PRO14 round-up: Benetton beat Scarlets, Leinster and Connacht win

Scarlets were beaten by Benetton while Leinster and Connacht claimed wins over Zebre and the Cheetahs.

Zebre 24-40 Leinster

Leinster survived a fightback by Zebre to extend their lead at the top of Conference B in the Guinness PRO14 with a 40-24 bonus-point win in Italy.

The defending champions had stormed into a 21-point lead in the first half, but were pegged back in a dramatic turnaround that saw them go into half-time just two points ahead.

However they regrouped and came out to wrap up a fourth try to secure maximum points for the 10th time this season.

Leinster got off to a fine start, with Max Deegan touching down after a rolling maul was set up and eased over the line, before Dave Kearney doubled the lead. Ross Byrne then scored his first try in the competition and after adding the points with the boot, the visitors were 21-0 up and strolling.

They were given a shock when the hosts struck back, forcing a knock-on in the midfield before Francois Brummer touched down after they patiently awaited an opening.

Jamie Elliott intercepted a ball in the middle of the park to make it a quickfire double and Gabriele Di Giulio made it three tries in less than 10 minutes to drag Zebre back into the contest.

The break came at a good time for the Irish province and after Barry Daly had one disallowed, Scott Fardy restored the lead only for Brummer to pull one back with a quarter of the game still remaining.

Another swift attack by the visitors was finished off by Conor O'Brien before Deegan rounded off the scoring with a sixth try.

Benetton Rugby 25-19 Scarlets

Benetton Rugby produced a second-half fightback to defeat Scarlets 25-19 in their Guinness PRO14 Conference B clash at Stadio Monigo.

Kieran Hardy opened the scoring for the visitors in the 19th minute following a line-out and good work from Ioan Nicholas in the build-up, with Dan Jones making the successful conversion.

Treviso levelled on the half-hour when New Zealander Toa Halafihi pushed over the line and was ruled by the television match official, following several replays, to have grounded the ball. Ian McKinley added the extra points.

Johnny McNicholl soon put the Welsh club back in front when picked out by Steff Evans following a driving scrum to take a 12-7 lead into the interval.

Luca Sperandio started the recovery when he crossed in the 43rd minute to draw the Italians level before McKinley's penalty later edged them in front 15-12 on 51 minutes.

McNicholl's second try of the match following a swift break wide left from their own 22 with Kieron Fonotia getting away helped restore Scarlets lead just before the hour.

Benetton were denied a score because of a knock-on, but regained momentum when Federico Ruzza went over for a converted score to lead 22-19.

A late penalty from McKinley, taking his tally 10 points, made sure of the hosts' hard-earned victory - with Scarlets hooker Marc Jones spending the final 10 minutes in the sin bin.

Connacht 25-17 Cheetahs

Ireland scrum-half Kieran Marmion made a timely return following ankle surgery as Connacht saw off the Cheetahs 25-17 in an entertaining Guinness PRO14 encounter at the Sportsground.

Playing for the first time since Ireland's November win over New Zealand, Marmion came on for the final 22 minutes, during which Shaun Venter's searing breakaway try brought the Cheetahs level.

A Jack Carty penalty and Connacht captain Jarrad Butler's decisive 78th-minute try then sealed an important victory in this Conference A duel.

Andy Friend's men are now back up to third in the table, but they did it the hard way as the Cheetahs led 12-10 at half-time.

Sibahle Maxwane took his Championship-leading haul to 11 tries and his back-three colleague Louis Fouche also touched down, with Tom Farrell, fresh from his Six Nations squad call-up, replying in the 24th minute.

Tom McCartney's 45th-minute maul try put Connacht ahead for the first time and, despite Venter's jet-heeled response on the hour mark, the Irish province had the better of the final quarter as they completed a first-ever double over the Cheetahs, following December's 21-17 win in Bloemfontein.

Cardiff Blues 34-38 Glasgow

Glasgow won a thrilling game at the Arms Park to put a huge dent in Blues' hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions Cup after edging to a 38-34 Guinness PRO14 victory.

There were a total of 10 tries with Glasgow scoring five through Nick Grigg, Ali Price, Peter Horne, Nick Frisby and David Tameilau. Horne converted all five and kicked a penalty.

Aled Summerhill scored a hat-trick for Blues, Owen Lane and Garyn Smith were was also crossed the whitewash with Jarrod Evans kicking a penalty and three conversions.