Everitt's Edinburgh go top, Ulster and Munster share spoils

SATURDAY WRAP: Table toppers Edinburgh continued their 100 percent record in the United Rugby Championship with a 29-12 victory over Zebre in Italy.

The Parma side have picked up only one point this season, but they took the lead when Alessandro Fusco crossed for a 12th-minute try after James Grayson had sent over an early penalty for Edinburgh.

The try came with Edinburgh down to 14 men after a yellow card for Malelili Satala, but the visitors turned the tables late in the first half through tries from Matt Currie and Freddy Douglas, with Fusco in the sin-bin.

A 15-5 lead was then extended further by a 56th-minute try from Magnus Bradbury, converted by James Grayson.

Zebre responded after Harri Morris had been shown a yellow card for the Scottish side, with Giacomo Ferrari scoring their second try.

But Ewan Ashman crossed in the final minute to secure the bonus point for Sean Everitt’s side and complete a strong afternoon at a venue where they have often struggled.

Ulster make Munster pay

Stuart McCloskey scored with three minutes remaining as Ulster fought back to snatch a 26-26 draw with Munster at the Affidea Stadium.

Ulster had trailed 5-26 at the interval after the visitors crossed four times in a dominant first period.

Alex Kendellen’s opening score for Munster was cancelled out by Jacob Stockdale, but Marnus van der Merwe restored their lead.

Munster then took advantage of the sin-binning of Cormac Izuchukwu to move further ahead before the break through Dan Kelly and a second try for Kendellen.

Stockdale, making his 150th appearance for Ulster, began the recovery when he claimed his second and Dave McCann set up a rousing finish when he touched down after 68 minutes.

McCloskey crashed over to bring Ulster within two points before Jack Murphy landed his third conversion, matching the efforts of JJ Hanrahan, to secure a remarkable draw.

Meanwhile, Sam Costelow slotted a late penalty as Scarlets secured a first victory of the United Rugby Championship season by overturning a 14-point half-time deficit to beat Benetton 27-26 in Llanelli.

In Dublin, defending champions Leinster also got their first win when they outplayed Cardiff on their way to a 29-5 victory.

See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!

Zebre Parma 12-29 Edinburgh

The scorers:

For Zebre:
Tries: Fusco, Ferrari
Con: Allan

For Edinburgh:
Tries: M. Currie, Douglas, Bradbury, T. Currie
Cons: Grayson 3
Pen: Grayson

Teams:

Zebre: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco (captain), 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Juan Barbotti, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Sergio Pelliccioli.
Replacements: 16 Francisco Minervino, 17 Federico Pisani, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Giacomo Ferrari, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Patricio Baronio, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Marco Zanon.

Edinburgh: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Malelili Satala, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Geordie Gwynn, 10 James Grayson, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Glen Young, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Jamie Stewart, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Conor McAlpine, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Rory McHaffie.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Clara Munarini (Italy), Riccardo Angelucci (Italy)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)

Ulster 26-26 Munster

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: Stockdale 2, McCann, McCloskey
Cons: Murphy 3

For Munster:
Tries: Kendellen 2, Van der Merwe, Kelly
Cons: Hanrahan 3

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Ethan McIlroy, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Jamie Benson, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Ben Donnell, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Tom Stewart (captain), 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Tom O’Toole, 18 Tom McAllister, 19 James McNabney, 20 David McCann, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Chay Mullins.

Munster: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Alex Nankivell, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Seán O’Brien, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Brian Gleeson, 21 Ben O’Donovan, 22 Charlie O’Shea, 23 John Hodnett.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Jack MacNeice (Ireland), Max Weston (Ireland)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

Scarlets 27-26 Benetton

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Lousi, Murray, Mee 2
Cons: Costelow 2
Pen: Costelow

For Benetton:
Tries: Maile, Ratave, Lamaro, Lynagh
Cons: Umaga 3

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Macs Page, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Osian Williams, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Sam Lousi, 5 Alex Groves, 4 Will Evans, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Harvey Cuckson, 20 Fletcher Anderson, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Joe Roberts, 23 Johnny Williams.

Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 François Mey, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Michele Lamaro (captain), 7 Federico Ruzza, 6 Giulio Marini, 5 Mattia Midena, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spagnolo.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Matias Medrano, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Sootala Fa’aso’o, 20 Jadin Kingi, 21 Louis Werchon, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Federico Zanandrea.

Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales), Marcus Caudle (Wales)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Leinster v Scarlets

The scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: Keenan, O’Brien 2, Conan, Osborne
Cons: Prendergast 2

For Scarlets:
Try: Grady

Teams:

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Joshua Kenny, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Oliver Coffey, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (captain), 1 Alex Usanov.
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Alan Spicer, 20 Josh Ericson, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Caspar Gabriel, 23 Robbie Henshaw.

Cardiff: 15 Matty Young, 14 Jacob Beetham, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Le Roux Malan, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Danny Southworth.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 George Nott, 20 Semisi Paea, 21 Johan Mulder, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Steffan Emanuel.

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland), Jonathan Erskine (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)