Cardiff leave it late to down Ulster

Three points separated the sides after a tense first half, with Paddy Jackson outscoring Rhys Patchell by two penalties to one, but the fireworks were still to come in the second period.

It looked like Craig Gilroy's excellent score was enough for the Ulstermen to take a win home with them, but two tries in the final 10 minutes from Patchell and Aled Summerhill turned the game on its head.

*Ben Toolis crossed over late on to move Edinburgh closer to the top four with the narrowest of victories over Scarlets. Edinburgh came into the game off the back of four consecutive defeats and home comforts were evident in the early stages as Phil Burleigh crossed over.

The Scarlets responded well and grabbed three first-half tries, through Hadleigh Parkes, James Davies and Steffan Evans, to lead at the break. However, second-row Toolis crossed over late on for a 24-23 triumph.

*Ian Keatley held his nerve to bisect the posts five minutes from time and deny Benetton Treviso a third successive victory. The Italian side have turned a corner in recent weeks and led throughout at Stadio Monigo.

Robert Barbieri crossed and fullback Jayden Hayward kept the scoreboard ticking along from the tee. But Munster have not given up hope of securing a top-four finish and two penalties from Keatley in the final 12 minutes took the game away from Treviso.

*Leinster left in late to secure maximum points against Zebre and close the gap on leaders Connacht. Luke McGrath crossed over to get them off to a flying start but Zebre are a more resilient side on home soil and the visitors held a 12-3 lead at the break, Dominic Ryan with the second try.

A superb Adam Byrne score widened the gap after half-time but Zebre enjoyed their fair share of possession and territory in the second half and were rewarded with a Federico Ruzza try. But Dan Leavy crossed over late on to hand Leinster their bonus point and ensure Connacht saw their lead at the top cut to just one point.

We look at all Sunday's scores and scorers!

Benetton Treviso 13-16 Munster

There was little sign of what was to come when Munster made the initial breakthrough on 13 minutes. The maul drove to the line and, just as it looked as though they would be held up by the Treviso defence, the ball was worked to Gerhard van den Heever out wide who went over. Keatley though saw his conversion drift wide.

But Treviso hit back on 27 minutes when No.8 Barbieri bundled his way over. Hayward added the extras to put his side in front. That's the way it stood at half-time to leave Munster contemplating a third consecutive defeat for the first time since 2013.

Hayward extended Treviso's advantage on 52 minutes with a successful penalty after an offside. Munster were level on 58 minutes. Centre Francis Saili chased down a loose ball from Andrew Conway's kick, burst ahead of the chasing defenders and crossed. Keatley saw his conversion attempt caught in the wind though.

Hayward again put Treviso in front with a 64th minute penalty, but Munster kept cool and Keatley soon had them on level terms.

With five minutes remaining, Munster took the lead for the first time in the match, Keatley successful with the penalty. With three minutes to go though Dave Kilcoyne was shown a yellow card and, with a man advantage, Treviso piled on the pressure.

But after several phases of play, taking the match two minutes into additional time, a knock on sealed their fate and earned Munster a much-needed victory.

Scorers:

For Benetton Treviso:

Try: Barbieri

Con: Hayward

Pens: Hayward 2

For Munster:

Tries: van den Heever, Saili

Pens: Keatley 2

Yellow card: Dave Kilcoyne (Munster, 77)

Teams:

Benetton Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (captain), 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Alberto Lucchese, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Filo Paulo, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Federico Zani, 17 Cherif Traorè, 18 Filippo Filippetto, 19 Jeff Montauriol, 20 Dean Budd, 21 Andrea De Marchi, 22 Chris Smylie, 23 Tommaso Iannone.

Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Gerhard van den Heever, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Dave O'Callaghan, 6 Jack O'Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (captain), 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 John Ryan, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.

Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 Cian Bohane, 23 David Johnston.

Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)

Cardiff Blues 23-13 Ulster

Cardiff started the game in the ascendancy at scrum time, the Blues pack winning an eight-minute penalty with a big shove, but Patchell could not kick his side into the lead as his effort drifted wide despite having the distance.

Ulster squandered the next chance to take the lead, Jackson's long penalty attempt from wide on the left sailing right of the uprights after 19 minutes.

Slick hands from Jarrad Hoeata and then Rey Lee-Lo saw the hosts advance up the pitch shortly after, but a knock-on soon after saw the momentum lost, and patient play from Ulster saw them claim the first points of the game on 32 minutes.

Nick Williams, Darren Cave and Jackson were all involved before Cardiff were pinged in front of the posts, and this time the latter made no mistake with the simple kick to make it 3-0.

And five minutes later the same man doubled their advantage after Ruan Pienaar kicked in behind and Cardiff Blues were penalised for holding on as they looked to run from deep, with Peter Browne doing the hard work at the breakdown.

But Patchell's kick from range did at least ensure the hosts were on the board before the interval, with Ulster penalised as the clock ticked into the red.

The scores were level just three minutes after the break, with Patchell again nailing a monster kick, but just as the hosts looked to have wrestled the momentum away from Ulster they were hit with a sucker punch on 47 minutes.

Franco van der Merwe provided a couple of big carries, before a brilliant line-break from Sam Arnold saw him draw in the fullback, before an expertly executed offload allowed Gilroy to finish off the move for the game's opening try, Jackson adding the extras.

The game then opened up, with Jackson kicking the ball dead as he looked to chip in behind, Cardiff seeing their best opportunity of the game so far go begging. Patchell provided the break but Stuart Olding was there to haul down opposite number Dan Fish and prevent a certain try.

Stubborn defence from Ulster kept the home side out from the resulting scrum, but the pressure was mounting on the visitors after Patchell reduced the deficit with his third penalty on 66 minutes.

