Scarlets put down early marker
Scarlets put down an early marker with an impressive 25-point hammering of last season's Pro12 finalists Leinster.
George North and Andy Fenby grabbed two tries apiece as Scarlets smashed Leinster 45-20 at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.
The result means Scarlets and Newport Gwent Dragons top the standings, with the Dragons just ahead on points difference courtesy of their 37-6 win over newcomers Zebre on Friday.
In other Saturday action Cardiff Blues scrumhalf Lewis Jones ran in his first try for the club to give Phil Davies victory in his first game in charge as they beat Connacht 13-9 in the Pro12.
A hat-trick from Edinburgh wing Tim Visser was not enough for Edinburgh to edge past Munster in the Pro12 as the 2011 champions won 23-18 at Murrayfield.
All the Saturday results and scorers!
Connacht 9-13 Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues scrumhalf Lewis Jones ran in his first try for the club to give Phil Davies victory in his first game in charge as they beat Connacht 13-9 in the Pro12.
The Blues haven't lost to Connacht in three years, but their record came under threat despite going in at half-time with a commanding 13-0 lead, thanks to a faultless goal-kicking performance by fly-half Ceri Sweeney and Jones' 30th-minute try.
Connacht chipped away at the deficit throughout the second half through the boot of fly-half Mia Nikora, but were unable to catch Davies' new-look side – running out in their first competitive match since seeing 12 players leave in the off-season.
With a number of internationals missing and injuries to contend with, it took a while for Davies' Blues to find their feet at the Sportsground.
But after a slow opening 20 minutes, the experienced Sweeney broke the deadlock, hitting two penalties in five minutes before his half-back partner Jones – in only his fourth Pro12 start – broke through to score on the half-hour mark, the teenager pouncing after Josh Navidi had disrupted a home line out.
Sweeney's opposite number Nikora had the chance to respond in the final minute of the first-half, but missed from the tee.
It marked a disappointing start for Connacht – coming off the back of a best-ever eight-place finish last season – who were without ex-Blues fly-half Dan Parks through injury.
His stand-in New Zealand-born Nikora – now eligible for Irish selection after three-years as a Connacht resident – kicked the province's first points, five minutes after the break to keep them in touch.
Davies introduced Benoit Bourrust and Lou Reed off the bench for their debuts as conditions steadily worsened at the Sportsground.
Director of rugby Eric Elwood also turned to his bench for impact – bringing on ex-Ulster and Ireland Wolfhound Willie Faloon for his debut in the back-row, and playmaker Matthew Jarvis in the backs.
The substitutions paid instant dividends with Nikora knocking over a pair of penalties to leave his side trailing Cardiff 13-9 with ten minutes to play.
However the fly-half did spurn a brilliant attacking opportunity when he opted to kick over the top into the grateful hands of Dan Fish after Connacht had engineered a promising position inside the Blues 22.
And the Blues – missing nine players through injury – showed tremendous courage to weather a late storm and hang on for victory.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Pens: Nikora 3
For Cardiff Blues:
Try: Jones
Con: Sweeney
Pens: Sweeney 2
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (captain), 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Mata Fifita, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Rodney Ah You, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 David Moore, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Robbie Henshaw.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Gavin Evans, 12 Gareth Davies, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Andries Pretorius (captain), 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Rory Watts-Jones, 5 James Down, 4 Robin Copeland, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Thomas Davies.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Beniot Bourrust, 18 Nathan Trevett, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Cory Allen, 23 Tom Williams, 24 Owen Williams.
Referee: Andrew McMenemy
Assistant Referees: Leo Colgan, Olly Hodges
Scarlets 45-20 Leinster
George North and Andy Fenby grabbed two tries apiece as Scarlets put last season's Pro12 finalists Leinster to the sword with a dominant display in their 45-20 win at Parc y Scarlets.
Ian Madigan's penalty gave Leinster an early lead but after Scott Williams crossed the Scarlets never looked back, with a try from Liam Williams making it 14-6 at the break
In Simon Easterby's first game in charge, the Welsh region came flying out of the blocks after the restart with Fenby and North crossing twice and Kieran Murphy also going over to concluded a seven-try demolition.
The Heineken Cup champions were missing 11 internationals with seven players also out injured and it showed even though Devin Toner and Madigan scored consolation tries.
Coming into the match the Scarlets had not beaten Leinster since the first match of the 2009-10 season but the Welsh side set about busily trying to rectify that unwanted statistic when Scott Williams went over for the first try of the game.
Leinster fly-half Madigan had put the Irish visitors into an early three-point lead after slotting a penalty from deep inside the Scarlets half after four minutes.
But once Scarlets got their talons into Leinster's 22 they made good use of the territory and bravely turned down a kick at goal to boot the ball into the corner.
Scarlets sustained the pressure and from an ensuing five-metre scrum, Williams got into position before receiving the ball and pouncing to burst through between the posts and touching down with Aled Thomas coolly converting.
