Paris in the spring as Blues look to win Champions Cup spot

MUNSTER clinched top spot in the final Guinness PRO12 table after running riot against Connacht at Thomond Park, writes Delme Parfitt.

The hosts ran in seven tries in a dominant display and that success, coupled with Leinster’s defeat at Ulster, ensured them of top dog status.

As for the Dublin side, they were squeezed out 17-13 in Belfast and had to be content with second place.

Roger Wilson, on his 221nd and last Ulster appearance, and Andrew Trimble got the vital scores for Ulster while Leinster responded with a penalty try.

An emotional Ruan Pienaar led out the Ulster side with his son Jean Luc at the Kingspan Stadium in what was the Springbok scrum-half ’s final appearance for the club.

The two results mean Munster will take on the fourthplaced Ospreys on Saturday May 21 and Leinster will face the Ospreys at the Royal Dublin Showground on the Friday night beforehand.

At the bottom Treviso clinched the Champions Cup spot on offer to Italian sides by beating Zebre 19-3 in pouring rain at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.

Their victory was enough to nudge them above the Dragons in the final table, with Kingsley Jones’ side sandwiched between the two Italian outfits in 11th place.

With both sides tied on 19 points going into round 22 of the Guinness PRO12, victory for either would have earned a spot playing among the continent’s best sides in the next campaign.

And it proved to be Treviso who came out on top as Marco Fuser’s early try set them on the way before a faultless kicking display from Ian McKinley secured the win.

In the battle for Scottish bragging rights, Edinburgh came out on top against last season’s champions Glasgow with an impressive 29-18 victory at Scotstoun.

Gregor Townsend signed off as Warriors boss with a defeat after Edinburgh rallied in the second half with tries from Damien Hoyland and Glenn Bryce that trimmed the aggregate score to just two points.

But a classy try from British and Irish Lions 15 Stuart Hogg on his 100th club appearance and captain Jonny Gray’s first half try ensured Warriors snatched the 1872 Cup away from Edinburgh. CARDIFF Blues will face Stade Francais in Paris in the wild-card play-off semi-finals for next season’s European Champions Cup.

Connacht will be away to George North’s Northampton Saints or Gloucester in the other tie with the final to be held later in the month.

Ross Moriarty, Richard Hibbard and James Hook’s Gloucester have to beat, ironically, Stade in the final of the European Challenge Cup on Friday night in Edinburgh to seize the semi spot from Saints.

Blues were sweating on the outcome of the final round of French Top 14 fixtures and where Stade finished in the table because they wanted to know their opponents in the play-off series to determine who wins ‘wildcard’ entry into next season showpiece Champions Cup sooner rather than later.

But Stade finishing seventh in the Top 14 after picking up a bonus point during a 27-26 loss at third-place finishers Montpellier means the former French champions are definitely Blues’ opponents on the weekend of May 19-21.

Stade, who are led by world No.8 IT was a day to remember for the Scarlets as they rounded off the regular season with a record thumping of their nearest and dearest in Llanelli.

The 40-17 victory sealed third spot for the West Walians in the Guinness Pro12 table to secure an away semifinal against Leinster in Dublin on May 19. Despite the margin of defeat, the Ospreys will contest the other play-off tie, against Munster at their Thomond Park stronghold in Limerick.

ROB LLOYD looks at the big talking points from an engrossing derby day down west. WAYNE Pivac’s side have now racked up 24 points out of a possible 25 from their last five matches, running in 24 tries in the process and have won a remarkable 17 of their last 19 Pro12 encounters.

But it is the manner of the victories, particularly on Saturday, that is proving so impressive, with the Scarlets comfortable playing high-octane rugby and now making full use of their electric set of outside backs. great Sergio Parisse, knocked the Ospreys out of the Challenge Cup last month at the Principality Stadium and will be favourites against the Blues in Paris.

“We all know what we are going to face in France, a big set-piece and a huge set of forwards,” said Blues coach Danny Wilson.

Stade, if they do their homework, will target a Blues scrum which could be without Wales record cap-holder Gethin Jenkins (knee) while lock George Earle (knee) and Lions captain Sam Warburton (knee) are almost certain

In his post-match press conference, Pivac insisted the league result at the RDS in March - Scarlets were hammered 45-9 by Leinster - was “totally irrelevant”.

