Earls scores on Munster return

Keith Earls announced his return from injury with a first-half try, as Munster made hard work of Benetton Treviso in a 14-3 win at Thomond Park.

* In the other Pro12 match on Saturday Glasgow Warriors marked their return to action at Scotstoun for the first time in six weeks with a hard-fought 14-6 win against the Scarlets.

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Glasgow Warriors 14-6 Scarlets

Glasgow Warriors marked their return to action at Scotstoun for the first time in six weeks with a hard-fought 14-6 win against the Scarlets in the Pro12.

Man-of-the-match Niko Matawalu was the evening's only try scorer after he dived over for the Warriors on the half-hour mark.

The win is the Warriors' first in three games following narrow losses to Leinster earlier this month and Newport Gwent Dragons at the end of February.

Warriors fly-half Duncan Weir opened the scoring with a penalty outside the Scarlets 22 after Scarlets prop Samson Lee was penalised for a high-tackle against centre Richie Vernon.

The two sides remained deadlocked until the 20 minute mark when John Barclay was caught offside in the tackle leaving Weir with a straightforward strike between the uprights to double the advantage.

Olly Barclay reduced the deficit five minutes later after Glasgow conceded a penalty leaving captain Jonathan Davies to opt to kick for the points.

The game shifted in Glasgow's favour on the half-hour mark. A Glasgow penalty inside the Welsh 22 saw Weir kick for the corner.

From the resulting lineout Chris Fusaro charged for the line and fell short, and in the melee that followed Scarlets were deemed by the TMO to have held up the ball.

Glasgow were then awarded a try on the five-metre line. Scrum-half Chris Cusiter fed the scrum and No.8 Josh Strauss picked up the ball and fed to a fast moving Cusiter who popped the ball inside to Matawalu who sprinted over the line virtually unchallenged for what would be the evening's match winning try.

Weir missed the conversion, but the Warriors carried the 11-3 advantage into half-time.

The second half opened with both sides trading kicks. A minute in Weir made it 14-3 after converting a penalty given for offside.

Six minutes later Barkley converted his second penalty of the night after the Welsh side were awarded a penalty in front of the posts.

With the scores remaining unchanged until the final whistle, it was the Scarlets that put up a solid defence in the face of a charging Glasgow attack on the 60 minute mark, and a penalty to the Scarlets saw them clear from the five-metre line.

In the closing stages of the game, with the weather quickly deteriorating, Scarlets could have added another three points after Cusiter was ruled by the TMO to have deliberately knocked the ball forward while trying to intercept a Scarlets pass on the attack.

However Aled Thomas' attempt was skewed wide and Glasgow remained in front until the final whistle.

The scorers:

For Glasgow Warriors:

Try: Matawalu

Pens: Weir 3

For the Scarlets

Pens: Barkley 2

Teams:

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Niko Matawalu, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter (captain), 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gordon Reid

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Moray Low, 19 Al Kellock, 20 Leone Nakarawa, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Sean Maitland.

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Jonathan Davies (captain), 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Jordan Williams, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Timani, 7 John Barclay, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Johan Snyman, 4 George Earle, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John

Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Richard Kelly, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Adam Warren, 23 Gareth Maule.

Referee: Alain Rolland

Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton , David Changleng

TMO: Jim Yuille

Munster 14-3 Treviso

Keith Earls announced his return from injury with a first-half try as Munster made hard work of Benetton Treviso in a 14-3 win at Thomond Park.

Treviso had suffered punishing defeats to Ospreys and Connacht in their last two Pro12 trips but ran Rob Penney's side close for the entire 80 minutes.

Mat Berquist's third-minute penalty gave the Italians the lead but Earls, whose knee injury had kept him out of the competition since December, finally got Munster off the mark just before half time.

James Downey found another breakthrough for the Irish province in the second half while JJ Hanrahan had a troublesome night off the tee, missing two penalties though successful with the extras.

The win sees Munster return to second place – leapfrogging Ulster – while Leinster remain on top by two points ahead of the pair's mouthwatering tie at the Aviva Stadium next week.

The Italians had not won a Pro12 away game since December 2012 while Thomond Park remains as imperious as ever – Munster are the only team in the tournament with a 100 per cent home record intact.

However, Treviso took the early initiative as Berquist slotted a penalty between the posts following Sean Dougall's ill-discipline at the breakdown.

Rob Penney's men struggled to find their feet early on, Hanrahan spoiling a promising period of play with a loose pass from which Treviso were unlucky not to spring a counter attack.

Livewire full-back Angelo Esposito was also catching the eye for the visitors, the Italian international's deft sidestep carving up Munster before being brought down on halfway.

But Munster were slowly clicking through the gears, a neat passage of play involving Hanrahan, Duncan Williams and Casey Laulala eventually being brought back for a penalty.

Yet Thomond Park was quickly silenced as from little beyond the visitors 22', Hanrahan pulled his three-pointer wide.

And when an almost identical opportunity beckoned just before the half-hour mark, the 20-year-old failed to split the posts once more.

Treviso could have doubled their lead when Berquist was called upon for his second penalty of the night but the New Zealander followed his opposite number in misfiring.

But if Hanrahan had started sluggishly the stand-off set the game alight moments later as his blistering break from deep inside Munster territory released the fit-again Earls for the score.

There were suspicions of a forward pass but after consulting the TMO referee Leighton Hodges allowed the try to stand, before Hanrahan added a simple conversion.

Almost immediately after Berquist made it four missed penalties in a row but Munster had their tails up going into the break – and were quick to keep the momentum rolling in the second half.

Only a throng of Treviso bodies prevented Johne Murphy from touching down after concerted home side pressure straight out of the traps.

And the dam looked like it would soon burst as the Italians repeatedly buckled in the scrum, with hooker Giovanni Maistri the recipient of a yellow card.

Against the tide however Treviso received their own penalty for a Munster infringement and promptly booted the ball away – when a score had looked inevitable moments before.

The hosts were back chipping away in Treviso's half before long and despite the best efforts of Christian Loamanu, Downey crowned a Munster move by finishing in the corner.

The TMO was needed for the second time but Downey was judged to have kept out of touch before flinging himself over.

Hanrahan was clearly finding his kicking form by nailing a tricky conversion and with two tries on the board, Munster could start to thinking about chasing down a bonus point.

But a defiant Treviso never let their guard down – despite late forays from a lively Felix Jones and Earls – to round off a spirited performance.

The scorers:

For Munster:

Tries: Earls, Downey

Cons: Hanrahan 2

For Treviso:

Pen: Berquist

Yellow card: Giovanni Maistri (Benetton Treviso, 50)

Teams:

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Paddy Butler, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Billy Holland, 3 John Ryan, 2 Damien Varley (captain), 1 James Cronin.

Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Gerry Hurley, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Simon Zebo.

Treviso: 15 Angelo Esposito, 14 Christian Loamanu, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Mat Berquist, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Marco Filippucci, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Giovanni Maistri, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Corniel Van Zyl, 21 Luke McLean, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 James Ambrosini.

Referee: Leighton Hodges

Assistant Referees: Nigel Correll, David Connolly

TMO: Dermot Moloney