Hat-trick hero Parry inspires Ospreys
They produced a brilliant 59-5 Pro12 win over Zebre at the Liberty Stadium on Friday, with a hat-trick from the most unlikely of sources.
Sam Parry bookended the first half with two tries from mauls, as the Welsh side wrapped up a bonus point before the break, completing his treble early in the second half.
* In other Friday action Joey Carbery enjoyed a full debut to remember as he scored two tries for Leinster in their opening 20-8 Pro12 victory over Treviso.
* There as also a dream debut for Rob Lyttle, which inspired Ulster to come from behind to kick off the new Pro12 campaign in style with a comfortable 29-8 victory over Newport Gwent Dragons.
We look at the Friday matches!
LEINSTER 20-8 BENETTON TREVISO
Joey Carbery enjoyed a full debut to remember as he scored two tries for Leinster in their opening 20-8 Pro12 victory over Treviso.
The 20-year-old flyhalf was given his first start at flyhalf by Leo Cullen and it paid off with two tries in the first half as Leinster flew out of the blocks.
But they were pushed hard by a Treviso side who kept battling, and thanks to Marco Fuser's try late in the first half, continued to dream of a first win in Dublin.
But in the end, Leinster had a little too much, and replacement hooker James Tracy's try wrapped up the win.
Carbery was highly-touted as a youngster coming through, and after making his debut off the bench last season, he made the perfect start on his first start.
With just three minutes gone, Leinster set up camp on the Treviso line, and when the ball was spread, Carbery showed his quick feet to dance out of a couple of tackles and then go under the posts. Fergus McFadden converted to make it 7-0 early on.
Treviso should have cut the deficit with a penalty in front from the 22 but Tommaso Allan's effort clipped the post and away.
And as one flyhalf struggled, his opposite number showed all his talent with a second, magnificent try.
Carbery had already shown his quick feet, but he clearly has pace too, and after breaking through he raced away, beat the last man and sprinted over on the left for the second Irish try of the evening.
McFadden was off-target with the conversion, but when he knocked over a penalty just after the half-hour, Leinster looked to be in control at 15-0.
However just before half-time, Treviso struck, and it was a lovely try. Having got themselves into the Leinster 22, scrum-half Giorgio Bronzini produced a lovely dummy and inside pass for Marco Fuser and he burst through before reaching over for the try.
In the second half Treviso fought hard, and got back to within a score when Allan knocked over his first kick of the evening with a penalty.
Then on the hour there was a momentous occasion as Treviso brought on flyhalf Ian McKinley, who had come through the ranks in Dublin before an eye injury looked to have ended his career.
After a long road he is a part of the Treviso squad this season and got his chance against his former team to try to orchestrate the victory.
Leinster had more of the ball though, and they finally got the try that made the result safe, from a huge rolling maul. A line-out on the 22 was cleanly taken and the Leinster pack marched inexorably towards the line, with Tracy the man to emerge.
Leinster gave it everything for the fourth try but couldn't manage it, having to settle for four points from their first game of the campaign.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Carbery 2, Tracy
Cons: McFadden
Pens: McFadden
For Benetton Treviso:
Try: Fuser
Pen: Allan
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Zane Kirchner, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Fergus McFadden, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Luke McGrath (captain), 8 Dan Leavy, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Cian Healy .
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Rory O'Loughlin.
Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Andrea Buondonno, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Giorgio Bronzini, 8 Alessandro Zanni (captain), 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Nicola Quaglio.
Replacements: 16 Roberto Santamaria, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Dean Budd, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 David Odiete.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Joy Nevill (Ireland)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
OSPREYS 59-5 ZEBRE
The Ospreys were targeting a fast start after stuttering out of the gate a year ago and they did just that with a brilliant 59-5 Pro12 win over Zebre at the Liberty Stadium with a hat-trick from the most unlikely of sources.
Sam Parry bookended the first half with two tries from mauls, as the Welsh side wrapped up a bonus point before the break, completing his treble early in the second half.
And the Welsh team managed eight tries in all, as Ben John got a second-half double in a brilliant display in Swansea.
It was Sam Davies who opened the home side's account, slotting an early penalty for Steve Tandy's men, and they quickly extended that lead.
Turning to their maul, which would be a key feature of the first half, hooker Parry was on hand to crash over, with Davies making it two kicks from two to stretch the lead to ten.
The second try wasn't long coming, and this time it was the athleticism of second row Lloyd Ashley that was the key. After Zebre had rushed up in defence, Josh Matavesi took advantage to stride forward.
Although the covering defence got back to him, Ashley was inside and after a quick turn found himself in open field and raced 20 yards to score. From the touchline Davies continued his fine kicking evening with the conversion.
