Scarlets spoil Scotstoun party
Wales starlet George North made it three tries in two Pro12 games as the Scarlets ensured Glasgow Warriors' new life at Scotstoun began with an 18-13 defeat.
In other Friday action Munster were half a pass and half a yard from cutting loose against Treviso, but could only conjure a solitary Doug Howlett try in their 19-win at Thomond Park.
Flyhalf Greig Laidlaw held his nerve to lead Edinburgh to their first win of the season with a 21-19 Pro12 success at the Cardiff Arms Park.
Connacht flyhalf Miah Nikora put in a faultless kicking display to dash Zebre's hopes of a victory in their Pro12 home debut with the visitors running out 30-17 winners in a hotly-contested game in Parma.
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Cardiff Blues 19-21 Edinburgh
Flyhalf Greig Laidlaw held his nerve to lead Edinburgh to their first win of the season with a 21-19 Pro12 success at the Cardiff Arms Park.
In their first league game since a permanent return to their old ground the Blues looked well-set to make it two wins out of two thanks to the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, only for Laidlaw's late drop-goal to claim the points for the visitors.
Before the game both sides came together for an impeccably observed minute's silence in memory of Dr Jack Matthews who passed away in July.
Edinburgh took the lead in only the third minute as Cardiff were penalised at a scrum - Laidlaw doing the honours to open the scoring.
Having weathered an early Edinburgh storm, Cardiff began to establish some possession and territory and after a series of attacks in the visitors' 22, they earned a penalty in front of the posts.
A kicker like Halfpenny was never likely to miss and the Welsh international made no mistake to draw the sides level.
Virtually from the kick-off Edinburgh responded - inevitably through wing Tim Visser after some fantastic work from second row Sean Cox.
The lock showed great awareness to use the dummy run of David Denton and ghost through a gap before passing around the tackler for Visser to sprint over in the corner - despite the best efforts of Halfpenny.
Laidlaw missed the conversion and was off-target again a couple of minutes later after the Blues scrum was again put under huge pressure with Tau Filise struggling in the unfamiliar loosehead position.
Cardiff took full advantage of Laidlaw's struggles with the boot as they earned a second penalty ten metres inside the visitors' half and Halfpenny knocked over his second penalty of the night to bring the score back to 8-6.
Having been on the back foot for much of the half, the Blues showed their clinical side earning a third penalty as Stuart McInally was harshly adjudged to be handling the ball off his feet.
Halfpenny needed no second invitation and slotted the kick to make it 9-8 to the Blues at half-time.
After the break Edinburgh again got themselves into good position but after a turnover from the Blues Tom James went on a searing run, but having stretched the Edinburgh defence he failed to look around him and the move broke down.
James was a constant thorn in the Edinburgh side and another break led to the ball being spread wide and with a try looking certain, an illegal turnover from Greig Tonks earned the full-back ten minutes in the sin bin.
With a man down Edinburgh were struggling to cope with the barrage of Cardiff attacks and it was the Blues' own giant wing Alex Cuthbert who crashed through the weak tackle of John Houston to score the home side's first try - Halfpenny converted from right in front to make it 16-8.
Edinburgh needed an immediate response and they got it with a penalty at a breakdown as Laidlaw found his range to bring the visitors back to within five.
Halfpenny added another penalty but the Blues were soon reduced to 14 men themselves when blindside Josh Navidi was sent to the bin.
Edinburgh took advantage of a dropped ball in midfield to hack forward and after wing Lee Jones was stopped short, Navidi couldn't help himself and turned the ball over illegally.
From the ensuing penalty Edinburgh took the scrum and their decision was vindicated as the Cardiff set-piece disintegrated, leaving referee David Wilkinson with little option but to give the penalty try, Laidlaw's conversion brought Edinburgh back to within a point.
And with two minutes remaining Edinburgh attacked again and when Laidlaw got his chance, his drop goal went straight through the sticks to deny the home side.
The scorers:
Cardiff Blues:
Try: Cuthbert
Con: Halfpenny
Pens: Halfpenny 4
Edinburgh:
Tries: Visser, Penalty try
Con: Laidlaw
Pens: Laidlaw 2
DG: Laidlaw
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Gavin Evans, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Andries Pretorius (captain), 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Benoit Bourrust, 2 Rhys Williams, 1 Taufa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Thomas Davies, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Thomas Williams.
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 John Houston, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 9 Richie Rees, 8 Stuart McInally, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 David Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell, 17 John Yapp, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Perry Parker, 20 Netani Talei, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Gregor Hunter, 23 Sep Visser.
