The Dragons overcame the Southern Kings before the Ospreys, Connacht, Scarlets and Benetton won later on in Saturday’s PRO14 action.
Dragons 27-22 Kings
The hosts started the game off on the front foot, with Ollie Griffiths scoring the first try after just three minutes following a break from deep. Aaron Wainwright then added a second 10 minutes later after charging down Masixole Banda’s clearance.
With two conversions and a penalty to their name in addition to the early tries, Dragons led 17-0 after 21 minutes, but their momentum was derailed five minutes later when Rhodri Williams was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on.
After a sustained spell of Kings pressure, Michael Willemse scored in the corner following a lineout maul immediately after the yellow card. Just three minutes later, the South African side added another try through Bjorn Basson, who surged down the touchline from halfway to get the ball down in the corner.
The visitors carried their momentum into the second half, and although the Dragons kept them at bay with some solid defending initially, Godlen Masimla scored in the corner 15 minutes after the break.
Following Banda’s conversion, the scores stayed level until Josh Lewis’ penalty 62 minutes into the game. Four minutes later, Lewis got on the end of an up-and-under from Rhodri Williams and ran all the way to score, extending the lead beyond a converted try.
An 80th minute consolation try from Yaw Penxe came too late for the Kings as they came up just short of their first away win in PRO14 history.
The scorers:
For Dragons:
Tries: Griffiths, Wainwright, Lewis
Cons: Lewis 3
Pens: Lewis 2
Yellow Cards: R Williams
For Southern Kings:
Tries: Willemse, Basson, Masimla, Penxe
Cons: Banda
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Josh Lewis, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Huw Taylor, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Arwel Robson, 23 Adam Warren
Kings: 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klassen, 12 Berton Klassen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Masixole Banda, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Martinus Burger, 6 Stephan De Wit, 5 Bobby De Wee, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Justin Forwood
Replacements: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Lupumlo Mguca, 19 John-Charles Astle, 20 Ruaan Lerm, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Martin Du Toit, 23 Ulrich Beyers
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
Television match official: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Connacht 32-13 Zebre
Connacht ran in five tries in their 32-13 win over Zebre at Galway’s Sportsground.
The first half was mostly one-way traffic in favour of the hosts. After Jack Carty’s early penalty had put them ahead, Caolin Blade pounced on a loose ball inside Zebre’s territory, setting up Paul Boyle for the opening try of the game eight minutes in.
12 minutes later, the number eight had his second after capitalising on a Connacht rolling maul. For the second time in a row, Carty converted, and the only other points before the break came through a Carlo Canna penalty for Zebre.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors after the break, with Giosue Zilocchi and Oliviero Fabiani picking up yellow cards within six minutes.
Blade went over for Connacht just two minutes after Zebre were reduced to 13 men, with the hosts capitalising after piling pressure on the Italian side at the scrum.
Canna clawed back a penalty for Zebre, but in the 60th minute, Carty’s grubber set Eoin Griffin up for another Connacht try.
10 minutes later, substitute Niyi Adeolokun went over for Connacht’s fifth try, and although Zebre scored a late consolation through Guglielmo Palazzani, the damage had already been done.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Boyle 2, Blade, Griffin, Adeolokun
Cons: Carty 2
Pens: Carty
For Zebre:
Tries: Palazzani
Cons: Brummer
Pens: Canna 2
Yellow Cards: Zilocchi, Fabiani
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Conán O’Donnell, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 James Cannon, 20 Colby Fainga’a, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Niyi Adeolokun
Zebre: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Nicolas De Battista, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Matu Tevi, 5 George Biagi (c), 4 David Sisi, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Tommaso Boni
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Fin Brown (Scotland), John Carvill (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Ospreys 46-14 Cheetahs
The Cheetahs succumbed to their second heavy defeat of the season, going down 46-14 to the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.
The team from South Africa struggled to deal with the Ospreys’ attacking lineouts, and it took just seven minutes before Alun Wyn Jones slipped through a gap in the defence to open the scoring.
The Cheetahs levelled the score at a converted try apiece after Jasper Wiese crashed over in the 18th minute, but another move off a lineout nine minutes later sent George North through a gap in the defence. He was unable to go all the way, but Scott Otten finished off.
