3213 Ronan Kelleher Leinster 5 266 6 0 0 0 3014 Luke Price Ospreys 6 342 0 3 8 0 3015 Harry Byrne Leinster 1+3 130 2 7 1 0 2716 Brandon Thomson Glasgow Warriors 4 290 1 5 4 0 27

Best in a PRO Rugby Season: 287pts by Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) in 2005/06

Rank Name Team Apps Mins Tries Home Away 1st H 2nd H1 Rhyno Smith Toyota Cheetahs 6 480 7 5 2 2 52 Ronan Kelleher Leinster 5 266 6 4 2 3 33 Mark Bennett Edinburgh Rugby 6 465 5 4 1 2 34 Dave Kearney Leinster 3 230 5 2 3 2 35 Joseph Dweba Toyota Cheetahs 6 403 5 4 1 4 16 Kieran Hardy Scarlets 6 366 4 3 1 3 17 Sam Parry Ospreys 5+1 332 4 4 0 2 28 Steff Evans Scarlets 5 400 4 3 1 3 19 Duhan van der Merwe Edinburgh Rugby 5 400 4 4 0 2 210 Taine Basham Dragons 5+1 373 3 2 1 0 311 Arno Botha Munster 4+2 355 3 2 1 1 212 Nick Frisby Glasgow Warriors 4+1 264 3 1 2 2 113 Craig Gilroy Ulster 4+1 383 3 2 1 1 214 Owen Jenkins Dragons 6 473 3 0 3 0 315 James Lowe Leinster 4 320 3 2 1 0 316 Kieran Marmion Connacht 2+3 178 3 2 1 1 217 Alby Mathewson Munster 3+2 231 3 0 3 0 318 Aled Summerhill Cardiff Blues 6 451 3 1 2 2 119 Anthony Volmink Toyota Cheetahs 5 384 3 3 0 2 1

Best in a PRO Rugby Season: 14 by Tim Visser (Edinburgh) 2010/11 and Rabs Maxwane (Cheetahs) in 2018/19.


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BEST GUINNESS PRO14 KICKERS

Rank Name Team Good Att Kick% Last 10 kicks Conv PG Streak1 Demetri Catrakilis Isuzu Southern Kings 14 15 93.33% 332p2/32/333 6/6 8/9 Last 62 John Cooney Ulster 21 23 91.30% 23233/3323p 14/14 7/9 Missed last 13 Brandon Thomson Glasgow Warriors 9 10 90.00% 22/3332c/223 5/6 4/4 Last 34 Ruan Pienaar Toyota Cheetahs 23 26 88.46% 22/c322/3/223 19/22 4/4 Last 75 JJ Hanrahan Munster 20 23 86.96% 2/3232cc3/23 13/16 7/7 Last 36 Simon Hickey Edinburgh Rugby 10 12 83.33% 2/c2223/2332 7/9 3/3 Last 87 Conor Fitzgerald Connacht 18 22 81.82% 22/22cc/2323 13/17 5/5 Last 48 Luke Price Ospreys 11 14 78.57% cc22/3333/3/2 3/6 8/8 Last 89 Dan Jones Scarlets 18 23 78.26% 2/2/223p/2323 11/13 7/10 Last 410 Ross Byrne Leinster 20 26 76.92% 222/3/222222 17/21 3/5 Last 1111 Sam Davies Dragons 18 24 75.00% 332c/3c2/pp2 11/13 7/11 Last 112 Jaco van der Walt Edinburgh Rugby 17 23 73.91% 2/c2c/3233pp 9/11 8/12 Missed last 213 Jarrod Evans Cardiff Blues 19 26 73.08% 3323/33233p 8/11 11/15 Missed last 114 Tommaso Allan Benetton Rugby 7 10 70.00% 23c3p/33c33 1/3 6/7 Last 215 Tyler Bleyendaal Munster 7 10 70.00% 333p/222/c2p 4/5 3/5 Missed last 116 Ian Keatley Benetton Rugby 11 16 68.75% 2p/c/33/23c22 6/8 5/8 Last 217 Harry Byrne Leinster 8 12 66.67% 2/2/c22cc222 7/11 1/1 Last 318 Adam Hastings Glasgow Warriors 6 11 54.55% 2c2c22/2c2c 6/11 0/0 Missed last 1

Qual: 10 place k icks at goalUnder Streak, "Last 4" means has k icked last four place k icks in a row successfully. Under "Last 10 k icks" 3 denotes a penalty goal, 2 a conversion, p is a missed penalty and c a missed conversion, whilst separate matches are divided with

forward slashes.