Referee: David Wilkinson
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell, Jason Langdon
TMO: Neil Ballard
Glasgow Warriors 13-18 Scarlets
Wales starlet George North made it three tries in two Pro12 games as the Scarlets ensured Glasgow Warriors' new life at Scotstoun began with an 18-13 defeat.
With Scotstoun being unveiled as the Warriors' permanent home for the first time the crowd were desperate to welcome in a new era with a win.
But North - fresh from two tries as the Scarlets thrashed Heineken Cup champions Leinster in the opening weekend of Pro12 action - and his teammates hadn't read the script in Glasgow.
The Wales wing's score, plus others from Andy Fenby and Aaron Shingler, gave them a cushion which ensured Chris Cusiter's second-half Warriors try was too little too late.
Wales flyhalf Rhys Priestland should have put the visitors ahead after just two minutes but he dragged a penalty attempt wide.
And he was made to pay for that miss when Ruaridh Jackson gave the Scotstoun crowd the first thing to shout about at Warriors' new home with a penalty after Matthew Rees was penalised to make it 3-0.
After some probing runs by DTH van der Merwe the Warriors lead should have been doubled when Jonathan Davies was caught offside but Jackson put his penalty attempt well wide.
Against the run of play the Scarlets took the lead when Shingler - who had spent some time off the field with a head injury - was put in sight of the line by a North pass after a speedy counterattack and duly touched down.
Shingler's eventful half saw him become the villain on 26 minutes when he was sin-binned for a high tackle on Peter Murchie but Jackson missed an eminently kickable penalty to leave the score at 5-3.
Jackson's wayward kicking was mirrored by Priestland who wasted a chance to extend the Scarlets advantage while Shingler was off the field, putting a penalty wide.
Priestland was off target again with a conversion effort just before the half but the visitors weren't too concerned as they had just stretched their lead to seven points.
Chris Cusiter was robbed in midfield and after Davies had kicked the loose ball on, Fenby got another boot on it before touching down in the corner.
Jackson reduced the arrears with the last kick - albeit another less than convincing one - of the half to make it 10-6 but a Priestland penalty early in the second half stretched the lead back to seven points.
The two flyhalves then missed a kick apiece as their struggles continued at Scotstoun. The Scarlets got their third try approaching the hour mark however when Wales winger North finished off a multi-phase move in the corner, Priestland missing the conversion for 18-6.
The Warriors huffed and puffed as they tried to get back into the game and they got the try their possession deserved when Cusiter went in under the posts and replacement Duncan Weir added the extras.
But it was too little too late as the Scarlets laid down a serious statement of intent by moving to the top of the table.
The scores:
Glasgow Warriors:
Try: Cusiter
Con: Weir
Pens: Jackson 2
Scarlets:
Tries: Fenby, North, Shingler
Pen: Priestland
The teams:
Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 John Barclay, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Moray Low, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Mike Cusack, 18 Gordon Reid, 19 James Eddie, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Peter Horne.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Andy Fenby 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Rob McCusker (captain), 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Richard Kelly, 4 George Earle, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil John, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Adam Warren.
Referee: Dudley Phillips
Assistant Referees: David Changleng, Graeme Marshall
TMO: Jim Yuille
Munster 19-6 Benetton Treviso
Munster were half a pass and half a yard from cutting loose against Treviso but could only conjure a solitary Doug Howlett try in their 19-6 Pro12 win at Thomond Park.
Treviso were fresh from humbling reigning champions Ospreys 12-6 in round one but never looked likely to come out on top in Ireland.
Munster flyhalf Ian Keatley pulled the strings as well as looking infallible from the tee as he collected 14 points but his team's margin of victory deserved to be greater.
The Biancoverde seemed always to do just enough to deny the home side a second try but not always in a legal fashion and centre Alberto Sgarbi saw yellow in the second half as referee Andrew McMenemy lost patience with their methods.
Munster were forced into making a pre kick-off change after Donncha O'Callaghan was given leave to be with his wife for the birth of his second child.
O'Callaghan was replaced by Dave Foley but it was Treviso who drew first blood when Alberto Di Bernardo kicked a penalty to make it 3-0.
The lead didn't last long though. With a long line-out throw the catalyst for the try-scoring move skipper Howlett went in under the posts before the ten-minute mark.
Keatley kicked the easy conversion and he added three more points when the Italians were penalised for coming in from the side on 14 minutes.
It was 13-3 when the Treviso scrum came in for a torrid time on 24 minutes and Keatley kicked the three points again.
More Italian ill-discipline was punished on the half-hour mark with yet another penalty from the former Connacht fly-half who took the half-time margin to 13 points.
Treviso brought on the experience of Fabio Semenzato at scrum-half in place of Luca Morisi at the start of the second half but it was the home side who started the stronger with captain Howlett making a searing break from the acting fly-half position.
