Leinster too strong for Munster
A try in each half from Isa Nacewa and Jack McGrath proved enough for Leinster, despite the best efforts of Anthony Foley's team.
The icing on the cake was provided by Zane Kirchner with a last-gasp interception as Munster pushed for a losing bonus point to seal the win.
And as a result, Leinster, who started the season slowly, are now settled in the top four heading into 2016.
Leinster made a dream start to the game with a try made by young centre Garry Ringrose. After receiving the ball from Sean O'Brien, Ringrose showed his searing pace to race away from the Munster defence before finding Nacewa on his inside shoulder to go under the posts. Ian Madigan converted and Leinster led 7-0 after just five minutes.
Munster should have got on the board when they earned a kickable penalty, but Rory Scannell was off-target with his effort.
And Leinster made them pay when O'Brien then won a penalty at the breakdown for the visitors, with Madigan stretching the lead to 10-0.
Munster were then dealt a blow when James Cronin was forced off with a nasty-looking injury and it would get worse later on when Keith Earls was stretchered off late in the half.
Despite having some chances, Munster were struggling to break through and looked a team low on confidence.
But a try in the closing stages of the half got them right back in it. A powerful charge from No.8 Copeland was enough for the Leinster defence to finally succumb, with Scannell adding the simple conversion to make it 10-7 at the break.
Having scored the opening try in the first half, Nacewa was very involved in the opening score of the second.
His break put Leinster in good position and after a series of pick and drives, McGrath got low enough to drive over. Madigan converted to make it a two-score game.
The game was evenly-poised, and despite dominating possession and territory, Munster's struggles at the breakdown made a comeback difficult.
However they threw everything at their visitors and in the closing stages a try looked to be coming as Leinster were forced back.
But time and again, a Leinster loose forward was on hand to earn the turnover and make it impossible for Munster to gain any momentum.
And in the final seconds of the game, Francis Saili tried an ambitious wide pass which was easily picked off by Kirchner, who raced the length of the pitch to score.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Try: Copeland
Con: Scannell
For Leinster:
Tries: Nacewa, McGrath, Kirchner
Cons: Madigan 3
Pen: Madigan
Teams:
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 CJ Stander (captain), 7 Jack O'Donoghue, 6 Robin Copeland, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Dave Foley, 3 John Ryan, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Denis Hurley, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Isa Nacewa (captain), 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Tom Denton, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Dave Kearney.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Ireland)
Newport Gwent Dragons 20-21 Cardiff Blues
Rhys Patchell kicked a last-gasp penalty as Cardiff Blues snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a 21-20 win over Newport Gwent Dragons.
The Dragons were always seemingly in control against their Welsh rivals and had a built a 17-6 lead midway through the second half.
But after Lewis Evans was sent to the sin bin and conceded a penalty try after hauling down a driving maul, Blues used their man advantage to get back within a whisker of the Dragons.
Tom James dotted down to bring the Blues back to within two points, but Patchell saw his conversion sail wide.
Yet he was given a second chance to win the game with a penalty from similar range, much to the frustration of the Dragons fans, and this time made no mistake.
Dorian Jones had got the ball rolling with an early drop goal. And things quickly got better for the home side when Jones fed Ashton Hewitt, who skipped inside Patchell and dived over in the corner under pressure from Alex Cuthbert.
Two penalties from Patchell at the other end reduced the arrears but on the stroke of half-time Jones, who has missed just one penalty all season, gave Dragons an 11-6 lead at the interval.
Blues' indiscipline continued to be punished in the second half, Jones with two successful penalties either side of a missed drop goal attempt.
But momentum swung in favour of the visitors on 66 minutes when Evans went in on the side of a driving maul destined for the line.
He had a watching brief for the next 10 minutes and, by the time he returned to the pitch, his team were hanging on though a Jason Tovey penalty relieved some of the pressure.
Patchell looked to have blown the chance to earn Cardiff a second win in a row when he failed to convert Jones' score, setup by nimble footwork from Dan Fish.
But he held his nerve when it mattered to send the travelling fans home happy.
The scorers:
For Newport Gwent Dragons:
Try: Hewitt
Pens: Jones 3, Tovey
DG: Jones
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Penalty, James
Con: Patchell
Pens: Patchell 3
Teams:
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Nick Scott, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Thomas Rhys Thomas (captain), 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Ollie Griffiths, 21 Luc Jones, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Ross Wardle.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhys Patchell, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 James Down, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Cam Dolan, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Cory Allen, 23 Dan Fish.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessey (Wales), Sean Brickell (Wales)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)
Edinburgh 23-11 Glasgow Warriors
John Hardie scored on his inter-city debut as Edinburgh started their defence of the 1872 Cup with a 23-11 victory in front of a record-breaking attendance at Murrayfield.
Scotland flanker Hardie's try ten minutes from time gave Edinburgh an assailable lead, sending most of the 23,642 crowd – the biggest ever for the fixture – into raptures.
It had been nip and tuck for much of the game after Matt Scott had responded to Mark Bennett's early try, but Edinburgh's Sam Hidalgo-Clyne chipped away and outscored Finn Russell by 13 points to six off the tee.
It was left for Hardie to wrap it up and send Edinburgh into the GUINNESS PRO12's top half at the expense of the Warriors, who slip down into seventh.
Edinburgh lifted the 1872 Cup for the first time in six attempts last season but Glasgow drew first blood at BT Murrayfield after Phil Burleigh's initial prodding and probing for the hosts.
Glasgow hared up the field following some incisive play between the forwards and backs, and Scotland centre Bennett plunged over the line after Edinburgh pinged at the breakdown.