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GUINNESS PRO14 RECORD CENTRE INDIVIDUAL GAME RECORDS All-Time Best in 2019/20 Most points 32 - Stephen Jones

(Llanelli RFC @ Swansea, 4 Oct 02) 22 – John Cooney (Ulster @ Kings, 12 Oct)

Most tries 4 - Mike Mullins (Munster @ Caerphilly, 11 Sep 01)

3 – Dave Kearney (Leinster @ Benetton, 28 Sep

4 - Lee Abdul (Blues v Ospreys, 25 Oct 03)

3 – Mark Bennett (Edinburgh v Zebre, 28 Sep)

4 – Jamie Robinson (Blues v Borders, 27 Feb 04)

3 – Ronan Kelleher (Leinster v Ospreys, 4 Oct)

4 – Tommy Seymour (Warriors v Leinster, 10 Sep 16)

3 – Anthony Volmink (Cheetahs v Ulster, 5 Oct)

4 – Alex Wootton (Munster v Cheetahs, 9 Sep 17)

3 – Sam Parry (Ospreys v Benetton, 12 Oct)

4 – Dan Evans (Ospreys v Dragons, 23 Mar 19)

3 – Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh v Scarlets, 26 Oct)

Most conversions 10 – Duncan Weir (Warriors v Zebre, 29 Apr 16)

6 by four players

Most penalty goals 9 – Luciano Orquera (Aironi v Benetton, 23 Dec 11)

4 by four players

Most drop goals 4 – Dan Parks (Glasgow v Ulster, 16 Apr 10)

No instance

Fastest try 10 secs – Dougie Fife (Edinburgh @ Connacht, 23 Mar 18)

1 min 29 secs – Kieran Hardy (Scarlets v Zebre, 12 Oct)

Quickest bonus point try

17 mins 43 secs – Tommy Bowe (Ulster v Reivers, 12 May 06)

23 mins 17 secs – Oli Kebble (Warriors v Kings, 1 Nov)

TEAM RECORDS All-Time Best in 2019/20 Most points in a home game

75-7 Ospreys v Benetton (Liberty Stadium, 16 Feb 14)

63-26 Cheetahs v Ulster (Toyota Stadium, 5 Oct)

Most points in an away game

67-15 Ulster @ Caerphilly (Virginia Park, 5 Oct 02)

52-28 Dragons @ Zebre (Stadio Lanfranchi, 5 Oct)

Highest aggregate of points in game

98pts - Caerphilly 32, Edinburgh 66 (Virginia Park, 21 Sep 02)

99pts – Cheetahs 63, Ulster 26 (Toyota Stadium, 5 Oct)

Biggest home win 68pts – Ospreys 75, Benetton 7 (Liberty Stadium, 16 Feb 14)

50pts – Warriors 50, Kings 0 (Scotstoun, 1 Nov)

Biggest away win 57pts – Dragons 3, Glasgow 60 (Rodney Parade, 15 Feb 13)

31pts – Connacht 11, Leinster 42 (Sportsground, 8 Nov)

Best attendance (regular season)

68,262 – “Judgement Day IV” (Principality Stadium, 30 Apr 16)

14,436 – Munster 22, Ulster 16 (Thomond Park, 9 Nov)

Note: 2018/19 Season bests set or equalled this past round shown in italics.


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APPROACHING CAREER MILESTONES POINTS SCORING 1,500 points: Ian Keatley (1,460) 1,000 points: Jason Tovey (927), Johnny Sexton (804), Rhys Patchell (724) 500 points: Leigh Halfpenny (486), James Hook (454), Gareth Anscombe (447), JJ Hanrahan (443) Record: 1,585 points – Dan Biggar (Ospreys)

TRY SCORING 50 tries: Dan Evans (46), Tom James (45) Record: 67 tries – Tommy Bowe (Ulster & Ospreys)

MATCHES PLAYED 200 games: John Barclay (195) 150 games: Lloyd Williams (144), Tiernan O’Halloran (141), Richard Hibbard (141) 100 games: Ryan Bevington (99), Jack Carty (99), Andrew Warwick (98), Aled Davies (98), Johnny Sexton

(98), Nic Cudd (98), John Cooney (98) Record: 254 games – John Muldoon (Connacht)

CAREER TOP TENS MOST POINTS MOST GAMES MOST MINS PLAYED MOST TRIES

Dan Biggar 1585 John Muldoon 254 John Muldoon 18030 Tommy Bowe 67 Dan Parks 1582 Ross Ford 206 Dan Evans 13455 Tim Visser 58 Ian Keatley 1460 Matthew Rees 202 John Barclay 13369 DTH van der Merwe 57 Ronan O’Gara 940 Ian Keatley 200 Tommy Bowe 12625 Craig Gilroy 54 Jason Tovey 927 Phil John 196 Josh Turnbull 12314 Andrew Trimble 50 Felipe Contepomi 877 John Barclay 195 Ian Keatley 12081 Dan Evans 46 Duncan Weir 854 Dan Evans 185 Ross Ford 11925 Tom James 45 Chris Paterson 810 Michael Swift 184 Rob Harley 11842 Shane Horgan 39 Johnny Sexton 804 Josh Turnbull 181 Alastair Kellock 11767 Tommy Seymour 39

David Humphreys 786 Darren Cave 180 Andrew Trimble 11755 7 Nick Williams 39 Active players in GUINNESS PRO14 marked in grey

guinness pro14 preview 2019/20 · dries swanepoel (toyota cheetahs at connacht, 26 oct) banned for...

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