“We had a totally different team that day,” he said. “We have come a long way since then and they will have a different side as well, it is going to be tough, but we are going there to give it our best shot.”

As for the Ospreys, they will have to dust themselves down before heading to Thomond Park - the scene of their dramatic late semi-final loss two years ago.

“I don’t think anybody other the people in our changing room will fancy us going out there, “said Tandy during his post-match debrief. to be missing.

Blues are also sweating on the fitness of Jenkins’ preferred replacement Rhys Gill (ankle), hooker Kristian Dacey (back), back-row forward Josh Navidi (head) and wing Aled Summerhill (hamstring).

Wilson is hatching plans for the Blues not to be drawn into a set-piece battle, saying: “We will need to get pace into our game and move them around the pitch.”

He was delighted with how young props Corey Domachowski, who started at loosehead, and Keiron Assiratti, who replaced veteran Tau Filise at tighthead with 27 minutes remaining, helped former Wales and Lions Test hooker Matthew Rees out-scrummage the Newport Gwent Dragons front-row during a 26-24 win in Caerphilly to round off an inconsistent Guinness Pro12 campaign.

“Huge credit to the two very young props – they scrummaged extremely well for their age,” beamed Wilson.

“They have to start somewhere and go through a little bit of pain. I thought Matthew led a dominant scrum very well for us and it was a mature performance in terms of taking points.

“It probably wasn’t the most exciting of derbies and didn’t get going, becoming a bit of a scrum-fest, which we played to our advantage. It was an SIX years after making his debut for the region, Saracens-bound Liam Williams said his farewells to Llanelli and what a send off he received.

As he was replaced by DTH van der Merwe on 67 minutes, the supporters in the stands rose as one to applaud a player who has been a huge fans’ favourite down west.

There were hugs from his teammates and applause from the opposition ranks as Williams made his way to the touchline.

He wasn’t able to decorate the Parc y Scarlets au revoir with a try, but it was an evening that will surely stick in the memory of the man popularly known as ‘Sanjay.’

“I have always said if we had 15 Liam Williams we would be unplayable,” said Pivac afterwards. “He has got a massive heart, he loves playing for the club, he has been immense for us.”

THE sight of Ospreys fly-half Dan Biggar hobbling off with a heavily strapped ankle would have been a ugly effort but a win, which was what we had targeted going into the game. We ground it out.”

Wales international Tom James made his return from a lengthy lay-off recovering from illness as a substitute against the Dragons while Kiwi import Willis Halaholo scored a superb solo try.

And the centre, who lifted last year’s Super Rugby title with the Wellingtonbased Hurricanes, is ready to tackle Stade.

“We have to go strong and try and move on to the final. Hopefully, we will take a few lessons from this game with the Dragons out to France,” he said.

“The boys are gelling well and we just want to get the job. We are carrying a bit of momentum and will hopefully get over the line. Going to France, if I’ve counted right, will be my 50th game without a break but it’s what we get paid for. Hopefully, there will be a 51st, a final and we win it!”

Blues finished seventh in the Pro12 with 53 points, five behind Glasgow Warriors, after winning 11 of their 22 fixtures.

Full-back Matthew Morgan, after chasing his kick, scored Blues’ other try against neighbours Dragons in the east Wales derby. Outside-half Gareth Anscombe converted both touchdowns and added four penalties for a concern for Warren Gatland, although that would have been tempered by a couple of outstanding displays from two of the Kiwi’s Scarlets contingent.

Ken Owens has enjoyed the season of his career and picking up the manof-the-match award and leading his side to a record win over the Ospreys would have meant a heck of a lot to the Wales hooker.

Jonathan Davies is also a man transformed following his early-season struggles. The 2013 Lion oozed authority in midfield. He was a constant thorn with his powerful running, helped set up tries for Steffan Evans and Aaron Shingler and put the seal on the win with a try of his own, manufactured by his own clever kick through. It was a gold-star display from the centre.

In the opposing ranks, Biggar was often starved of possession, while his half-back partner Rhys Webb was forced to play off the back foot for the majority of the match.

His frustrating match was compounded when he was yellow-carded for a high challenge on Owens in the first half and while Webb was off the