Eight-try Leinster overpower Zebre

The hosts, who are now unbeaten in 10 home matches, earned a bonus point by half-time as Hayden Triggs, Isa Nacewa, Luke McGrath and Adam Byrne each crossed over. Zebre, chasing a third win in four games, showed some resolve early in the second-half but eventually Leinster's class told.

Jordi Murphy, Sean Cronin, Garry Ringrose and Cian Kelleher added further tries as they completed the triumph to keep their play-off ambitions on track.

*At the Kingspan Stadium, Callum Black crashed over the try line on his 100th Ulster appearance as the hosts saw off Glasgow Warriors 13-10. Despite the visitors going ahead early through Lee Jones' first try of the season, in-form Ulster slowly battled back with Black's converted second-half try opening up some breathing space.

Penalties for Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Jackson also kept the hosts in the driving seat and while Taqele Naiyaravoro got a late consolation to earn Glasgow a losing bonus point, Ulster still extended their recent run to just one loss in their last six fixtures.

*Aled Thomas held his nerve to score a last-gasp penalty and help Scarlets snatch a 22-21 victory against Edinburgh. The Welsh region looked to be cruising to victory with a 13-3 half-time lead and that had been extended to 19-6 as the clock crept towards the hour-mark.

But tries from Cornell Du Preez and Alex Toolis turned the game on its head, before Thomas's late score saved their blushes and moved Scarlets to within a point of pace-setters Ulster.

All Friday's scores and scorers!

Leinster 52-0 Zebre

Leinster enjoyed much of the early possession and they turned that into points after nine minutes when Triggs went over for his first try for the province, Nacewa converting. Nacewa grabbed a try of his own shortly afterwards, Cathal Marsh making some ground with a nice break before the ball was worked left to the captain, who crossed over and converted.

Five minutes later the hosts were awarded a penalty inside the Zebre 22 and showed their intentions with Marsh kicking for the corner, but the resulting rumbling maul was turned over. Leo Cullen's side had to wait until the 36th minute for a third score, when Marsh one again found touch with a kickable penalty and McGrath peeled off the back of the maul to dot down.

Nacewa added the conversion and within a couple of minutes he had another. Marsh and Ringrose linked up well in midfield before Byrne crossed over on his first start at the RDS. Cullen introduced front row reinforcements at the break in the shape of Cronin and Michael Bent, while Kelleher replaced Nacewa, but they were met with a more resilient Zebre side in the early second-half exchanges.

That was until the hour mark, though, when an excellent burst from Kelleher had the Zebre defence scrambling to recover and Murphy capitalising to score. That conversion was missed but Marsh made no such mistake when Cronin found his way over the line 11 minutes from time.

Ringrose came to the party with a seventh Leinster try four minutes later as tired Zebre legs began to toil, Marsh once again adding two point from the tee for a 45-0 lead. It was Kelleher who brought up the half-century in the closing stages, sprinting clear from the halfway line to make it eight, Marsh again converting.

Scorers:

For Leinster:

Tries: Triggs, Nacewa, McGrath, Byrne, Murphy, Cronin, Ringrose, Kelleher

Cons: Nacewa 3, Marsh 3

For Zebre: None

Teams:

Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Isa Nacewa (captain), 10 Cathal Marsh, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Mike Ross, 2 James Tracy, 1 Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Michael Bent,) 19 Tom Denton, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Cian Kelleher.

Zebre: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Maicol Azzolini, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Jean Cook, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Emiliano Caffini, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Guillermo Roan, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Bruno Postiglioni.

Replacements: 16 Emiliano Coria, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Filippo Cristiano, 21 Giulio Toniolatti, 22 Mils Muliaina, 23 Abou Souare.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Ulster 13-10 Glasgow Warriors

Ulster started off on the front foot and had an early chance to opening the scoring on six minutes when they were awarded a penalty within range of the posts. But Pienaar, attempting his first kick of the season, miscued his effort and the ball sailed wide.

Three minutes later and the first points of the game did arrive though, this time for visitors Glasgow after some superb play from their young backline. Winning the line out on the far touch line, the visitors eventually went for the catch and drive before quick hands released centre Johnson to burst through the Ulster defence with a darting line.

He was able to release the ball and it was eventually fed out to the near touchline where Jones was able to dart over for a 5-0 lead. Gregor Hunter was off target with the conversion. Ulster looked to hit back, and when they turned over the ball in midfield, a clever pass played in Alan O'Connor to make up some ground.

