Ospreys cement top spot
Ospreys continued to rule the Welsh roost in the Pro12 as tries from Eli Walker and Rhys Webb saw them win 17-15 at Newport Gwent Dragons.
After Jason Tovey and Dan Biggar had traded penalties, Walker struck just before half-time to send the visitors into the break 10-3 ahead.
And 10 minutes after the restart, after Angus O'Brien had reduced the arrears with a penalty, Webb dotted down to put the Ospreys in a commanding lead.
However the home side were not about to lie down and after Walker was sin-binned for the final ten minutes the boot of O'Brien brought the Dragons to within a score of their visitors.
But try as they might the Dragons couldn't find that final score and the Ospreys held on for a 15th-straight PRO12 victory over a fellow Welsh region.
It was Ospreys who looked like scoring the game's first try but Nicky Smith couldn't get over the tryline, and the Dragons went up the other end and won a penalty which Tovey sent through the uprights for a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes.
The game then became fractured and after several infringements at the scrum both sides were reduced to 14 men as Smith and Lloyd Fairbrother were sent to the bin.
Biggar, on his 150th appearance for Ospreys, attempted to level the game up with a drop-goal on 27 minutes but his effort flew wide.
However the fly-half was on target with a penalty three minutes later and on the stroke of half-time things got even better for the visitors as Walker raced on to a kick over the top from Lee Byrne. Biggar added the extras to hand Ospreys a 10-3 half-time lead.
Walker then threatened immediately after the restart but the Dragons turned the ball over and went up the other end with replacement O'Brien kicking a penalty.
But no sooner had Ospreys got themselves back into the game did the Dragons stretch their lead, this time Webb sniping through to dot down under the sticks, Biggar again converting.
O'Brien replied with another three-pointer but try as they might the home side couldn't break down some resolute Ospreys defending.
However the Dragons were handed a lifeline with nine minutes remaining as Walker was shown a yellow card after a mid-air collision with Tyler Morgan, with O'Brien knocking over the tough penalty to bring his side to within five points of their visitors.
And moments later the Dragons were just two points behind as O'Brien was once again on target with a penalty after the Ospreys were pinged for holding on.
But that was as good as it got as Ospreys held on for the win, Biggar sending the visiting support home happy as he booted the ball into the stands with time up.
* In other action on Friday, having trailed for nearly the entire 80 minutes Connacht shocked Edinburgh to claim a single-point victory at the death thanks to Willie Faloon's late try.
* After an opening day draw against the Scarlets, Ulster secured their first win of the season with a convincing bonus-try victory over Zebre at the Kingspan Stadium.
* Munster ensured they avoided further unwanted statistics this season as they claimed their first win of the new Pro12 season 21-10 against Benetton Treviso thanks largely to the performance of flyhalf Ian Keatley.
All Friday's scorers and scorers!
Edinburgh 13-14 Connacht
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Try: Du Preez
Con: Heathcote
Pens: Heathcote 2
For Connacht:
Try: Faloon
Pen: Leader 3
Yellow cards: Willem Nel (Edinburgh, 54), Willie Faloon (Connacht, 63)
The teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Sam Beard, 13 Phil Burleigh, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Nick McLennan, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tomas Leonardi, 5 Ollie Atkins, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 John Andress, 2 Ross Ford (captain), 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 W P Nel, 19 Anton Bresler, 20 Mike Coman, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Grayson Hart, 23 Joaquin Dominguez.
Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Danie Poolman, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Nathan White, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Sean Henry, 17 Finlay Bealham, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 George Naoupu, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Fionn Carr.
Referee: Gary Conway (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Graeme Marshall (Scotland)
TMO: David Changleng (Scotland)
Newport Gwent Dragons 15-17 Ospreys
The scorers:
For Newport Gwent Dragons:
Pens: Tovey, O'Brien 4
For Ospreys:
Tries: Walker, Webb
Cons: Biggar 2
Pen: Biggar
Yellow cards: Lloyd Fairbrother (Newport Gwent Dragons, 24), Nicky Smith (Ospreys, 24), Eli Walker (Ospreys, 70)
Teams:
Dragons: 15 Lee Byrne (captain), 14 Hallam Amos, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 T. Rhys Thomas, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Dan Way, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 Andy Powell, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Angus O'Brien, 23 Tom Prydie.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Dan Baker, 7 James King, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Lloyd Peers (captain), 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Daniel Suter, 19 Tyler Ardron, 20 Morgan Allen, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), Dan Jones (Wales)
TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Ulster 33-13 Zebre
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Williams, Gilroy, Diack, Trimble, Tuohy
Cons: Humphreys 4
For Zebre:
Try: Vunisa
Con: Haimona
Pens: Haimona 2
Yellow card: Ricky Andrew (Ulster, 54)
The teams:
Ulster:15 Ricky Andrew, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Ruaidhri Murphy, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Louis Ludik.
Zebre: 15 Hendrik Daniller, 14 David Odiete, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Gonzalo Garcia (captain), 11 Giulio Toniolatti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 5 George Biagi, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Andrea De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Luciano Leibson, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Quintin Geldenhuys, 21 Samuela Vunisa, 22 Guglielmo Palazzani, 23 Edoardo Padovani.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
Benetton Treviso 10-21 Munster
The scorers:
For Benetton Treviso:
Try: Ragusi
Con: Carlisle
Pen: Carlisle
For Munster:
Tries: Stander, Zebo
Con: Keatley
Pens: Keatley 3
The teams:
Treviso: 15 Simone Ragusi, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Sam Christie, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Henry Seniloli, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Tomas Vallejos Cinalli, 6 Meyer Swanepoel, 5 Corniel Van Zyl (captain), 4 Marco Fuser , 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matteo Muccignat.
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Alberto Sgarbi, 22 Angelo Esposito, 23 James Ambrosini.
Munster: 15 Felix Jones (captain), 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Ivan Dineen, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Dave Foley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 John Ryan, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Sean Dougall, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 Johnny Holland, 23 Ronan O'Mahony.
Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Matteo Vivarini (Italy), Claudio Blessano (Italy)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (Italy)