Russell's conversion attempt went astray but Edinburgh took little time to get back into it – Michael Allen securing possession for the home side after initially losing it at the line-out.
That led to a bullying carry from back-rower Cornell du Preez, who treated the Glasgow line with disdain before offloading to Matt Scott for the score.
Hidalgo-Clyne's extras nosed Edinburgh ahead and the inspiration continued to come via du Preez – he nearly released Mike Coman but his pass was just a touch forward.
A combination of Tom Brown and Scott helped Edinburgh make another foray into opposition territory, but the next scoring opportunity arrived on Glasgow's doorstep following hands in the ruck.
However, Bennett could not quite find the target with the penalty and when Edinburgh were presented with their own opportunity from the tee – Glasgow failing to roll away – Hidalgo-Clyne extended their lead to five.
Some patient build-up play yielded nothing for the Warriors and instead Hidalgo-Clyne received another opportunity before the break, but the Scotland scrum-half missed for the first time of the day.
Both sides contributed to a frantic start to the second half and Glasgow, spearheaded by wing Taqele Naiyaravoro, won a penalty in front of the posts which Russell made no mistake with.
No sooner had that kick flew over, Edinburgh restored their five-point lead – Allen barging up the centre and drawing the penalty to allow Hidalgo-Clyne to respond.
It remained tit for tat heading into the final quarter, Hidalgo-Clyne again racking up another penalty in answer to a Russell effort
But it was the hosts who would turn the screw, as Burleigh guided the ball into the posts following a Glasgow penalty for high tackling.
They were simply unstoppable at the rolling maul from the lineout -and Hardie was the beneficiary.
Glasgow to their credit never gave up as they searched for a losing bonus point but Edinburgh, and in particular the impressive Brown, were equal to everything that was thrown at them in the final stages.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Scott, Hardie
Cons: Hidalgo-Clyne 2
Pens: Hidalgo-Clyne 3
For Glasgow Warriors:
Try: Bennett
Pens: Russell 2
Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Michael Allen, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 John Hardie, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Alex Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Allan Dell, 18 John Andress, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Andries Strauss.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Grayson Hart, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray (c), 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 James Malcolm, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Simone Favaro, 21 Ali Price, 22 Sam Johnson, 23 Lee Jones.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
TMO: Iain Ramage (Scotland)
Zebre 28-25 Treviso
Dion Berryman grabbed a last-gasp try to lead Zebre to a thrilling 28-25 victory over Treviso in the first PRO12 derby clash of the season.
Heading into the clash Treviso were looking to end a run of form that had seen them lose their last 20 games in all competitions, but that didn't look like happening at half-time as they trailed 16-3 with just a Jayden Hayward penalty to celebrate.
At the other end Carlo Canna had scored all of Zebre's tries but their ill-discipline after the break handed their visitors a way back into the game as they found themselves with two men in the bin, allowing Treviso to take the lead thanks to Hayward and Omel Gega tries, as well as a penalty and a conversion from the former.
George Biagi nudged Zebre back in front but with five minutes left Matteo Zanusso thought he had won it for Treviso as he went over, Hayward adding the extras.
But in the third minute of injury time Berryman went over to deny Treviso a first win of the season, while securing Zebre their first success since beating Cardiff Blues in round six.
The home side were on the front foot from the first whistle and enjoyed plenty of early territory, but they were unable to break down a resolute Treviso defence.
That last until the 13th minute when Canna sent a penalty through the posts, but just two minutes later and the visitors were level as Hayward replied with a three-pointer of his own.
But that was as good as it got for Treviso in the first half as just five minutes later they found themselves trailing 13-3 thanks to a scoring burst from the home side.
First Canna kicked his second penalty of the game on 17 minutes o hand Zebre back the lead and then moments later he dummied before going over between the posts, dusting himself off to add the conversion.
And the fly-half wasn't done there, adding a 34th-minute penalty as Zebre went in at half-time with a healthy 16-3 lead.
Shortly after the break Zebre centre Gonzalo Garcia tried his luck with a penalty from about halfway, only to see it fall short of the posts.
But on 50 minutes Zebre lost prop Andrea Lovotti to the sin bin for an infringement at the scrum, and Hayward was on hand to reduce the arrears shortly afterwards with his second penalty of the game.
And things went from bad to worse for the hosts as Biagi followed Lovotti into the bin and Hayward was again on hand to pounce, this time dotting down just a minute later to bring Treviso to within five points.
The visiting fly-half missed the conversion but he made no mistake on 678 minutes after Gega had crossed the whitewash to hand Treviso the lead for the first time in the game.
However that lead lasted just a minute as lock Biagi made up for his earlier misdemeanour to go over to score, although replacement Kelly Haimona was unable to add the extras.
With five minutes left Zanusso looked to make himself the hero as he went over, Hayward adding the extras, only for Berryman to steal his thunder in time added on, Haimona having the final say with the conversion.
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Tries: Canna, Biagi, Van schalkwyk
Cons: Canna, Haimona
Pens: Canna 3
For Treviso:
Tries: Hayward, Gega, Zanusso
Cons: Hayward 2
Pens: Hayward 2
Zebre: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Kayle van Zyl, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 George Biagi (captain), 4 Marco Bortolami, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Tommaso D'Apice, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Ulrich Beyers.
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Sam Christie, 11 Simone Ragusi, 10 Jayden Hayward, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Alessandro Zanni (captain), 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matteo Zanusso.
Replacements: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Filo Paulo, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Robert Barbieri, 22 Chris Smylie, 23 Alberto Sgarbi
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Claudio Blessano (Italy), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)