Treviso snatch late win
Alberto Di Bernardo showed the required nerves of steel to kick a last-minute 50-metre penalty to beat Scarlets 22-20 and record Treviso's second PRO12 win of the season.
Treviso had seemed dead and buried just after half-time when Rhys Priestland slotted a regulation penalty to put his side 20-5 up.
But back came the Biancoverde with a passion not seen anywhere in the first half.
First replacement scrumhalf Fabio Semenzato went over from a yard out and then No. 8 Robert Barbieri followed suit before Di Bernardo's moment came from a Scarlets infringement after time was up.
Franco Smith's side started slowly in front of a vocal home crowd and allowed Scarlets to take all the initiative.
Priestland hit a drop-goal on 13 minutes but it took until the 26th minute for the Scarlets to bring one of their raids into Treviso's 22 to a five-point conclusion and it was the increasingly reliable wing Andy Fenby who crashed over.
Priestland spread the play to the left and Fenby took on Valerio Bernabo and went right through the lock's clutches, carrying two more defenders over the line with him.
But Treviso responded immediately by putting the squeeze on the Scarlets' 22-year-old scrumhalf Gareth Davies.
From a line-out five metres from the Welsh region's line, Italy international flank Alessandro Zanni charged down Davies' box kick and the ball fell perfectly for hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini to crash over.
However, Kris Burton failed with his conversion attempt and just before half-time the flyhalf was partly at fault for Fenby's second try.
Fielding the ball at fullback, Burton looked for a scissor-switch with Tommaso Iannone but spilt the ball just in front of the half-way line, and Fenby pounced.
Showing equal amounts of football skill and pace, the 26-year-old hacked forward twice and re-claimed the ball to touch down just before it went out of play.
Priestland made no mistake with his first pot at goal in the second half but the home side were finally starting to flex their muscles and set up an outpost in the Scarlets' 22.
The result was a Semenzato try when he sneaked over on 51 minutes and Di Bernardo added the extras to put pressure on the Scarlets for the first time in the game.
Treviso hemmed the Scarlets in to the confines of their own half and their in-your-face defence created another try for Williams.
Robert Barbieri charged down a kick on half-way and ran on to side-foot the ball into the goal area and touch down for the game's crucial try.
Di Bernardo converted from out wide to make it a one-point deficit before urging his team onwards with strong directional play. Zanni went the closest to scoring a try but was denied by a matter of centimetres.
But then came the decisive moment, a penalty awarded on the half-way line, dead in line with the posts and Di Bernardo had all the necessary coolness to boot it straight and true to win the game.
The scorers:
For Treviso:
Tries: Barbieri, Ghiraldini, Semenzato
Cons: di Bernardo 2
Pens: di Bernardo
For Scarlets:
Tries: Fenby 2
Cons: Priestland 2
Pens: Priestland
DG: Priestland
Teams:
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Francesco Minto, 20 Dean Budd, 21 Paul Derbyshire, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.
Scarlets: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Rob McCusker (captain), 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 George Earle, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Peter Edwards, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Adam Warren, 23 Kristian Phillips.
Referee: Andrew McMenemy
Assistant Referees: Carlo Damasco, Simone Boaretto
TMO: Alan Falzone
Ospreys 30-15 Munster
Reigning champions Ospreys ran in three tries to record a well-deserved second win of the PRO12 season against an undisciplined Munster side at Liberty Stadium.
Richard Fussell's first-half try had got the home team underway before Richard Hibbard added a rare try in the closing stages, while Dan Biggar added 15 points with the boot.
Munster lost Tommy O'Donnell to the bin just after half-time, during which time Ospreys scored a decisive penalty try, before Damien Varley was sent off for a kick five minutes from time.
The opening ten minutes were scoreless with both defences well set in the face of early pressure before Munster conceded two penalties at the breakdown in quick succession.
Biggar coolly converted both as the champions found their stride – adding the first try of the match ten minutes later after a good spell of pressure.
Andy Bishop started the move after finding a gap off a line-out, with the ball moving to Ashley Beck before Fussell evaded the tackle of Keith Earls to go over.
After Biggar's fantastic touchline conversion gave Ospreys a 13-0 lead, Ronan O'Gara responded immediately with a sweetly-struck penalty to cut the deficit to ten points.
Munster slowly started to come into the game but were struggling to match Ospreys at the breakdown, though Biggar was unable to take advantage after curling a penalty wide of the upright on the half-hour mark.
The southern province side were pushing for a try and come close to scoring in the corner five minutes from half-time but Denis Hurley knocked on as the red shirts stormed towards the try-line.
The visitors had to settle for an O'Gara penalty in front of the posts, before he added a third after the break when Ryan Jones was penalised for an infringement at the breakdown.
Munster were in the ascendency but lost Tommy O'Donnell to the bin two minutes after O'Gara's penalty, the flank collapsing a maul as Ospreys pushed towards the 22.
Biggar added the three points to make it 16-9 as the champions looked to make the most of their numerical advantage.
They did just that seven minutes into O'Donnell's time on the sidelines, awarded a penalty try after Munster were penalised for repeatedly collapsing the scrum three metres from their line.
O'Gara responded with the boot again on the hour mark before Rob Penney made a raft of changes to try and get Munster back into the game.
But it was Ospreys who nearly scored, Keith Earls scrambling back to haul Fussell down metres from the line after the fullback capitalised on a loose ball.
Munster's replacements looked to have given the visitors a new lease of life and they soon closed the gap to eight points, replacement Ian Keatley finding target.
And just as the visitors looked like they could find a way back into the game Ospreys grabbed the vital try 11 minutes from time.
A brilliant run from Justin Tipuric down the left wing opened up the Munster backline and, after going through another three phases, prop Hibbard was the unlikely recipient out wide for an easy run across the line.
The night went from bad to worse for the visitors six minutes from time as hooker Damian Varley saw red for kicking.
Ospreys pushed for the bonus-point try in the closing stages but had to settle for the 30-15 victory, a perfect way to continue their momentum after last weekend's victory over the Scarlets.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Fussell, Hibbard, Penalty
Cons: Biggar 3
Pens: Biggar 3
For Munster:
Pens: Keatley, O'Gara 4
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Isaacs, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 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 Adam Jones, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Ross Jones.
Munster: TBC
Referee: Dudley Phillips
Assistant Referees: Rhys Thomas, Greg Morgan
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse
