Leinster and Ospreys picked up narrow victories in their opening PRO14 encounters of the season, while Zebre claimed a convincing win over Southern Kings.
Cardiff Blues 32-33 Leinster
Defending champions Leinster got their campaign underway with a nail-biting victory over European Challenge Cup winners Cardiff Blues at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Welsh side looked as if they had a point to prove early on, going 8-0 up in the 11th minute thanks to a Rey Lee-Lo try, which followed on from a Jarrod Evans penalty.
However, Leinster fought their way back, with James Tracy going over for the game’s second try in the 27th minute and penalties from Ross Byrne and Fergus McFadden either side of that putting the champions in front.
Cardiff were not to be intimidated and regained the lead in the 38th minute with a Jason Harries try, which was converted by Evans. A second Ross Byrne penalty meant the hosts went into the break 15-14 ahead.
In the second half, Cardiff Blues picked up where they had left off at the end of the first, with Harries leading the charge. A fantastic run saw him beat Dave Kearney and go in for his second try of the match in the 45th minute.
Seemingly unwilling to let his teammate steal the show, Lee-Lo then grabbed his second try of the night four minutes later, with the conversion taking the score to 29-14.
Bryan Byrne hit back for Leinster in the 53rd minute, taking advantage of a perfectly executed lineout maul to score their second try.
14 minutes later, Jamison Gibson-Park scored a magnificent try, beating two defenders on the inside to put his side back within touching distance.
Cardiff Blues nevertheless looked set to hold on until the dying minutes, when another Bryan Byrne try and a Ross Byrne conversion gave Leinster the narrowest of victories.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Lee-Lo 2, Harries 2
Cons: Evans 3
Pens: Evans 2
For Leinster:
Tries: Tracy, B Byrne 2, Gibson-Park
Cons: R Byrne 2
Pens: R Byrne 2, McFadden
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Willis Halaholo, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Owen Lane, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Brad Thyer
Replacements: 16 Rhys Gill, 17 Ethan Lewis, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 George Earle, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Tom Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Garyn Smith
Leinster: 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Rhys Ruddock (c), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Fergus McFadden
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Ospreys 17-13 Edinburgh
George North was the star of the show as Ospreys saw off Edinburgh in a low-scoring encounter at the Liberty Stadium to get their season off the ground running.
The match got off to a cagey start, with neither side putting points on the board until Simon Hickey drew first blood for Edinburgh with a 31st minute penalty, which was cancelled out by Luke Price two minutes later.
Hickey put Edinburgh back ahead with another penalty in the 55th minute, but North then went over for the first try of the game four minutes later, leaving two defenders for dead and showing why Ospreys signed him.
North waited only 10 minutes before embarking on a magnificent solo run from around 65 metres out to score his second try, bringing the spectators to their feet.
Although Blair Kinghorn restored some hope for Edinburgh with a 76th minute try, Ospreys ultimately proved too strong.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: North 2
Cons: Davies 2
Pen: Price
For Edinburgh:
Try: Kinghorn
Con: Van der Walt
Pens: Hickey 2
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Luke Price, 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 Sam Davies, 23 Joe Thomas
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Scott Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Alan Dell, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 James Johnstone
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Zebre 32-16 Southern Kings
Zebre outclassed the Southern Kings to get their PRO14 campaign off to a good start, securing the bonus point late on.
The Kings were less than impressive in their debut season and looked as if they were in for more of the same at the start of their second campaign.
After a sustained spell of pressure, the South African side’s defence was eventually overpowered by the Zebre maul, with Oliviero Fabiani scoring the first try of the game in the fifth minute.
Carlo Canna kicked the hosts into a 10-0 lead, but then Michael Botha hit back for the Kings in the 16th minute, going in for their first try. The hosts restored the 10-point lead just before the break, going in 17-7 ahead thanks to Mattia Bellini’s 37th minute try.
Although the boot of Masixole Banda kept the scoreboard ticking for the side from Port Elizabeth in the second half, it was a familiar story for the Kings as Jimmy Tuivati grabbed Zebre’s third try in the 55th minute.
Yellow cards to Andisa Ntsila in the 71st minute and Bobby de Wee in the 79th, both with the score at 27-16, did not help matters for the visitors.
The final nail was hammered into the Kings’ coffin when Apisai Tauyavuca scored an 80th minute try to ensure that Zebre snatched maximum points from their opener.
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Tries: Fabiani, Bellini, Tuivati, Tauyavuca
Cons: Canna 3
Pens: Canna 2
For Southern Kings:
Try: Botha
Con: Banda
Pens: Banda 3
Yellow Cards: Ntsila, De Wee
Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 David Sisi, 5 George Biagi, 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Edoardo Padovani
Kings: 15 Michael Botha, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Harlon Klaasen, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Yaw Penxe, 10 Masixole Banda, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Tienie Burger, 6 Henry Brown, 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 Luphumlo Mguca, 19 JC Astle, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Martin du Toit, 23 Ulrich Beyers
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Keith Allen (Scotland), Manuel Bottini (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)