Saturday 7 April 2018 22:13, UK
Try-scorers and highlights from the weekend's schedule of PRO14 action as Munster seal play-off spot and Benetton shock Dragons.
Munster sealed their place in the Guinness PRO14 Final Series with a 39-22 win against Southern Kings in their first visit to South Africa.
The provincial side went over for six tries for a bonus-point win at Outeniqua Park in George and they cannot now be caught by closest Conference A rivals Cardiff Blues.
Ian Keatley's penalty edged Munster ahead in the 17th minute, before the visitors were reduced to 14 men, with South African lock Gerbrandt Grobler yellow-carded for an illegal tackle in a ruck.
Kings took advantage and led 15-3 following converted tries from flanker Andisa Ntsila and lock Stephan Greeff, plus Masixole Banda's penalty.
Munster hit back before the interval. Hooker Niall Scannell barged over from close range and wing Calvin Nash finished off a superb try, but Keatley missed both conversion attempts to leave them 15-13 down at half-time.
Back row CJ Stander went over for Munster's third try, which Keatley converted and Munster went on to build a healthy lead.
There were further touchdowns for Dan Goggin, Rhys Marshall and Dave Kilcoyne, while Keatley was successful with one more conversion.
Kings wing Michael Makase went over late in the game for a converted try, but it was too little too late for the South Africans, who remain bottom of Conference B in their inaugural season in the championship.
James Lowe and Max Deegan scored two tries each as Leinster kept their Guinness Pro14 home semi-final hopes on track with a 41-6 bonus-point win over Zebre at the RDS.
The Conference B leaders, who have temporarily opened up an eight-point lead over second-placed Scarlets, ended the first half with a 12-3 advantage thanks to scores from Lowe and Rory O'Loughlin.
Man-of-the-match Deegan book-ended the third quarter with two well-taken tries, with Carlo Canna's second penalty sandwiched in between.
Leinster finished with a flourish, Lowe grabbing his ninth try in 10 starts, 22-year-old Academy prop Vakh Abdaladze getting his first senior score, and fellow replacement Bryan Byrne completing the seven-try rout.
Cardiff Blues' stunning second-half fightback was in vain as they slipped to a narrow 29-27 Guinness PRO14 defeat against Cheetahs.
The Blues trailed 22-6 at the break but rallied in Bloemfontein to take a 27-22 lead but were denied by a penalty try eight minutes into added time.
The Cheetahs claimed three tries through Sibhale Maxwane (2) and Francois Venter to take a commanding lead into half-time.
However, the second half was a different game as the Blues got back into the game in the 49th minute when Owen Lane coasted past two defenders to touch down and Steve Shingler converted.
And 10 minutes later the Blues were within two points when Willis Halaholo sidestepped past three Cheetahs to cross, with Shingler again converting.
Rey Lee-Lo then ran in a third Blues try and Shingler's conversion gave them a five-point cushion.
But after 87 minutes and a series of scrum penalties awarded to the hosts, referee Mike Adamson had seen enough and awarded a penalty try to hand Cheetahs
A last-gasp Tito Tebaldi penalty gave Benetton Treviso a late win against Newport Gwent Dragons in Italy. The Dragons mounted a comeback after they found themselves 26-3 down at half-time but Tebaldi's kick edged it at the death.
The Italians were cruising at half-time thanks to tries from Federico Ruzza, Monty Ioane, Tommy Allan and Tebaldi. The comeback was on when Cory Hill, Jared Rosser and Connor Edwards scored in a 15-minute second-half period.
But Tebaldi's penalty, Benneton's only points in the second half, was enough to sneak the win.
The Irish side had to win to keep alive their slim hopes of breaking into the top three in Conference B of the Guinness PRO14, and a thrilling first-half display proved enough to see off Edinburgh.
Winger Jacob Stockdale played a key part as they ran in three stunning tries before the break, while Duncan Weir finished the game with 13 points to his name as he dragged the hosts back into the game.
Despite a penalty try, Edinburgh were unable to come back after conceding a 13-point lead and must wait to confirm their place in next season's European Champions Cup.
Any hopes Richard Cockerill had of a tight, disciplined start were quickly dashed as an unforced error handed the visitors the upper hand.
Individual mistakes littered their Challenge Cup defeat to Cardiff last week and despite taking an early lead through a Duncan Weir penalty, Phil Burleigh's poor kick handed Ulster territory and possession and they were made to pay.
Stockdale broke free down the left and he showed his pace before unselfishly feeding inside for Darren Cave for the first try of the match.
Weir reduced the deficit to just a point soon after, but Ulster again showed their cutting edge in attack with another move from the line-out, eventually working an overlap on the right before Charles Piutau - whose sublime offload set Stockdale free for the first - crashed over.
Another scintillating team move minutes later, saw Six Nations man of the tournament Stockdale break free and send John Cooney under the posts, but the scrum-half was at fault minutes later as Weir read his pass and ran in for an intercept try from half-way for the game's fourth try leaving it 19-13 to Ulster.
From there, the hosts gained in confidence and although they could not close the gap further, ended the half the stronger of the two sides.
They came out from the break and picked up from where they had left off, but their inability to make that dominance count told when Cooney kicked three points from a rare Ulster attack.
That did not put Edinburgh off, however, and after a sustained period of pressure they pulled back a penalty try after over-powering Ulster in the scrum.
Cooney restored the five-point lead as Edinburgh attacked before the game was put to bed through Iain Henderson, who made sure of the bonus point from close range.
Meanwhile, at the Liberty Stadium, Ospreys celebrated a bonus point 39-10 victory over Connacht to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the European Champions Cup.
Ospreys' five tries came from wing Jeff Hassler, full-back Dan Evans, hooker Scott Otten, centre Ashley Beck and wing Hanno Dirksen, with Dan Biggar kicking 14 points.
Connacht's points came from a try and conversion for replacement Craig Donaldson, plus a Jack Carty penalty.
Connacht made five changes from the forward pack that started their European Challenge Cup defeat by Gloucester with prop Denis Buckley the only member of the front five to retain his place. Ireland international centre Bundee Aki was
among the other absentees for Connacht.
Ospreys went into half-time armed with a 20-10 lead and never looked back.