The hosts began to dominate and their possession play paid off with Liam Williams going it alone to cross the whitewash after 27 minutes after accepting a scoring pass from his namesake Scott.
Thomas again made the conversion to put Scarlets 14-3 up but Leinster hit back with a Madigan penalty just before the break to reduce the deficit to 14-6
The second half was barely two minutes old when North went over in the right corner after Thomas had been stopped inches short of the line, Liam Williams starting the move with a break from defence across almost the whole pitch.
Thomas missed the conversion to keep the scores at 19-6 but minutes later Aaron Shingler picked up the ball and charged to the 22 before offloading to Fenby who went over in the left corner to secure the bonus point.
This time Thomas made no mistake with the boot, boosting his side's lead to 20 points with only 49 minutes gone.
Just before the hour Leinster won a penalty in a kickable position but went for touch, with Toner bundling over the line soon after and Madigan converting to make it 26-13.
Any hopes of a comeback were put to bed when Murphy went over five minutes later, with North racing clear down the wing to add another with six minutes to go.
Scarlets were not done though with Fenby accelerating past the Leinster defence before strolling home for his second try less than two minutes later with Priestland kicking the extras for 45-13 before Madigan scored a late consolation try and kicked the conversion himself.
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: M Williams, L Williams, North 2, Fenby 2, Murphy
Cons: Thomas 3, Priestland 2
For Leinster:
Tries: Toner, Madigan
Cons: Madigan 2
Pens: Madigan 2
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Rob McCusker (captain), 7 Josh Turnbull, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Richard Kelly, 4 George Earle, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Phil John, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Jonathan Davies.
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Shane Jennings (captain), 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Damian Browne, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 John Cooney, 22 Collie O'Shea, 23 Darren Hudson.
Referee: Neil Paterson
Assistant Referees: Tim Hayes, Martyn Lewis
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse
Edinburgh 18-23 Munster
A hat-trick from Edinburgh wing Tim Visser was not enough for Edinburgh to edge past Munster in the Pro12 as the 2011 champions won 23-18 at Murrayfield.
Visser has been the league's top try scorer for the last three seasons and already he is well on his way to repeating that feat this campaign although fly-half Greig Laidlaw failed to convert any of his three tries.
And those misses would prove costly with Munster fly-half Ian Keatley finishing with an 18-point haul, including one try, with wing Luke O'Dea also crossing early in the second half.
Visser broke the game's deadlock in classic style in the 13th minute as he was brilliantly set up by debutant Greig Tonks.
The full-back emerged out of the shadow of centre Nick De Luca and drew his man to put Visser in however Laidlaw missed the conversion.
Munster's pack predictably led the fight forward and they won a penalty at the scrum on 22 minutes which Keatley snatched at. But the 25-year-old atoned five minutes later after Edinburgh's hands were all over the ball at ruck time.
Visser then found some space on his wing after Edinburgh's fearsome back-row turned the ball over and he fended off the last man to go over unopposed.
But Munster's new captain Doug Howlett matched up to his opposite man by creating a try to level things up at half-time.
The 33-year-old former All Black chipped over the home side's advancing defence, the covering Laidlaw looked to sweep the ball up but the bounce evaded him and it was Keatley who benefitted.
In converting his own try it was 10-10 at the break and from there Munster barely looked back.
The collective arm wrestle between the sides in the first ten minutes after the break was broken only by Keatley's penalty which was then matched by one from Laidlaw after intense pressure from the home side.
Edinburgh tried to get the ball into Visser's hands as much as possible but increasingly the newly capped Scotland international found himself double and even triple marked at times.
The Irish province pursued the direct approach in riposte and it paid off with a try for O'Dea.
Powerhouse centre James Downey, who returned to the province from Premiership-side Northampton in the summer, showed a nice sleight of hand which put the 22-year-old O'Dea in.
Downey latched onto a lineout on Edinburgh's 22, Keatley fed him into midfield and O'Dea was on his shoulder to go over right next to the posts.
Keatley converted before adding another penalty as Munster seemed to squeeze the life out of Edinburgh.
Yet they couldn't quite keep a grasp on Visser and with six minutes remaining Laidlaw moved play to the left wing and Denton passed on to De Luca who darted through a hole before offloading to the Dutch-born speedster.
But once again Laidlaw failed to convert and Munster just managed to shut them out for an opening victory to their campaign.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Visser 3
Pen: Laidlaw
For Munster:
Tries: Keatley, O'Dea
Cons: Keatley 2
Pens: Keatley 3
The teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Ben Atiga, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 9 Richie Rees, 8 Stuart McInally, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 David Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Perry Parker, 20 Dimitri Basilaia, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Gregor Hunter, 23 John Houston.
Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett (captain), 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Luke O'Dea, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Peter Butler, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Barry O'Mahony, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Ivan Dineen.
Referee: Leighton Hodges
Assistant Referees: Andy Macpherson, Bob Nevins
TMO: Iain Ramage
