Wins for Leinster, Benetton Rugby and Scarlets

Leinster made it five victories out of six matches as they beat Munster while there were also PRO14 wins for Benetton Rugby and Scarlets.

Leinster 23-17 Munster

Leinster made it five victories out of six in this season's PRO14 competition as they saw off rivals Munster 23-17 at the Aviva Stadium.

Some fine tries were scored in Dublin and Leinster were deserved winners with Rory O'Loughlin scoring two and Johnny Sexton kicking well.

O'Loughlin broke the deadlock on 17 minutes after his hit and spin saw him shake off John Ryan before he wriggled over under the uprights. With Sexton's extras it was 7-0 and when Munster hooker Niall Scannell was sin-binned soon after for a slap down, Leinster were on top.

That all changed on 27 minutes when a loose ball in midfield saw Ian Keatley intercept and back his pace to go in for the levelling seven points.

However Leinster did respond well and following a customary wrap around from Sexton, Joey Carbery set up O'Loughlin for a 14-7 advantage.

Sexton made it 17-7 soon after the break but Munster hit back through Keith Earls' try, this coming thanks to a well timed Tommy O'Donnell pass.

But Munster were kept out of one-score range because of Sexton's boot as he added two further penalties going over on the hour mark for 23-12.

Munster though did not give up the fight and deservedly Earls claimed his brace down the left wing, handing his side a losing bonus-point.

The scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: O'Loughlin 2
Cons: Sexton 2
Pens: Sexton 3

For Munster:
Tries: Keatley, Earls 2
Con: Keatley
Yellow Card: N Scannell

Leinster: 15 Joey Carbery, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Barry Daly, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Fergus McFadden

Munster: 15 JJ Hanrahan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Tyler Bleyendaal, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Robin Copeland, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Alex Wootton

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

Benetton Rugby 31-3 Southern Kings

Benetton claimed a 31-3 bonus-point victory over the Southern Kings in PRO14 action at Stadio Comunale di Monigo on Saturday.

The Kings are yet to win in six attempts in their maiden season in Europe while it is Benetton's third win of the season from their six matches.

Three Marty Banks' penalties gave Benetton a 9-0 lead after half an hour.

Benetton extended the lead with their first try of the game and came it in the 38th minute. After opting for the scrum from the penalty, first receiver Banks produced an accurate cross-field kick for Angelo Esposito. Banks' conversion unfortunately struck the upright and bounced out.

Pieter-Steyn De Wet slotted a penalty after some persistent Kings' pressure just before the half-time whistle as Benetton took a 14-3 lead in to the interval.

Benetton number eight Marco Barbini scored a try when he looped around to the blindside of the back of a scrum and dot down to extend the home side's lead to 19-3 after 46 minutes.

Esposito grabbed a brace when he finished clinically and Cherif Traore got over to cap off a dominant display for Benetton and a comprehensive 31-3 win.

The scorers:

For Benetton:
Tries: Barbini, Esposito 2, Traotre
Con: McKinley
Pens: Banks 3

For Kings:
Pen: De Wet

Benetton Rugby: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Marty Banks, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Marco Barbini 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti

Kings: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Bobby de Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Martin Dreyer, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Tango Balekile, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Entienne Swanepoel, 19 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20 Khaya Majola, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Oliver Zono, 23 Berton Klaasen

Referee: Seán Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas (Wales), Jonathan Hardy (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Ospreys 18-19 Scarlets

Scarlets moved to the top of Conference B in the PRO14 as they came from behind to beat Ospreys 19-18 at the Liberty Stadium.

Ospreys led 9-0 at the break but were fortunate to land their third penalty after a foot was clearly in touch before the offence was pinged.

Dan Biggar did not care about that as he kicked three attempts while opposite number Rhys Patchell was unsuccessful with his effort.

But after the break the Scarlets came out firing with a well-taken score from scrum-half Gareth Davies hauling back to within four points.

Biggar did respond with his fourth penalty but the Scarlets were buoyed by their start to the half as centre Hadleigh Parkes set up Davies for a try that was converted by Patchell to level the scores. Suddenly the West Wales derby had sprung into life with half-an-hour still to play.

Biggar struck again on 57 minutes but again the Scarlets hit back with Samson Lee barging over from a driving maul for a 19-15 lead.

That buffer was cut to one point by Biggar's boot on 67 minutes and despite replacement Rhys Jones missing his response off the tee for the Scarlets seven minutes later, they comfortably held on to claim the derby spoils.

The scorers:

For Ospreys:
Pens: Biggar 6
Yellow Card: Arhip

For Scarlets:
Tries: G Davies 2, Lee
Cons: Patchell 2
Yellow Card: Beirne

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Cory Allen, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 James Hook, 11 Jeff Hassler, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 James King, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Paul James, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Owen Watkin

Scarlets: 15 Johnny Mcnicholl, 14 Paul Asquith, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Jones, 23 Scott Williams

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)