It was in danger of getting away from Zebre when Ospreys scored a third try, Ashley Beck slipping out of the tackle of Giulio Bisegni to cross, and Davies making it 24-0 with the extras.
But they finally got some possession and were rewarded for it just after the half-hour.
Having been held up just short with one rolling maul, they went back to that tactic from an attacking line-out and Tommaso D'Apice powered over. Edoardo Padovani's conversion was sliced wide.
Still, Parry had the final say of the half, as a second Ospreys rolling maul ended with him bursting through the middle and over the line.
Davies converted to make it 31-5 at the break, and with a tactic that was working they stuck at it in the second.
Parry was again the man at the back of a powerful maul, and dotted down for the first hat-trick of the Pro12 season on the very first evening.
Davies converted once again, and then played his part in setting up John for the sixth, with the centre strolling through in midfield.
Zebre were very much on the back foot, and their cause wasn't helped when their indiscipline led to a yellow card for replacement Tommaso Boni, leaving them with 14 just after the hour.
The Ospreys made them pay, with a seventh try coming through Dafydd Howells after he showed his pace with the Zebre defence scrambling to make it a half-century.
And John finished the game in style with his second, converted by Davies to seal a dream opening performance from the Welsh region.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Parry 3, Ashley, Beck, Howells, John 2
Cons: Davies 8
Pen: Davies
For Zebre:
Try: D'Apice
Yellow card: Tommaso Boni (Zebre, 66)
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield (captain), 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Gustafson, 17 Paul James, 18 Ma'afu Fia, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Ben John, 23 Dafydd Howells.
Zebre: 15 Kurt Baker, 14 Lloyd Greeff, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Gabriele Di Giulio, 10 Edoardo Padovani, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Maxime Mbandà, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 George Biagi (captain), 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Tommaso D'Apice, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Fabio Semenzato, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Boni.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Gareth Newman (Wales)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
ULSTER 29-8 NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS
A dream debut for Rob Lyttle inspired Ulster to come from behind to kick off the new Pro12 campaign in style with a comfortable 29-8 victory over Newport Gwent Dragons.
On the third occasion the sides have met in the opening fixture, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock through a Nick Macleod penalty, before Pat Howard scored their first try of the night on his senior debut.
But it didn't take long for Ulster, chasing their first title in 10 years, to bring themselves back into the lead, Lyttle, an early replacement for Craig Gilroy, going over first before a clever solo effort from Jacob Stockdale gave them the lead.
And maximum points were sealed after the break as Ruan Pienaar, Lyttle with his second, and Rob Herring touched over in a dominant second half performance.
Despite a lively start from Ulster, it was the visitors who got the first points on the board as Macleod kicked over after Roger Wilson was penalised for hands in the ruck.
The Dragons extended their lead five minutes later after a spell of good pressure on their hosts, Macleod producing a perfect cross-kick for Howard to touch the ball down over the line.
It was a first senior try for Lyttle to bring Ulster back into the half after a clever break by Pienaar, the debutant keeping cool to latch onto his teammate's kick and scramble it over the line.
Ulster took the lead just five minutes later after sustained pressure on their visitors as Stockdale expertly kicked through the Dragons defence and touched down in the corner to give his side the advantage at the break.
Pienaar, who on Thursday announced he would be leaving the Kingspan at the end of the season, extended the Ulstermen's lead within minutes of the restart, charging down a Dragons kick within the 22 allowing him to ease over the line.
An inspired performance from Stockdale saw him almost double his try tally just after the hour-mark, teeing himself up for the chase to the line before the ball bounced out in dangerous territory.
But it was Lyttle who scored his second of the game to give Ulster some breathing space, diving over in the corner after Les Kiss' side took advantage of an overthrown Dragons line-out to seal the bonus point.
And it wasn't long before the men in white got their fifth try of the night as co-captain Herring made use of a driving maul to dot over the line, to make it six wins in seven for Ulster when hosting Welsh opposition in the opening fixture.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Lyttle 2, Pienaar, Stockdale, Herring
Cons: Pienaar 2
For Newport Gwent Dragons:
Try: Howard
Pen: Macleod
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Stuart Olding, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Brett Herron, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Clive Ross, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Pete Browne, 3 Ross Kane, 2 Rob Herring (captain), 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Andy Warwick, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Sam Windsor, 23 Robert Lyttle.
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Adam Warren, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Ollie Griffiths, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Thomas Rhys Thomas (captain), 1 Sam Hobbs.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Tom Davies, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Nick Crosswell, 20 Lewis Evans, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Angus O'Brien, 23 Tyler Morgan.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Matteo Liperini (Italy), Helen O'Reilly (Ireland)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)
Source: @PRO12rugby