North finally got himself on the scoreboard in the 37th minute, finishing off a well-worked move in the Ospreys’ left corner. After a Sam Davies penalty on the stroke of half-time, the hosts went into the break 22-7 up.
It took until the 59th minute for the second half scoring to open, but at last, Alex Jeffries crashed over to secure the bonus point, with the formidable Ospreys lineout once again paying dividends.
Just four minutes later, the Ospreys’ lineout maul took them over for their fifth try, with Justin Tipuric getting the ball down.
69 minutes in, Rabz Maxwane chipped, chased, and went all the way for a superb Cheetahs try on the left, but it proved nothing more than a consolation as the Ospreys lineout maul took Tipuric over again before Jones crashed over to cap off a dominant display.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Wyn Jones 2, Tipuric 2, Otten, North, Jeffries
Cons: S Davies 4
Pens: S Davies
For Cheetahs:
Tries: Wiese, Maxwane
Cons: Schoeman 2
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Tom Williams, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 James Hook, 23 Joe Thomas
Cheetahs: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 William Small-Smith, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Ernst Stapelberg/Marnus van der Merwe, 23 Ryno Eksteen
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Gareth John (Wales)
Television match official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Scarlets 23-21 Leinster
Scarlets claimed a hard-fought victory over Leinster at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.
Leinster suffered a blow early on with Josh Murphy being sin-binned after just five minutes. Scarlets would capitalise on their numerical advantage when Ken Owens bashed over after 12 minutes, converted by Leigh Halfpenny.
But the visitors would find a response through Fergus McFadden, as Ross Byrne added the extras to level matters at 7-7 after 25 minutes. Halfpenny slotted another penalty in the 35th minute.
The game would turn on its head when it was Leinster this time who enjoyed the extra man as Samson Lee was yellow carded for Scarlets on the hooter, allowing James Lowe to go over for a 14-10 lead heading into the interval.
Two Halfpenny penalties after the break would edge the home side back in front at 16-14 and, when Gareth Davies dotted down in the 69th minute, it appeared to be a bridge too far for Leinster.
However, the defending champions hit back through a converted try from Rhys Ruddock, setting up a tense final five minutes as they trailed the hosts by just two.
But Scarlets would held on for the victory, enacting revenge for their PRO14 final defeat and European Champions Cup semi-final loss last season.
For Scarlets:
Try: Owens, Davies
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny 3
Yellow Card: Lee
For Leinster:
Tries: McFadden, Ruddock, Lowe
Cons: Byrne 3
Yellow Card: Murphy
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Josh Macleod, 7 James Davies, 6 Blade Thomson, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Ed Kennedy, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Paul Asquith, 23 Ioan Nicholas
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Rhys Ruddock, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Joe Tomane
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Wayne Davies (Wales)
Television match official: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Benetton Rugby 27-25 Cardiff Blues
Benetton claimed a 27-25 come-from-behind victory over Cardiff Blues at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
Tomasso Allan gave the home side a 3-0 lead from the tee in the 12th minute before Jarrod Evans responded in similar fashion nine minutes later for the Cardiff Blues.
Allan would then get himself on the try column in the 29th minute, converting his own try for a 10-3 lead with 10 minutes to go until the interval.
But the away side were beginning to turn the screw up front and were rewarded with a penalty try after winning another penalty at the scrum. Evans would slot a second three-pointer to give the visitors a 13-10 advantage heading into the break.
11 minutes after the interval, Jayden Hayward put Braam Steyn through. Allan converted to give Benetton a slender 17-16 lead. Soon after, Allan extended the lead to four with another penalty.
Gareth Anscombe would slot three penalties in succession to wrestle the lead back for the visitors at 25-20. However, they would lose both Olly Robinson and Rhys Gill to the sin-bin in the final few minutes, allowing Monty Ioane to cross three minutes into injury time and level the scores.
Allan had the responsibility of taking the all important kick and kept his nerve to claim a dramatic victory for the home side.
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Tries: Allan, Steyn, Ioane
Cons: Allan 3
Pens: Allan 2
For Cardiff Blues:
Try: Penalty Try
Pens: Evans 3, Anscombe 3
Yellow Cards: Robinson, Gill
The teams:
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Sebastian Negri, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Marco Barbini, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Marco Zanon
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Owen Lane, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 George Earle, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Josh Navidi, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Garyn Smith
Referee: Seán Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Television match official: Stefano Pennè (Italy)