But his inside pass to the man with the ten on his back Keatley didn't stick and Treviso escaped from a certain try.
The Italians took the Munstermen's warning shot seriously and when two surges from centre Casey Laulala brought the home side to within five metres of the line Sgarbi was shown his yellow card for hands in the ruck.
Keatley slotted the follow-up penalty to make it 19-3 but Treviso soon cancelled it out as their forwards drove up the middle of the pitch to win a series of penalties.
Fly-half Di Bernardo took control to kick one from close range under complete silence from the Thomond Park crowd.
But they were in full voice again when club legend Peter Stringer entered the fray in place of Duncan Williams at scrum-half.
The pint-sized half-back's presence however couldn't get Munster over the line and their frustrations told in the final minutes when replacement Mike Sherry was yellow carded.
Scorers:
Munster:
Try: Howlett
Con: Keatley
Pens: Keatley
Benetton Treviso:
Pens: Di Bernardo 2
The teams:
Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett (captain), 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Luke O'Dea, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Ivan Dineen.
Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Paul Derbyshire, 7 Dean Budd, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Corniel Van Zyl, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Alessandro Zanni, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Kristopher Burton.
Referee: Andrew Mcmenemy
Assistant Referees: Paul Haycock, David Keane
TMO: Seamus Flannery
Zebre 17-30 Connacht
Connacht flyhalf Miah Nikora put in a faultless kicking display to dash Zebre's hopes of a victory in their Pro12 home debut with the visitors running out 30-17 winners in a hotly-contested game in Parma.
It was Connacht's first victory of the season and in a role reversal from last week's loss to Cardiff Blues, the Irishmen made their chances pay as wing Tiernan O'Halloran and No.8. George Naoupu both scored tries.
But it was Nikora's 15 points with the boot which made the difference with Zebre also crossing twice through veteran wing Samuele Pace and former Blue Bulls flanker Dries van Schalkwyk.
Connacht head coach Eric Elwood insisted in the week that his side had to learn the law of possession after conceding 11 turnovers in the first half against the Blues.
And his pack proved to be good listeners, cleanly winning their first three line-outs to hand Nikora and his backline the front foot ball they were staved of in round one.
New Zealand-born Nikora drew first blood with a calmly-struck penalty in the 13th minute.
His opposite man Luciano Orquera failed with his first attempt on goal just before the half-hour mark and things got worse for the home fans when Zebre were turned over and from a chip O'Halloran collected to go over with Nikora converting.
He then added another penalty just before half-time when Van Schalkwyk was penalised for holding onto the ball.
Nikora then kept up his perfect record from the tee and the sides went down the tunnel with the scores at 13-0 to Connacht.
Zebre's first ever try in the Pro12 try came four minutes into the second half courtesy of some lacklustre defending by Connacht allowing left wing Pace to steal in.
Orquera added the extras but Pace then went from hero to villain when he tackled Connacht full-back and captain Gavin Duffy in the air and was given his marching orders for a ten-minute breather.
It took Connacht four minutes to capitalise with Nikora's fourth successful kick of the night to reaffirm their lead at 16-7.
Zebre rang the changes but it was Connacht who marched further ahead with a try by No. 8 Naoupu and again Nikora converted.
Zebre's riposte was instantaneous and came from a charging Van Schalkwyk who shrugged off three defenders to score, Orquera converted to reduce the deficit to 23-14.
A flurry of yellow cards characterised the last 20 minutes as first Connacht replacement Dave Gannon was binned before his teammate Rodney Ah You and Zebre's Luca Redolfini were also given breathers.
Orquera knocked over the ensuing penalty to give Zebre a shot at victory but
Connacht added a third try in the closing stages through lock Mike McCarthy and Nikora rounded off his night with his sixth successful kick at goal.
The scorers:
Zebre:
Tries: Pace, Van Schalkwyk
Cons: Orquera 2
Pen: Orquera
Connacht:
Tries: McCarthy, Naoupu, O'Halloran
Cons: Nikora 3
Pens: Nikora
The teams:
Zebre: 15 Sinoti Sinoti, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Alberto Benettin, 12 Gonzalo Garcia (captain), 11 Samuele Pace, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alberto Chillon , 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Filippo Cristiano, 5 Josh Sole, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 David Ryan, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea De Marchie, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Nicola Belardo, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Alberto Chiesa, 23 Ruggero Trevisan.
Connacht:: 15 Gavin Duffy (captain), 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Mata Fifita, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Rodney Ah You, 18 Nathan White, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Robbie Henshaw.
Referee: Ian Davies
Assistant Referees: Stefano Roscini, Elia Rizzo
TMO: Carlo Damasco