European Rugby Round 3 was a strong showing for the PRO14 as a whole, with most teams, including the Italian sides, all logging victories. Only the disappointing Dragons failed to secure a win over the weekend. Leinster won a tough match against a dogged Bath, who still managed to look like a dominating side regardless of their place in the pool standings.

Champions Cup

Scarlets v Ulster was the only match between PRO14 teams this week. Both managed to earn bonus points in the close contest. The score initially went back and forth as they traded tries throughout the first half. It was in the 49th minute when Ulsterman Will Addison went over the line that the Irish squad began to put some distance between themselves and their opponent. Another try by Marcell Coetzee would extend the lead to 25-17 late in the second half, but a missed conversion by Jon Cooney would keep the Scarlets within tantalizing reach. Cooney missed three conversions one Friday, but ultimately the Scarlets ran out of time to overcome the deficit. Dan Jones would score in the 79th minute to make the score 24-25, but the Welsh side had taken too long to muster a rally and would have to settle for a losing bonus point. The Scarlets and Ulster will face off again next Friday in Belfast as the Champions Cup cycles back around the pool fixtures.

Also on Friday, Edinburgh walked all over Newcastle. A penalty try was awarded to Edinburgh in the 56th minute after Newcastle repeatedly collapsed the scrum and this series of play essentially summed up the day; the Falcons were simply outmatched by the home side on most fronts. Blaire Kinghorn scored in the 71st minute to give Edinburgh the bonus point and put the Scottish side at the top of the Pool 5 standings.

Leinster and Bath was a battle from start to finish, as the defending champion Irish side appears to enter games with a major target on their back. It was Bath who drew first blood with a try midway through the first half but the visiting Leinster side was able to keep its composure and responded soon after to level the score. Jordan Larmour, coming off an excellent autumn international series, played the hero once again with an interception try in the 48th minute to give Leinster the narrow lead. Ultimately, the match would end 17-10 in Leinster’s favor but this leaves them in second place behind Toulouse after a tough loss to the French in Round 2. They remain in knockout stage qualification and will seek to put even further distance between Bath and them with a rematch in Dublin next weekend.

Glasgow would ultimately beat Lyon 42-22 in another contest that got off to a tight start. Up until the end of the first half, the match had been a close affair, with Glasgow keeping a slight lead. George Horne dotted down in the 39th minutes as the Warriors went into the break up 20-10. The second half scoring opened with a penalty conversion by Adam Hastings and from there multiple Warriors players would get over the line. A yellow card against Glasgow allowed Lyon to put a few more points on the board but it was too little too late.

Munster hosted the French side Castres Olympique and sent them packing 30-5. Two first half scrum penalties would make the score 6-0 into the half. From there, steady pressure from Munster would see three tries and a converted penalty kick in the second half to make up the final score. Castres wouldn’t score until the 80th minute following a yellow card against the home team. Munster will travel to France next week to play Castres again and should feel confident in their chances for another win.

The final score was 51-25 in favor of the Saracens. The Blues had weathered a strong Saracens first half to go into halftime ahead 18-13. But, when the second half started up, the Saracens mustered another dominating performance and pushed through six tries against a battered Cardiff defense. Owen Farrell’s kicking also put enormous pressure on the Welsh visitors, and he went 7-9 on kicks including two penalty kicks. Olly Robinson scored for the Blues in the 74th minute but Cardiff was unable to secure the bonus point that might have been a nice consolation for the thrashing they took.

Challenge Cup

Zebre braved the chill of Russia to earn a bonus point win over Enisei-STM. Carlo Canna made all of his kicks including one penalty as he continues to cement himself as a staple of both Zebre and Italy’s international squad. This particular match played out similarly to some of the others this weekend in France and the home nations. A tight first half led to a 49th minute penalty and 50th minute try for Zebre who gradually added to the score, going from 14-14 to 31-14 by the end with Enisei-STM being awarded a yellow card in the 78th minute. The Russian squad has yet to log a win in the tournament and Zebre has a perfect chance to deny them any chance of doing so in Parma next week.

Benetton would claim a 26-21 victory late over the Harlequins after a rousing back and forth contest. This match too saw a late yellow card with Treviso’s Seb Negri Da Oleggio sent off in the 70th minute, Down a man, nine minutes later Monty Ioane was able to cross the line for Benetton to break the tie and a missed conversion would end the match. Benetton is now at the top of their pool with 10 points on the table.

St George would have been proud with how Northampton dealt away with the visiting Dragons. The Saints touched down eight tries against the Newport side, who had few answers for anything that happened on the field. The Dragons will have to play a tough French squad in Clermont Auvergne next week, and it seems doubtful that they will discover any winning ways before they fail to reach the knockout stage.

More redeeming for the Welsh sides was the Ospreys’ 51-20 victory over Stade Francais Paris. The Ospreys ran over five tries and were awarded a sixth penalty try. Sam Davies took advantage of Stade Francais’ ill-discipline and slotted three penalty kicks to boot. The French were their own worst enemies and conceded multiple penalties through the day and were given two yellow cards. This let the Ospreys hold onto the ball for 75% of the match, and it showed.

A 70th minute yellow card against Perpignan sealed the deal as Kyle Godwin was able to cross the line for Connacht soon after to make the score 22-10. Bundee Aki also scored early in the match along with Darragh Leader. Strong winds and sloppy conditions made the going tough for both sides but Perpignan did themselves no favors when they were given a yellow card near the end of the first half. Connacht is now riding a four-match winning streak.