Adeolokun double seals Connacht comeback

The result helped them move back ahead of Glasgow Warriors into second-place in the Pro12.

* In other Saturday action Finn Russell starred as champions Glasgow Warriors moved a step closer to confirming their Pro12 semifinal spot with a bonus-point win over Scarlets.

* Tommy Bowe's try double, in his first club appearance of the season, helped Ulster climb back into the Pro12 top four with a comfortable victory over lowly Zebre at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.

We look at all Saturday's matches!

Connacht 35-14 Munster

Niyi Adeolokun scored twice as Connacht scored 29 unanswered points to claim a bonus-point 35-14 win over Irish provincial rivals Munster and move back ahead of Glasgow Warriors into second-place in the Pro12.

Munster built up a 14-6 lead as Simon Zebo and Mike Sherry scored for the visitors, while Connacht – who had been shunted into third-place after Glasgow's bonus-point win against the Scarlets – could summon only two Shane O'Leary penalties.

But with Anthony Foley's side down to 14 men, Connacht sprang into action and it was Adeolokun who took advantage of some excellent Bundee Aki play to score his first of the evening.

A penalty try on the stroke of half-time meant Connacht led 20-14 at the break and then Adeolokun's second extended their lead and Finlay Bealham the bonus point score.

Pat Lam's side bounced back from European heart-break last weekend and effectively ended Munster's hopes of a play-off spot by completing their first-ever league double against the Munstermen – Foley's men now sit seventh, with a serious battle for Champions Cup rugby on their hands.

A stray Munster hand in the ruck allowed O'Leary to put Connacht ahead after eight minutes, but it was Zebo who made the first real statement of the half – Munster's record try-scorer going over for a try on his 100th appearance for the province. Johnny Holland converted.

O'Leary reduced the deficit to one point with another successful penalty, but again it was Munster – summoning the forward power of old – whose superb driving maul left Connacht scrambling backwards, hooker Sherry the man to dot down and Holland again on point with the shoe.

Having built up an eight point buffer after 24 minutes, Munster – like every side that have played the Men from Galway this season – witnessed the grit of Connacht under Lam.

With eight minutes remaining, James Cronin saw yellow and Lam's men made their numerical advantage count as the superb Aki bust through Munster's scrambled defensive line before moving the ball to Finlay Bealham, who sent Adeolokun racing under the posts. O'Leary nudged an easy conversion to bring Connacht within a point again.

Aki was again to the fore as Connacht came roaring into the half with a minute remaining, the all-action centre almost raced clear from his own half, but Munster scrambled well.

Foley's men found themselves under severe pressure at the scrum and when Billy Holland was sent to the sin-bin, Connacht made no mistake with a two man advantage in the pack and Ben Whitehouse was left with no choice but to march Munster under the posts for a penalty try that O'Leary converted for a 20-14 half-time lead.

Prop Dennis Buckley stole a march in a back and forth second-half, when he won his 19th turnover of the season – jackling superbly over Holland and clinching a penalty for Lam's side, which moved them deep into Munster territory.

Robbie Henshaw – playing at full-back – dropped a cute kick in-behind Munster and Adeolokun profited from an awkward bounce to collect the ball and touch down for the easiest of finishes. O'Leary's kick drifted wide in a fierce breeze at the Sportsground.

It was two hugely promising youngsters who combined for the bonus point score – and ultimately to put the game beyond Munster.

Ultan Dillane's powerful carry put Connacht firmly on the front foot, deep into opposition territory and when the ball was recycled Bealham ran over and O'Leary sent his fifth successful kick of the night over to send the Sportsground into delirium.

O'Leary knocked over one final penalty with the last kick of the game to truly rub salt in the Munster wound.

The scorers:

For Connacht:

Tries: Adeolokun 2, Penalty try, Bealham

Cons: O'Leary 3

Pen: O'Leary 3

For Munster:

Tries: Zebo, Sherry

Cons: Holland 2

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Shane O'Leary, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (captain), 7 Eoin McKeon, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley.

Replacements: 16 Jason Harris-Wright, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 JP Cooney, 19 Andrew Browne, 20 James Connolly, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Fionn Carr.

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Johnny Holland, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack O'Donoghue, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 CJ Stander (captain), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 James Cronin.

Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Robin Copeland, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Tomás O'Leary, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Andrew Conway.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Assistant referees: Gary Conway (Ireland), Nigel Correll (Ireland)

TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Scarlets 10-46 Glasgow Warriors

Finn Russell starred as champions Glasgow Warriors moved a step closer to confirming their Pro12 semifinal spot with a bonus-point win over Scarlets.

A Russell try-double got the visitors off to a fine start after Scarlets kicked an early penalty.

The returning Liam Williams kept Scarlets in touch but further tries from Lee Jones, who also scored twice, as well as Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett and Henry Pyrgos meant Glasgow racked up seven in total.

The win means Glasgow, temporarily at least, rise to second in the Pro12 ahead of Connacht Rugby's encounter with Munster.

Steve Shingler put the home side three points to the good after two minutes as Glasgow were penalised for not rolling away at the breakdown.

But Warriors hit back straight away as Russell scored a beautifully crafted try.

A short line out set up the position for him to chip over the Scarlets defence then collect and touch down in one motion, before kicking the extras.

Things got worse for Scarlets' on 11 minutes with an injury to DTH van der Merwe, who went off with his arm in a makeshift sling and was replaced by Steffan Hughes.

