Connacht 34-15 Zebre
Connacht maintained their 100% success record against the Zebre with a five-try win at the Galway Sportsgrounds on Friday night.
Craig Ronaldson opened the scoring for Connacht with a kick at goal in the third minute, followed closely by a try from Matt Healy. Edoardo Padovani got Zebre’s first points on the board with a penalty in the 10th minute.
Connacht began to widen the gap with tries from Kieran Marmion and Eoin McKeon with Ronaldson converting the former’s.
A try from Zebre’s Dion Berryman five minutes from half-time was soon overshadowed by a yellow card shown to Andrea Lovotti and a converted try from Craig Ronaldson which gave Pat Lam’s side a bonus point before the break.
Eighteen minutes into the second half, a five-metre line-out followed up with a well-organised maul saw Denis Buckley touchdown Connacht’s fifth try.
Connacht’s intensity dropped slightly with Lam letting some of his younger players get game time from the bench. Zebre managed to gain a consolation try through Johan Meyer with two minutes left on the clock.
Connacht kept their fourth place position while Andrea Cavinato’s men fail to move from the bottom of the table.
Glasgow 29-15 Dragons
The title holders came away with a win from a closely contested match at Scotstoun Stadium.
Rory Clegg took a lead for Glasgow from a penalty in the 12th minute. Dragons were fast on the attack from the restart and pushed the Warriors deep into their own half earning a penalty. However, Jason Tovey failed to convert.
Dragons quickly regained possession and two penalties later, this time kicking to the corner, saw Ligtoring Landman push over the line in the 23rd minute for a try.
A physical battle ensued for the next ten minutes until Chris Fusharo touched down for Glasgow off the back of a five-metre line-out. A kick at goal from Tovey saw the half out with both teams tied.
The game’s physicality increased after the half with no score until the 54th minute when Glasgow’s Zander Fagerson crashed over the line for a try.
A try from Junior Bulumakau entering the last ten minutes strengthened the Warriors’ lead.
The Dragons were quick to retaliate as Ashton Hewitt found a gap in the Warriors defence to dart over the line for a try, but a failed conversion from Tovey put the Welsh side within seven points keeping hopes of a comeback alive. However, their hopes were dashed as Simone Favaro dived over the line to score.
Glasgow moved up to sixth in the table as the Dragons stay put at ninth.
Scarlets 25-14 Leinster
The Scarlets put up a massive display against Leinster, who brought too little, too late as the Welsh side made it four wins from four.
Scarlets gained an early lead in the fourth minute as Steve Shingler put over a penalty from 35 metres out. James Davies follows up four minutes later with a try in the corner, but Shingler’s second attempt at goal was sent wide.
Leinster’s only scoring opportunity of the half came in the form of a penalty in the 15th minute that was kicked short by Fergus McFadden.
Canada’s World Cup star DTH Van Der Merwe improved the Scarlets lead seven minutes before the half as he intercepted a wayward pass from Leinster’s Ross Byrne and made a sprint down the length of the pitch.
This time, Shingler managed to convert to make it 15-0 just before half-time.
Leinster returned to the pitch with a greater intensity, but a yellow card given to Noel Reid for going off his feet at the breakdown did little to help Leo Cullen’s men.
The Scarlets did not waste the extra man advantage and Van Der Merwe bagged a second try on his debut for the club after some patient play by the backs.
The Scarlets kept their score ticking over with Shingler adding to his own score count through a penalty from a collapsed scrum.
Leinster took the offensive from the restart with a superb piece of play between Dominic Ryan, Noel Reid and Isa Nacewa creating Leinster’s first try after 62 minutes of play with McFadden finding the posts this time.
Leinster kept the intensity up and managed to close the gap further and win back some dignity with a try from substitute James Tracy as he rode a maul over the line in the final minute.
The game finished and Scarlets end the weekend at second after remaining at first for the night and Leinster descend to seventh.
Edinburgh 16-10 Ulster
A game of two halves with the first not flattering either side. Good defense at the end of the game allowed Edinburgh to see the game out as victors.
Edinburgh got the scoring underway with an early penalty after Nick Williams went off his feet at the breakdown with Greig Tonks making easy work of a tricky shot.
