Guinness PRO14 Final Pits Glasgow Against Leinster
Guinness PRO14 Final Pits Glasgow Against Leinster
Leinster vs Glasgow Pro14 Final
Glasgow may be looking forward to a Guinness PRO14 final appearance in their own city after they thrashed Ulster 50-20 in a last-four clash on Friday, but coach Dave Rennie was far from satisfied with the Scottish team's emphatic win.
Two tries from Scotland wing Tommy Seymour plus further tries from Ali Price, Rob Harley, Kyle Steyn, and both Horne brothers saw Glasgow to a convincing win.
We were treated to some epic tries in our two #GUINNESSPRO14 semi-finals ?
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) May 20, 2019
Here are 4️⃣ of the best ✨@GlasgowWarriors' ⚔️ @kylesteyn and @Petehorne72 @UlsterRugby's ☘️ Michael Lowry@leinsterrugby's ? @jameslowenz
Which was your favourite? ? pic.twitter.com/n8ZY8f1jgg
But for all those seven tries, Rennie was disappointed by the way Glasgow conceded three late scores.
"We got off to a flyer as we often do, so we got a bit of scoreboard pressure on them early, and with a bit of breeze behind us we were able to play at the right end of the field and turn pressure into points," the experienced New Zealander said. "I thought for 70 minutes we defended really well. The last 10 was not flash.
"It's funny because we were looking at the scoreboard and we've got 50 points on the board and we're angry because of the way we finished the game."
Ulster did manage to get on the scoreboard through Marcell Coetzee, Rob Herring, and Mike Lowry, but the visitors could not stay with a Glasgow team roared on by a 10,000 sellout crowd at Scotstoun.
Friday's result signaled the end of Ireland captain Rory Best's Ulster career, although the hooker still has this year's World Cup in Japan to look forward to before he retires from rugby union.
Saturday's #GUINNESSPRO14 finalists @GlasgowWarriors have been on fire this season ?
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) May 21, 2019
We've picked out some of their most scorching scores to feast your eyes on ?
Which is your favourite? Or would you add other terrific tries? ? pic.twitter.com/bulF1Cm7a1
"We're very disappointed in our performance but at the same time I think having watched that Glasgow performance I'm not sure even our best display would have won here," said Ulster coach Dan McFarland.
"Clearly Rory would have preferred to go out on a win. He probably wanted to play in a game where we played our best rugby. We didn't do that and that's the most disappointing thing."
Leinster Loom Large
Leinster shrugged off the disappointment of losing their European crown last weekend to beat Irish rivals Munster 24-9 and reach the PRO14 final on Saturday.
It was a deserved victory for defending champions Leinster, who lost to Saracens in last Saturday's European Champions Cup final, as Sean Cronin and James Lowe scored the two tries of the match.
Ross Byrne, who started at flyhalf instead of World Rugby Player of the Year Johnny Sexton, contributed the other 14 points.
Leinster will play Glasgow, 50-20 winners over Ulster on Friday, in the May 25 final in Glasgow.
The pivotal moment after a hard-fought first period came six minutes into the second half when Munster's Niall Scannell was sin-binned and Byrne slotted over the penalty to give Leinster a 12-6 lead.
However, former Leinster star Joey Carbery reduced the deficit five minutes later after Australian veteran Scott Fardy was penalized.
Leinster, though, exploited their one-man advantage and moved 10 points clear in the 55th minute with hooker Cronin touching down. Byrne converted for 19-9.
That was virtually his last contribution as he was withdrawn and replaced by Sexton.
Munster rarely threatened a comeback and it was Leinster who rounded off the match in style as Lowe touched down after fine handling by Rory O'Loughlin although Sexton missed the conversion.
@Agence France-Presse