The game was set for a grandstand finish with the scoreline finely poised at 13-9 heading into the final 10 minutes and Cardiff made the decisive score. A brilliant line from Lee-Lo saw him cut through Ulster, and put Patchell through to cross the whitewash, with the extra points making it 16-13 to the hosts.

In a frantic finish to the game, Summerhill wrapped up the win with the Blues' second try in quick succession, Patchell nudging the conversion over with 90 seconds remaining to condemn Ulster to their second straight defeat.

For Cardiff Blues:

Tries: Patchell, Summerhill

Cons: Patchell 2

Pens: Patchell 3

For Ulster:

Try: Gilroy

Con: Jackson

Pens: Jackson 2

Teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Aled Summerhill, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 James Down, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Brad Thyer

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Taufa'ao Filise, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Garyn Smith

Ulster: 15 Stuart Olding, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Paddy Jackson (captain), 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Pete Browne, 3 Bronson Ross, 2 John Andrew, 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 Jonny Murphy, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Ricky Lutton, 19 Roger Wilson, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Rory Scholes.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

Edinburgh 24-23 Scarlets

Edinburgh began on top and their pack won an early penalty, allowing teenager Blair Kinghorn to fire over a long-range effort and hand the hosts a three-point lead. Aled Thomas levelled matters three minutes later but it wasn't long before Edinburgh had the game's first try, Burleigh sniping around the ruck to cross over under the posts and Kinghorn adding the simple conversion.

Once again, Thomas swiftly responded with a successful penalty, after Jamie Ritchie was penalised at the ruck and shortly after the quarter-hour mark, his side were in front. Parkes showed great awareness to pounce on a loose ball and sprint into space, eventually travelling almost half the length of the pitch to score, though Thomas sent the extras wide.

Kinghorn's second penalty put Edinburgh 13-11 ahead after 22 minutes and while Thomas missed one of his own shortly after, he wasn't left fretting over it for long. Davies picked a gap and powered through it to cross the Edinburgh line, though Thomas' bad luck with the boot continued as his extras struck the crossbar.

That left Edinburgh three points behind but, five minutes before the break, that deficit stretched to 10 when Evans found his way over in the corner and Thomas converted.

Kinghorn powered over a long-range penalty on the stroke of half time and, shortly after it, he added another three points after Edinburgh's pack earned a scrum penalty. The lead looked to have changed hands again after 48 minutes when Burleigh scurried over but the TMO adjudged the flyhalf to have benefitted from a double movement.

They pushed and probed but found a stubborn Scarlets defence standing in their way, until replacement Magnus Bradbury shook off a handful of defenders to take them within touching distance of the line.

Toolis did the rest and, despite Kinghorn's conversion bouncing back off the post, Edinburgh had the lead with just 10 minutes to play. Thomas sought to address that, only for the Scarlets flyhalf to send a penalty wide of the target, and that proved to be their last chance of the match.

Scorers:

For Edinburgh:

Tries: Burleigh, Toolis

Con: Kinghorn

Pens: Kinghorn 4

For Scarlets:

Tries: Parkes, Davies, Evans

Con: Thomas

Pens: Thomas 2

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Michael Allen, 12 Sam Beard, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 John Andress, 2 Neil Cochrane (captain), 1 Allan Dell.

Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Grant Sheills, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Alex Toolis, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Dougie Fife.

Scarlets: 15 Michael Collins, 14 Gareth Owen, 13 Regan King, 12 Hadleigh Parkes (captain), 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 James Davies, 6 Maselino Paulino, 5 David Bulbring, 4 George Earle, 3 Peter Edwards, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Phil John.

Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Rory Pitman, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Evans.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Zebre 10-27 Leinster

Leinster flew out the blocks and were on the board inside six minutes. Good work from the pack allowed McGrath to snipe down the blind side and score, though Isa Nacewa missed the extras. They continued to threaten and Garry Ringrose away broke down the left touchline, before he was bundled into touch by a covering defender.

The second try arrived before the 20-minute mark when Peter Dooley showed sharp hands to send Ryan in under the posts and this time Nacewa converted. Zebre began to find a foothold in the game and when they were awarded a kickable penalty shortly before the half-hour, flyhalf Ian McKinley pointing to the posts and getting the hosts on the board.

McGrath nearly got away for his second try just a couple of minutes later but despite Leinster probing away for the rest of the half, they went into the break just nine points to the good.

Nacewa got the second half up and running with a penalty and five minutes later a super third try arrived, courtesy of Byrne. Zane Kirchner chipped through before the Leinster academy product hacked forward and dotted down his second try against Zebre in as many games, Nacewa with the extras.

As the muddy conditions worsened, Zebre gained more of a foothold and enjoyed a spell in the Leinster half and Kayle van Zyl made a break for the corner flag, only to be herded into touch a couple of metres short.

Their perseverance eventually paid off seven minutes from time when Ruzza followed a long series of phases with a pick-and-go under the posts, McKinley converting. However, Leinster made their way up the other end in the dying moments and grabbed that coveted fourth try, Dan Leavy emerging from the base of a powerful maul with ball in hand and a smile on his face.

Scorers:

For Zebre:

Try: Ruzza

Con: McKinley

Pen: McKinley

For Leinster:

Tries: McGrath, Ryan, Byrne, Leavy

Cons: Nacewa 2

Pen: Nacewa

Teams:

Zebre: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Johan Meyer, 7 Federico Ruzza, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Guillermo Roan, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Bruno Postiglioni.

Replacements: 16 Gabriele Morelli, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Emiliano Caffini, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Maicol Azzolini, 23 Ulrich Beyers.

Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Isa Nacewa (captain), 10 Cathal Marsh, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Mick Kearney, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Cian Kelleher.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)