Edinburgh kept the play deep in Ulster’s half for the next 10 minutes and managed to win another penalty as a result, letting Tonks extend Edinburgh’s lead.
A break from the scrum in the 22nd minute by Paul Marshall forced a penalty from the Scots and gave Peter Nelson the opportunity to get Ulster on the scoreboard.
Sloppy handling from Edinburgh and an offside call against Ulster denied both sides a possible try chance and the game went to the break 6-3 to the home team.
The game restarted with some kicking play before Andrew Trimble made a run to set up an Ulster attack. Marshall broke clear from the ruck to reach the Edinburgh five-metre line.
The ball was then sent wide and Sean Reidy charged over the line to get the game’s first try.
Two failed attacks from the restart did not deter Edinburgh as they attacked a third time, this time finding space out wide where Hamish Watson could run into the corner untouched in the 55th minute.
Both teams stepped up the physicality for the rest of the half, but the only score throughout the remainder of the game came from an Edinburgh penalty in the 66th. Both teams showed great defense for the remainder of the game as neither could find any weak link to punish.
The game wrapped up with Edinburgh maintaining their win streak and in third place on the league table while Ulster are unable to move from fifth.
Munster 35-27 Cardiff Blues
Munster showed great squad depth as they effectively use their bench to reclaim the match from a 10 point deficit and go top of the table.
The Blues failed to take an early lead as Rhys Patchell failed to gather nine points for his side in the first 10 minutes. However, Patchell managed to shake his early game nerves as he split the posts on his fourth attempt in the 17th minute.
Munster ran the ball into Cardiff’s 22, but a loose pass from Rory Scannell put the ball into touch. Cardiff mounted an attack from the resulting line-out and worked the ball downfield for a try from Travis Knoyle in the 24th minute while Patchell converts showing no signs of his early mistakes.
Munster quickly retaliated with a try of their own within 90 seconds of the restart as Mike Sherry ran the ball over the line and Ian Keatley lands his first attempt at goal.
Ten minutes later Keatley found touch through a well-taken penalty kick. He finished off the brilliant play with a clever dummy pass to fool Gavin Evans and went over for the try.
With one minute left in the half, the Blues got a scrum in the home sides 22. Some brilliant backs play allowed Richard Smith to enter the break with a try.
Cardiff quickly came out of the block with a try from Tom Isaacs following some impressive play from Patchell. Anthony Foley made some important changes in the 50th minute.
They quickly became involved in the game and helped Munster to a try two minutes later off the back of a maul. A mistake from the Blues at a scrum in their own five metres and the quick reaction from substitute Jordan Coghlan led to another try for the home team to put them in front.
A kick at goal from Patchell brought the Blues back within one point with nine minutes left on the clock. Another try from a substitute, this time Andrew Conway, saw Munster fly out of the Blues reach.
A convincing win from the Irish side saw them climb to the top of the table while Cardiff were lowered to eight.
Benetton Treviso 22-25 Ospreys
Ospreys finally get their season up and running with their first win of the league while Treviso get a well-earned bonus point.
Ospreys started the game on shaky ground as they allowed Treviso to get an early lead with a penalty taken by Jayden Hayward.
Ospreys then earned two penalties of their own within ten minutes, but Sam Davies sent both wide of the mark.
Not dissuaded, the Ospreys continued to push forward to score their first try of the season coming from Dan Evans but Davies again put the kick wide.
Treviso responded with a try from James Ambrosini, exploiting a poor Ospreys defense. The Ospreys attacking game, however, was much stronger leading to a try from Ben John with Davies finding the goals for the first time of the night.
The game entered halftime with the Ospreys leading by four. Sam Davies still had not found form going into the second half missing another two kicks in the first twenty minutes but redeemed himself with a try and conversion in the 63rd minute to take Ospreys further into the lead.
Following a series of changes, Treviso managed to mount a successful attack with Hayward going over the line and converting to bring Treviso back into the game, although Sam Davies soon finds the goal again from a penalty.
Treviso fought back one more time to see Luca Bigi cross the line after a number of phases, coupled with another conversion from Hayward bring Treviso a losing bonus point.
The two teams swap places on the table with Ospreys going 10th and Treviso dropping to 11th.
