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Points race: Chance for lesser lights (or ROG) to make hay

With many of the traditional trail-blazers called upon for bigger and better things, can lads like Andy Fenby, Tom Prydie and Scott Wight close the gap?

WITH MOST OF the big guns decommissioned this week ahead of an all-out assault on the southern hemisphere, it’s a chance for some Pro12 regulars to take some deserved limelight.

However, with Ronan O’Gara drafted back in as Munster number 10, only two of the league’s top five point-scorers will take command of the kicking tee.

Win or lose in Glasgow, the Dragons’ Tom Prydie will surely end the week top of the charts. The wing is currently locked on 69 points with Dan Biggar, who is set to take his rightful place as Warren Gatland’s number 10.

Fenby’s most likely challenger is Ian Keatley (four points behind on 65) but starting in the centre, Keatley won’t be able to wrestle the kicking tee off ROG until after the 61st minute.

So, that leaves 49-point man Ian Madigan. Having filled in for the injured Rob Kearney at fullback this past month, Madigan has landed the fewest kicks of the Pro12′s top marksmen, but has the most (three) tries of the same quintet. Away to the Ospreys, though, chances will be limited.

Finishers

The flying Dutchman Tim Visser still leads the try-scoring way on nine, but George North did manage to narrow the gap when the pair went mano-y-mano in the Scottish capital last week with North hitting back twice after Visser opened the scoring.

Treviso’s  Robert Barbieri (the only forward in the upper echelons of the scoring charts) will also skip this week meaning the chance falls to Scarlets’ wing Andy Fenby to reel in Visser and North.

Fenby currently sits on five tries with Zebre, making their first trip to Wales, providing the opposition. Low hanging fruit.

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