Russell then extended the visitors' lead with a routine penalty won as Scarlets tried to run their way out of trouble.

After 20 minutes he turned down another kick at goal but his angled kick set up a perfect line-out position.

He continued the Russell show by finished strongly in the corner, under pressure from Steffan Evans, but could not add the extras from the touchline.

Scarlets were back in it on the half hour mark though, Williams running the decisive angle to breeze past Sila Puafisi and touch down under the posts on his return to action – Shingler then added the extras.

The fightback did not last long though as Jones re-established the ten point lead on 37 minutes, finishing in the corner after Henry Pyrgos broke when Glasgow forced a turnover on the half-way line.

A bonus point was secured for Glasgow less than a minute into the second period, Pyrgos finishing a sublime team move in the corner as Russell's expertly timed pass set him free in the right corner, the fly-half then continuing his dominance with the boot.

Warriors put the game beyond Scarlets reach just before the hour mark as a Pyrgos pass ricocheted off the home side's defence and fell kindly for Mark Bennett to pick up and run a curved line to touch down under the posts with Russell kicking the extras.

Phil John came on for his 264th and final appearance for Scarlets with a little under 20 minutes to go but it made no difference.

The Glasgow dominance continued and a Russell interception in his own half set up the platform for Seymour to cross under the posts with 15 minutes to go with the fly-half kicking the conversion.

Russell almost completed his hat-trick with seven minutes to go but his mazy run was stopped ten metres short, only for Jones to pick up the recycled ball and cross the whitewash, Russell for once unable to kick the extras.

The loss loosened Scarlets' grip on fourth place and a semifinal spot with just two rounds of action to go.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:

Try: Williams

Con: Shingler

Pen: Shingler

For Glasgow Warriors:

Tries: Russell 2, Jones 2, Pyrgos, Bennett, Seymour

Cons: Russell 4

Pen: Russell

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Steve Shingler, 9 Gareth Davies,  8 John Barclay, 7 James Davies, 6 Maselino Paulino, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (captain), 1 Rob Evans.

Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Phil John, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 George Earle, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Steff Hughes.

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ryan Wilson, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray (captain), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid.

Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Tyrone Holmes, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Simon Brickell (Wales)

TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

Zebre 17-47 Ulster

Tommy Bowe's try double, in his first club appearance of the season, helped Ulster climb back into the Pro12 top four with a comfortable victory over lowly Zebre at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.

The Ireland winger sustained a knee injury during last year's World Cup but returned to Ulster duty in style as he broke a tackle to dot down under the posts on 12 minutes – one of four first-half tries for the visitors.

Ruan Pienaar, Craig Gilroy and Jared Payne also dotted down and although Guglielmo Palazzani crossed for Zebre, they still trailed 26-10 at the break.

It was more of the same after the interval as Zebre's winless Pro12 run since January 3 goes on thanks to a second for Bowe and Payne completing his hat-trick with two further scores.

Ulrich Beyers did dot down for a consolation for the hosts but they failed to improve a record which has only seen them record one victory over an Irish province in Pro12 history, that coming against Ulster in September 2014.

Ulster's away form has been spotty this year, with their only league win on the road since the calendar flipped to 2016 coming against Treviso back in January.

But it took them just two minutes to get on the scoreboard in Parma as Paddy Jackson produced a moment of brilliance to set Pienaar away for the try with Jackson duly adding the conversion.

Zebre did make it 7-7 when scrumhalf Palazzani took advantage of a ferocious drive from his pack to touch down and Carlo Canna converted but five minutes later Bowe restored his side's advantage.

The speedster burst through a weak tackle in the Zebre 22 to go over underneath the posts and although Canna slotted a three-pointer to narrow the deficit, try number three came midway through the first half.

Pienaar's perfectly-weighted grubber kick was expertly collected by Gilroy for a score in the corner and after a period of relative frustration for the Ulstermen, they secured the all-important bonus-point try on the stroke of half-time.

Payne took advantage of a nice move to dive over and although Jackson's perfect record from the tee went begging as he missed the conversion attempt, Ulster looked more or less home and dry with a 26-10 lead.

That became 33-10 just after the interval when Bowe fed Stuart Olding after a scintillating break and he released Payne for the full-back's second try before the Ireland international became a hat-trick hero on 51 minutes by finishing off further good work from Olding and Gilroy.

Beyers briefly gave the home fans something to cheer as he notched a breakaway try on the hour mark but Ulster, and the returning star Bowe, had the last word two minutes from time as Darren Cave fed the 67-cap Ireland international to cross the whitewash.

The scorers:

For Zebre:

Tries: Palazzani, Beyers

Cons: Canna 2

Pen: Canna

For Ulster:

Tries: Pienaar, Bowe 2, Gilroy, Payne 3

Cons: Jackson 3, Pienaar 2, Olding

Teams:

Zebre: 15 Kayle Van Zyl, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Gideon Koegelenberg, 7 Federico Ruzza, 6 Jean Cook, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (captain), 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti.

Replacements: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Emiliano Caffini, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Tommaso Boni.

Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart Olding, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Pete Browne, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rory Best, 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Andrew Warwick, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Rory Scholes.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Claudio Blessano (Italy), Andrea Spadoni (Italy)

TMO: Carlo Damasco (Italy)

Source: @PRO12rugby