Munster get back on track in Galway
Replacement Tommy O'Donnell's try 12 minutes from time was enough to keep Munster's Pro12 play-off ambitions on track with a 20-16 win over Connacht in Galway.
The home side had enjoyed the better of the game but a second-half effort from Simon Zebo, followed by O'Donnell's late try stole the points for Tony McGahan's side.
After their shock defeat to Aironi a fortnight ago, reigning champions Munster needed to get themselves back on track in the hostile Sportsground atmosphere.
Two tries from wing Andy Fenby - and an impressive cameo from Wales sensation George North - helped propel the Scarlets to a 26-14 bonus-point derby victory against Cardiff Blues.
Further tries from Gareth Davies and Dominic Day helped the Scarlets win an error-strewn game in Cardiff as Nigel Davies' side ensured their play-off hopes were boosted while the Blues' took a hit.
For the home side it was returning Wales wing Alex Cuthbert and Casey Laulala who crossed for scores but it wasn't enough to stop their Welsh rivals.
Ulster fullback Adam D'Arcy's last-minute try stunned Treviso and kept up Ulster's chase for a play-off spot as it gave the visitors a 27-23 victory at the Stadio di Monigo.
Treviso head coach Franco Smith was desperate to reverse his side's on-field woes in 2012 and the unerring boot of flyhalf Kris Burton looked to have given them a first win in 2012.
A try in each half from Enrico Ceccato and Alberto di Bernardo put Treviso in pole position for the win but those efforts were matched by flank Chris Henry and centre Paddy Wallace's tries in each half and D'Arcy's last-gasp effort sealed it for the visitors.
Treviso 23-27 Ulster
Hooker Ceccato snuck over for the hosts before Ulster had really hit a ruck in anger. Burton and fullback Brendan Williams combined to create space for the hooker and Burton converted for a flying 7-0 lead.
Flyhalf Ian Humphreys got Ulster's first points after 17 minutes with a penalty from inside his own half.
That was followed up by Henry's try putting the visitors into the lead after good work from Wallace created space for the blindside.
Burton, who slotted a drop-goal in Italy's victory over Scotland last Saturday, then repeated the trick to pull Treviso level but their parity was brief and Burton's ill-discipline was to blame.
The flyhalf failed to release in the tackle and Welsh referee Leighton Hodges awarded Ulster a penalty, which Pienaar comfortably put over.
Burton made amends when Treviso worked their way into Ulster's 22 and an infringement gave him a straight-forward penalty kick.
With the scores tied at 13-13 on the stroke of half-time, Pienaar spurned a penalty attempt and Burton booted Treviso ahead after the break with his second drop-goal.
Both sides then rang the changes in an attempt to find a way through.
Ulster's returning duo of lock Johann Muller and centre Darren Cave were hauled off within five minutes of each after in the first game after two months of inactivity.
But Treviso's substitution of Williams for Alberto di Bernardo in the 65th minute was immediately effective and he crossed after just four minutes on the field.
With Burton converting Treviso were looking good for a first victory of the year but Wallace had other ideas and his try and Pienaar's conversion made it 23-22 before D'Arcy pounced for the winner.
The scorers:
For Treviso:
Tries: Ceccato, di Bernardo
Cons: Burton 2
Pens: Burton
DG: Burton 2
For Ulster:
Tries: Henry, Wallace, D'Arcy
Cons: Pienaar 3
Pens: Pienaar 2
Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Gonzalo Padrò, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.
Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Stefan Terblanche, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Chris Henry, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (captain), 3 John Afoa, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Niall McComb, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Nevin Spence.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (WRU)
Assistant referees: Carlo Damasco, Alan Falzone (both FIR)
TMO: Stefano Marrama (FIR)
Cardiff Blues 26-14 Scarlets
In a tight derby it was a mistake, by Cuthbert, which led to the first try for visitors wing Fenby.
After a counter-attack fizzled out, another Wales Grand Slam hero making his domestic return Wales centre Jonathan Davies kicked deep into the Blues' 22.
The covering Cuthbert was being hounded by Scarlets captain Gareth Maule and let the centre's presence get to him.
When reaching down to collect the ball Maule shoved him out the way, giving the trailing Fenby the easiest of tries. Fly-half Aled Thomas converted from the touchline to make it 7-0 at half-time.
Two minutes after the break Fenby was at it again, but this time he didn't need Maule as his foil.
Fenby turned over a ruck in the Blues' 22 and kicked on. Parks was the only man back for the Blues and tried to side-foot the ball out of play but missed completely and the incredulous Fenby had another carbon copy try to his name which Thomas converted.
The Blues shook themselves down to put some phases together and after a quick tap and go by centre Dafydd Hewitt gave them quick ball, Scarlets wing Sean Lamont deliberately knocked on. Referee Nigel Owens had no hesitation in sin-binning the Scot and in his absence the home side got one try back.
With the Scarlets in possession, Cuthbert picked off a pass by Thomas and ran it under the sticks from 60 metres. Ceri Sweeny converted and the Blues looked odds for the next score.
But the Scarlets hit them on the counter-attack. From a ruck Lamont went blind and slipped the ball to scrum-half Gareth Davies to score.
The Blues weren't done though and when Laulala popped up at flyhalf and side-stepped three defenders to go under the posts a come-back was on the cards.
However the timely entrance of North from the bench settled the game five minutes from time.
North ran through Cuthbert's attempted tackle before off-loading to lock Day and the second row charged over.
The scorers:
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Cuthbert, Laulala
Cons: Sweeney 2
For Scarlets:
Tries: Fenby 2, G Davies, Day
Cons: Thomas 3
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush (captain), 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 James Down, 4 Macualey Cook, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Tyrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze , 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Maama Molitika, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Gavin Henson.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Gareth Maule (captain), 12 Scott Williams, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Phil John, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Liam Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Jon Davies.
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
Connacht 16-20 Munster
Connacht flyhalf Miah Nikora broke the deadlock on 17 minutes with his first penalty of the game and Ian Keatley evened things up a minute later with a penalty of his own, but Munster were then reduced to 14 after Mick O'Driscoll was sent to the sin bin.
Connacht took full advantage of his absence as hooker Ethienne Reynecke went over from the ensuing line-out, Nikora's conversion making it 10-3.
Despite being a man down, Munster managed the next score as Keatley slotted his second penalty, and it remained 10-6 at the break.
The home side made the quicker start to the second half when Nikora added his second penalty, to stretch the lead to seven but after a raft of substitutions Zebo went over just before the hour with Keatley converting to draw Munster level.
However the home side fought back and earned themselves a penalty after Munster infringed at a scrum, Nikora duly slotting the shot at goal to reclaim the lead.
But two minutes later Tommy O'Donnell went over after good work from O'Leary to put Munster back in front.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Try: Reynecke
Con: Nikora
Pens: Nikora 3
For Munster:
Tries: Zebo, O'Donnell
Cons: Keatley 2
Pens: Keatley 2
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (captain), 14 Kyle Tonetti, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 John Muldoon, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 Mick Kearney, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Finlay Bealham, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Eoin McKeon, 20 Eoghan Grace, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Dave McSharry.
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Denis Hurley, 13 Johne Murphy, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Coughlan, 7 David Wallace, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll (captain), 4 Ian Nagle, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Luke O'Dea.
Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU)