The British & Irish Cup semi- finals, to be played on the weekend of April 6/7/8th will have a distinctly Celtic flavor with two Irish sides, Leinster and Munster, booking their place in the last four along with sole Welsh survivors Cross Keys and RFU Championship outfit, Cornish Pirates.
Munster were first to progress to the next stage of the competition after extending their winning run against Ulster Ravens to six games on Friday night. Fly- half Scott Deasy scored one of Munster’s two tries and converted them both as well as adding a couple of penalties for a 15- point personal haul. Cross Keys are now just two games away from winning the B & I Cup in their first season in the competition after a comprehensive 32-8 win over fellow Welsh Premiership side Llanelli. Man- of- the- match Steffan Jones scored 22 of his side’s points via a brace of tries, three conversions and two penalties. Both of Sunday’s ties went the way of the home side, too, with 2010 champions Cornish Pirates easily seeing off Championship rivals Nottingham, while Leinster ended Pontypridd’s hopes of a B&I and SWALEC Cup double with an equally comprehensive victory. Rob Cook scored one of the Pirates’ five tries and converted four of them to help the Duchy outfit to a 33-3 win over Nottingham. In a good weekend for Irish rugby, Leinster beat Pontypridd 32-0 thanks to a brace of tries from outside centre Brendan Macken and further scores from wing Darren Hudson and flanker Conor Gilsenan. Noel Reid added 12 points from the kicking tee.
