Round 8 saw both a mirroring and an inversion of the concurrent international tests. Some of these games may have been closer than usual, likely a factor of the international matches weighing heavily on rosters and available talent. Ten of the teams managed bonus points this weekend as they wrap up PRO14 play for another stint in the European Champions Cup.

Welsh-Scottish Inversion

Wales beat Scotland this weekend, but on the domestic level, this was not the case. Edinburgh beat the Scarlets 31-21 while Glasgow Warriors sent the Ospreys away 29-20.

The Edinburgh/Scarlets match featured somewhat of a back and forth affair for a while, but the Scots had more lasting power and two yellow cards hampered the Scarlets’ efforts.

In the other Scottish-Welsh match, Niko Matawalu scored a hat trick after coming off the bench for Glasgow. The Warriors overcame an early lead by the Ospreys and finished strongly, in spite of a late Osprey push and what ended up amounting to a consolation try.

Bad Showing for Italy

Benetton Treviso couldn’t quite finish the job against Ulster and fell 10-15. Benetton came out powerfully but James Hume managed to prevent Tommaso Benvenuti from scoring when he knocked the ball from his opponent’s hands after the Treviso player had crossed the line. Ulster managed to keep themselves in the game and eventually pulled away. Benetton walked away with a losing bonus point for their efforts.

Cardiff sent Zebre home packing with a 37-0 drumming. Though a tough loss for the Italian side, this was certainly a memorable sendoff for the retiring Gethin Jenkins. The Welsh international and Lions veteran came on with 23 minutes left in the match and inspired a Cardiff side missing many of its key players to keep the act together in order to secure a bonus point against an Italian side facing the same problem. A well-deserved finish for Jenkins’ career.

Tough Week for SA

The Southern Kings offered a spirited performance against Leinster but ultimately came up short at 31-38. They may have secured the bonus point but three sin bin visits for the hosting Kings noticeably hurt their efforts, at one point resulting in a six-man scrum having to hold out desperately in order to avoid conceding a penalty.

The Kings did have some success and came back from a significant halftime deficit, but a 63rd minute try by Leinster ultimately sealed the deal. The Kings have some soul searching to do –after all, this was a team that beat the current #1 in Conference A, the Glasgow Warriors, and didn’t win anything before or since.

The Cheetahs also suffered a close loss, 26-30, against the visiting Munster side. This game was something of a shootout, and despite great play from the South African side, it was Munster-man Mike Haley who scored the last try in the 68th minute. Rory Scannell finished the game with a successful penalty kick in the 76th minute.

The Cheetahs’ revival of their season has been a mixed bag of results. Their play is generally better and perhaps some of the sputtering can be attributed simply to good opposition. Last time they met Munster they lost 38-0, so on paper, this was a dramatic improvement. They’ll be playing against Benetton next week and if there is any salvaging that can be done, they will need a win, and a bonus point wouldn’t hurt.

Business as Usual

Connacht gave the Dragons something of a hiding at 33-12. It took an extra five minutes past the 80-minute mark for Dragons No. 8 Taine Basham to score the ending try –which preserved some pride perhaps but offered nothing in terms of table points. Without those points, the Dragons now sit at the bottom of the table.