Treviso shock champs Ospreys
Ian Evans' first-half red card cost Ospreys dearly as the defending champions began the new PRO12 season with defeat as Treviso claimed a shock 12-6 win.
Evans picked up two yellow cards in the first half an hour, ensuring last year's winners failed to build any real momentum and four penalties from the metronomic Kris Burton proved enough for the Italian side.
Dan Biggar had a torrid night from the tee in windy conditions and while the Ospreys had plenty of possession they squandered their second-half chances.
Benetton Treviso 12-6 Ospreys
The scorers:
For Treviso:
Pens: Burton 4
For Ospreys:
Pens: Biggar 2
The teams:
Benetton Treviso: 15 Kristopher Burton, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Corniel Van Zyl (captain), 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Dean Budd, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Marco Filippucci, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Brendan Williams.
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Isaacs, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 James King, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Joe Bearman, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Grabham.
Referee: John Lacey
Assistant Referees: Giuseppe Vivarini, Andrea Spadoni
TMO: Alan Falzone
Ulster 18-10 Glasgow Warriors
Mark Anscombe enjoyed a winning start as Ulster coach as his side, shorn of most of their Irish internationals, overpowered Glasgow Warriors 18-10.
Tries either side of halftime from wings Mike Allen and Craig Gilroy proved decisive as the Warriors were outpowered in Gregor Townsend's first game in charge.
They were granted a lifeline through Tommy Seymour's try against his former club which brought them to within five points with 11 minutes remaining.
But Niall O'Connor, on his second debut for the club after returning from Connacht, made the game safe with a late penalty although he missed 11 points with the boot.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Allen, Gilroy
Con: O'Connor
Pens: O'Connor
For Glasgow Warriors:
Try: Seymour
Con: Jackson
Pen: Jackson
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Michael Allen, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Michael Heaney, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Sean Doyle, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Lewis Stevenson, 4 Johann Muller (captain), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Tom Court, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Neil McComb, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Niall O'Connor, 23 Darren Cave.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Finlay Gillies, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Ryan Grant, 19 James Eddie, 20 John Barclay, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Peter Horne.
Referee: Marius Mitrea
Assistant Referees: Dudley Phillips, Brian MacNeice
TMO: Peter Ferguson
Newport Gwent Dragons 37-6 Zebre
A double on debut for fullback Dan Evans saw Newport Gwent Dragons romp to the top of the PRO12 table with an emphatic 37-6 victory as Zebre were given a baptism of fire at Rodney Parade.
Thanks to a dominant first-half performance, with the bonus point wrapped up before the break, the Dragons showed they have shrugged off the departures of Aled Brew, Luke Charteris and Jason Tovey with a performance that will delight head coach Darren Edwards.
Andy Tuilagi, Will Harries and Dan Evans all carved open the hapless Zebre defence with the PRO12 new boys showing that they have plenty of work to do as the curtain came up on the league.
The scorers:
For Dragons:
Tries: Tuilagi, Harries, Evans 2
Cons: Prydie 4
Pens: Prydie
DG: Jones
For Zebre:
Pens: Orquera 2
The teams:
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Will Harries, 13 Pat Leach, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Steffan Jones, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Jevon Groves, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Andrew Coombes, 4 Ian Nimmo, 3 Dan Way, 2 Steve Jones (captain), 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Gustafson, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Nathan Buck, 19 Adam Jones, 20 Tom Brown, 21 J Evans, 22 Lewis Robling, 23 Ashley Smith.
Zebre: 15 Sinoti Sinoti, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Gonzalo Garcia (captain), 11 Samuele Pace, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 6 Nicola Cattina, 5 Emiliano Caffini, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 David Ryan, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea De Marchie, 18 Luciano Leibson, 19 Filippo Cazzola, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 Alberto Chiesa, 23 Ruggero Trevisan.
Referee: George Clancy
Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessy, Jason Langdon
