Five star Connacht shock Leinster
Connacht ran in five tries for a shock 34-6 bonus-point humbling of European champions Leinster at the Sportsground on Friday.
Leinster's first all-Irish clash of the season ended their three-match winning streak and gets a hoodoo off Eric Elwood's men who had lost their six matches to the European champions.
Connacht dominated proceedings in the first half and were fully worthy of their 22-6 half-time lead as David McSharry, Fetu'u Vainikolo and Tiernan O'Halloran all went over for the Galway side.
The second half was more even as Leinster showed some fight but two late tries from forwards George Naoupu and Ronan Loughney put some very impressive gloss on the scoreline.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: McSharry, Vainikolo, O' Halloran, Naoupu, Loughney
Cons: Parks 2, Nikora
Pen: Parks
For Leinster:
Pens: Madigan 2
Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Nathan White (captain), 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Jason Harris-Wright, 17 Brett Wilkinson, 18 Ronan Loughney, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Mata Fifita.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 John Cooney, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Shane Jennings (captain), 6 Ben Marshall, 5 Tom Denton, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Thomas Sexton, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Fionn Carr.
Glasgow Warriors 22-19 Zebre
Pete Horne kicked a late penalty to sink Zebre as Glasgow Warriors scraped to a 22-19 PRO12 victory in a game that saw both DTH Van de Merwe and Moray Low suffer serious injuries.
Zebre were searching for their first win since coming into existence this summer but in the end had to settle for a losing bonus point after Daniel Halangahu's late missed penalty.
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Swinson, van der Merwe, Morrison
Cons: Jackson 2
Pen: Horne
For Zebre:
Try: Orquera
Con: Orquera
Pens: Orquera 4
Glasgow: 15 Fraser Thomson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Byron McGuigan, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro (captain), 6 Angus Macdonald, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Finlay Gillies, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Ofa Fainga'anuku, 18 Moray Low, 19 James Eddie, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Stuart Hogg.
Zebre: 15 Daniel Halangahu, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia (captain), 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alberto Chillon, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Filippo Cristiano, 5 Michael Van Vuren, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Luca Redolfini, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Mancini, 17 Carlo Fazzari, 18 Andrea De Marchi, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Nicola Belardo, 21 Luca Martinelli, 22 Paolo Buso, 23 Samuele Pace.
Referee: Leighton Hodges
Cardiff Blues 19-48 Ulster
Ulster paid the perfect tribute to Nevin Spence as they recorded a bonus-point 48-19 success over Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park to make it four wins from four this season and move top of the PRO12.
Spence passed away in tragic circumstances with his brother Graham and father Noel a fortnight ago and the game was preceded by an immaculately observed minute's silence.
However the match also marked Tommy Bowe's return in Ulster colours and the Irish international wing came back with a bang, scoring two tries, to add to a double from the rampaging Nick Williams.
Mike Allen, Jared Payne and Andrew Trimble also crossed for the visitors, with Paddy Jackson adding 13 points with the boot while the Blues could only manage one try through wing Harry Robinson.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Try: Robinson
Cons: G Davies
Pens: Tovey 3, G Davies
For Ulster:
Tries: Bowe 2, Williams 2, Allen, Payne, Trimble
Cons: Jackson 4
Pen: Jackson
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Dafydd Hewitt, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Andries Pretorius (captain), 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Robin Copeland, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Nathan Trevett.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Campese Ma'afu, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Rory Watts-Jones, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Tom Williams.
Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Michael Allen, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Chris Henry (captain), 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Neil McComb, 3 John Afoa, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Paddy Wallace, 23 Craig Gilroy.
Referee: Marius Mitrea
Newport Gwent Dragons 32-12 Edinburgh
Tom Prydie won the battle of the fledgling kickers with an 18-point haul to help Newport Gwent Dragons maintain their excellent record over Edinburgh in the PRO12 with a 32-12 victory.
The 20-year-old fired over six penalties on a still Rodney Parade evening on Friday to defy Dragons' early season form which had garnered just one victory.
In the opposition ranks Harry Leonard, who replaced Greig Laidlaw at flyhalf for the Scottish side, missed three out of his four kicks but in truth the powerful hosts were too good.
The Dragons have not lost to Edinburgh since April 2011, while the Gunners haven't won in Newport since 2006 and within the first minute a try-saving tackle prevented the Welsh outfit making the perfect start.
The scorers:
For Dragons:
Try: Price
Pens: Prydie 6
DG: S Jones 3
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Brown, Visser
Con: Leonard
Dragons: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Pat Leach, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Steffan Jones, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Lewis Evans (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Adam Jones, 4 Ian Nimmo, 3 Dan Way, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Aaron Coundley, 18 Nathan Buck, 19 Jevon Groves, 20 Tom Brown, 21 Liam Davies, 22 Ashley Smith, 23 Will Harries.
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Ben Atiga, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Harry Leonard, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Sean Cox (captain), 4 Robert McAlpine, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andy Titterrell, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 John Yapp, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Dimitri Basilaia, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Chris Leck, 22 John Houston, 23 Dougie Fife.
Referee: Johnny Lacey
