Pro12: Heaslip tormented by defeat

Leinster captain Jamie Heaslip admits they won't be celebrating a third straight title in May if last Saturday's performance becomes a habit this Pro12 season.

The two-time reigning champions met rivals Munster in Dublin last weekend – a venue at which they had not lost in six years.

However, a blistering first-half performance from the Munstermen set them on track to end that record and they eventually completed a 34-23 win.

Defeat leaves Leinster outside the top half of the Pro12 table after five rounds, having picked up just two wins to date.

Next up is Italian outfit Zebre, who have downed Ulster and run the unbeaten Ospreys very close in their last two outings, and Heaslip is counting on a response from his teammates.

"It wasn't easy. I don't like losing, full-stop," said the Ireland No.8.

"Losing at home – we pride ourselves on being strong home and away and especially at home – and then to top it off losing to Munster, I hate for several different reasons.

"I felt emotionally drained sitting in the changing room, I don't know how long it took me to even take off my jersey.

"In my stubbornness I still thought we were going to pull it off but it was too little, too late. But you've got to wear it – it's as simple as that.

"I was walking the dog at five in the morning, thinking about the game, because I couldn't sleep. It eats at you. If you play a good game but you get out-performed you would walk away and think 'fair enough'.

"You did what you did, but you didn't get the outcome – but we didn't play to the standard we have set ourselves and we hold ourselves accountable for it.

"That just simply won't be good enough this week against Zebre if we're like that and it won't be good enough going forward so we have got to rectify that."

The largest crowd of the season so far packed into the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to watch Munster claim their first Pro12 victory over Leinster at the venue.

The game also marked Denis Hurley's 100th appearance in the tournament; he was joined on that mark by Newport Gwent Dragons' Jason Tovey last Sunday.

Rhys Priestland's 13 points for Scarlets took him over the 800 Pro12 point mark whilst Ian Keatley is now just 14 points shy of 1000 and will become only the third player to reach that milestone in the competition.

The 142 tries scored and the 4.73 average tries per match to date is the highest ever at this stage since the tournament went 'home & away' in 2003/04.

As the Pro12 enters its last round before the break for European competition, there are just two teams left across Europe with a 100 percent winning record, Pro12 leaders Glasgow Warriors, and second placed Ospreys.

Warriors are in action against Ulster in Belfast on Saturday, with their hosts just five points behind them placed third in the table, this is sure to be one of the games of the round.

The other unbeaten side, Ospreys, face competition who have lost more games than they have won in Cardiff Blues on Sunday, but with Welsh pride at stake, even with Osprey's historical home advantage, it is too tricky to call the outcome.

Thanks to their win in Dublin, Munster moved up into the play-off zone for the first time this season, and will want to consolidate their fourth place with a victory over Scarlets, whilst the team they deposed, Connacht, will be hoping to reverse their result of last season when they lost to Benetton Treviso in Italy.

Current champions Leinster are also in action in Italy when they face Zebre in Parma. Their hosts have already overturned one Irish province, Ulster, at Stadio XXV Aprile this season, and Leinster's indifferent form so far will make them wary of this trip.

The remaining game of the round is a Scottish-Welsh clash with Newport Gwent Dragons travelling to Murrayfield to face Edinburgh, both teams will be looking to double the number of wins they have gained so far in this campaign, only one can succeed.

All the Round Six teams!

Friday, October 10

Benetton Treviso v Connacht

(Stadio Monigo – Kick-off: 20.00; 18.00 GMT)    

The teams:

Benetton Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Enrico Bacchin, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Corniel Van Zyl (captain), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matteo Zanusso.

Replacements: 16 Amar Kudin, 17 Albert Anae, 18 Romulo Acosta, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Tomas Vallejos Cinalli, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Simone Ragusi, 23 Alberto Lucchese.

Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Eoin McKeon, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Dave McSharry, 23 Danie Poolman.

Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Marius Mitrea, Andrea Spadoni (both Italy)

TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

Munster v Scarlets

(Thomond Park – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)

The teams:

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Ivan Dineen, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony (captain), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Dave Foley, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Kevin O'Byrne, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.

Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Johne Murphy.

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Scott Williams (captain), 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Rory Pitman, 7 John Barclay, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Johan Snyman, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Rhodri Jones, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Phil John.

Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Samson Lee, 19 George Earle, 20 James Davies, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Michael Tagicakibau.

Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italy)

Assistant referees: Gary Conway, Dermot Blake (both Ireland)

TMO: Seamus Flannery (Ireland)

Saturday, October 11

Edinburgh v Newport Gwent Dragons

(Murrayfield – Kick-off: 14.40; 13.40 GMT)

Teams:

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Assistant referees: David Changleng (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)

TMO: Iain Ramage (Scotland)

Zebre v Leinster

(Stadio XXV Aprile – Kick-off: 16.00; 14.00 GMT)

Teams:

Zebre: 15 David Odiete, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Edoardo Padovani, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Matias Aguero.

Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Luciano Leibson, 19 Andries Ferreira, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 George Biagi.

Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

Assistant referees: Matteo Liperini (Italy), Francesco Russo (Italy)

TMO: Carlo Damasco (Italy)

Ulster v Glasgow Warriors

(Kingspan Stadium – Kick-off: 17.05; 16.05 GMT)

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Andrew Warwick.

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Craig Gilroy.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)

TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Sunday, October 12

Ospreys v Cardiff Blues

(Liberty Stadium – Kick-off: 16.00; 15 .00 GMT)

Teams:

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 James King, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Lloyd Peers, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.

Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Joe Bearman, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Tom Grabham.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)

Assistant referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)

TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)