Munster returned to the top of the table after beating Treviso while Ospreys and Scarlets also claimed victories over Ulster and Connacht respectively.
Results
Saturday
Ospreys 24-10 Ulster
Treviso 14-34 Munster
Connacht 8-30 Scarlets
Ospreys 24-10 Ulster
Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Ospreys re-found their form to all but claim a place in the end of season play-offs following a crucial 24-10 victory over Ulster.
The Welsh region went into the game off the back of three straight league defeats but they showed no ill-effects from that disappointing run, going into a 17-3 advantage at the interval.
Tom Habberfield and Tyler Ardron both touched down while Dan Biggar added seven points off the tee for a comfortable buffer at half-time.
Although the second period was more competitive, there were no scores until the final two minutes when Brendon Leonard crossed the whitewash for the hosts.
Steve Tandy’s men only needed one more try to garner the bonus-point and take them into the semi-finals but Jacob Stockdale pounced for a consolation effort.
Despite the defeat, the Irish province could still catch the Ospreys but that would require a remarkable turnaround in the final round of games.
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Habberfield, Ardron, Leonard
Cons: Biggar 3
Pen: Biggar
For Ulster:
Try: Stockdale
Con: Jackson
Pen: Jackson
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Keelan Giles, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Habberfield, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb (c), 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Underhill, 5 Tyler Ardron, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Paul James, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Lloyd Ashley, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Josh Matavesi.
Ulster: 15 Craig Gilroy, 14 Andrew Trimble (c), 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Alan O’Connor, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best, 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Jacob Stockdale.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Treviso 14-34 Munster
Stadio Monigo, Treviso
Munster will play at home in the Pro12 semi-finals after they comfortably dispatched Italian minnows Benetton Treviso 34-14.
The hard work was done in the opening period as they managed to open up a 15-0 lead over the hosts via Darren Sweetnam and Simon Zebo tries.
Tyler Bleyendaal, captain for the evening following the late withdrawal of Billy Holland, also kicked a conversion and a penalty as the Irish province asserted their authority on proceedings.
Treviso did briefly threaten a comeback through David Odiete’s score but Alex Wootton, Jack O’Donoghue and Sweetnam touched down in the second period for the visitors.
That was enough for Munster to claim the win and make sure of a match at Thomond Park in the last four, although Benetton did have the final word when Jean-Francois Montauriol crossed the whitewash.
The scorers:
For Treviso:
Tries: Odiete, Montauriol
Cons: McKinley, Tebaldi
For Munster:
Tries: Sweetnam 2, Zebo, Wootton, O’Donoghue
Cons: Bleyendaal 3
Pen: Bleyendaal
Treviso: 15 David Odiete, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Dean Budd (c), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Federico Zani.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto Porolli, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Jean-Francois Montauriol, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tito Tebaldi, 23 Andrea Pratichetti.
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Ronan O’Mahony, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal (c), 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Dave O’Callaghan, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Darren O’Shea, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Brian Scott, 18 Rory Burke, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Angus Lloyd, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Alex Wootton.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Simon Rees (Wales), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Connacht 8-30 Scarlets
Sportsground, Galway
Steff Evans touched down twice as the Scarlets qualified for the semi-finals in style following an excellent 30-8 triumph over defending champions Connacht.
The Welsh region were in outstanding form in the first period and consistently opened up the hosts with some superb handling.
Their backs particularly enjoyed themselves and two early tries for Johnny McNicholl and Evans set them on their way towards the last four.
Marnitz Boshoff did kick a penalty for the Irish province but Wayne Pivac’s men were too slick for last year’s Pro12 winners.
Evans and Liam Williams duly rewarded the visitors’ superiority in the first period before the half-time break allowed Connacht to regain their composure.
Pat Lam’s side managed to get one score back via Craig Ronaldson and they had other chances to cross the line after the interval, but Rhys Patchell’s three-pointer and DTH van der Merwe’s late try secured the win for the Scarlets.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Try: Ronaldson
Pen: Boshoff
For Scarlets:
Tries: McNicholl, Evans 2, Williams, van der Merwe
Con: Patchell
Pen: Patchell
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran 14 Darragh Leader, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Cian Kelleher, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Eoghan Masterson, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Andrew Browne (c), 4 James Cannon, 3 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Finlay Bealham.
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 JP Cooney, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 John Muldoon, 21 John Cooney, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Danie Poolman.
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Will Boyde, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Lewis Rawlins, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Scott Williams, 23 DTH van der Merwe.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Helen O’Reilly (Ireland)
TMO: Charles Samson (Scotland)
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