The ball was eventually lost, but with referee Marius Mitrea playing advantage for an earlier offside, Pienaar dutifully stepped up to add a simple three points. The momentum was now with the hosts and Gilroy was again the driving factor, picking the ball up on the halfway line before eyeing a space down the right.

With options limited, he opted to kick forward with Pienaar in pursuit but Ali Price just won the footrace before the line as Ulster had to settle for a five metre scrum. Despite repeatedly pushing for the try line the Glasgow defence stood firm and eventually won a penalty of their own to relieve the pressure.

The hosts thought they had notched a try just past the half hour mark when Paul Marshall seized on a loose ball but the TMO ruled there had been no downward pressure as the score remained 5-3 in Glasgow's favour at the break.

Glasgow looked to begin the second-half strongly and were awarded a penalty, with Hunter opting to kick for the posts from over 40 metres, but his effort flew wide on 48 minutes. And just five minutes later Ulster hit back as a trademark darting run from Gilroy pulled his side towards Glasgow's line, with Black eventually crashing over. Jackson added the conversion and the hosts were 10-5 up.

The Kingspan Stadium was now rocking and they were given another reason to cheer when Jacob Stockdale gathered a deep kick before gathering his own chip forward and cantering up field before eventually being stopped, while the Warriors defence held firm against another Ulster attack.

The penalties were starting to add up for Glasgow and Jackson took advantage of another one to take the score to 13-5. Another error from Glasgow resulted in Ryan Wilson receiving a yellow on 70 minutes for pulling down the line-out.

To their credit, the visitors refused to let their heads drop and they earned what could be a crucial losing bonus point come the end of the season, when Taqele Naiyaravoro crashed over but Ulster went back to the top of the table.

Scorers:

For Ulster:

Try: Black

Con: Jackson

Pens: Pienaar, Jackson

For Glasgow Warriors:

Tries: Jones, Naiyaravoro

Yellow card: Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors, 70)

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Stuart Olding, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Sam Windsor, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rob Herring (captain), 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Chris Henry, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Sammy Arnold.

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Glenn Bryce, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Gregor Hunter, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson (captain), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.

Replacements: 16 James Malcolm, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D'Arcy Rae, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Taqele Naiyaravoro.

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)

Scarlets 22-21 Edinburgh

It took just five minutes for Scarlets to stamp their authority on the contest, with Morgan Allen making a break down the left flank, handing off Damien Hoyland before crossing. Steve Shingler added the extras. Shingler kicked a penalty on 17 minutes, but at the other end Nathan Fowles reduced the deficit.

Thomas replaced Shingler midway through the opening period and needed no time to settle, instantly finding his range to bisect the posts with a penalty that gave Scarlets a 13-3 half-time lead. Fowles saw a penalty come back off the upright on the stroke of half-time, but made no such mistake off the tee two minutes after the restart with a straight forward kick in front of the posts.

Scarlets restored their 10 point advantage through Thomas on 47 minutes and he continued to keep his composure, with another successful penalty from long-range.

Edinburgh got themselves a lifeline on 59 minutes as the game began to turn. After a five metre line-out, the visitors worked the ball toward the left and Cornell Du Preez, at full stretch, dotted down. Greig Tonks hit his conversion wide of the posts.

After a collapsed scrum Tonks clawed Edinburgh back to within five points as nerves began to circulate. Edinburgh sensed a sensational comeback could be completed and grew in determination, twice charging down kicks inside the Scarlets 22.

Eventually the pressure paid off, Alex Toolis going over in the corner after nine phases to level the score. Tonks saw a kick from the right touchline sneak inside the posts to give the Scottish side the lead for the first time.

After a rip-roaring start to the season, Scarlets had lost three of their last four league matches to put a dent in their prospects of a top-four finish but they got back on track thanks to Thomas. Edinburgh's advantage lasted just two minutes, Thomas holding his nerve to bisect the points from just outside the 22.

Scorers:

For Scarlets:

Try: Allen

Con: Shingler

Pens: Shingler, Thomas 4

For Edinburgh:

Tries: Du Preez, Toolis

Con: Tonks

Pens: Fowles 2, Tonks

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Michael Collins, 14 Gareth Owen, 13 Regan King, 12 Hadleigh Parkes (captain), 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Aaron Shingler,  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 Steff Hughes, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Steff Evans.

Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Michael Allan, 12 Sam Beard, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9   Nathan Fowles, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 John Andress, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Rory Sutherland.

Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Alex Toolis, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Dougie Fife.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)