Edinburgh remained in first place of the combined URC log despite going down the Ospreys with 34 points after Round 12 of the competition.
The Cell C Sharks remained the leader in the South African Shield after a draw with the DHL Stormers. The Vodacom Bulls moved up two positions to #13 on the overall log following their bonus-point win over the Emirates Lions, four log points behind the Cell C Sharks.
Jarrod Evans inspires Cardiff fightback victory over Leinster.
Jarrod Evans held his nerve to fire over a 45-metre penalty with the last kick of the game to give Cardiff their first win over Leinster since 2011 in a thrilling 29-27 United Rugby Championship victory at the Arms Park.
Cardiff looked to have blown their chance when they conceded 14 points while number eight James Botham was in the sin-bin but they finished strongly to pick up a morale-boosting victory.
Owen Lane and Hallam Amos scored Cardiff’s tries with Evans adding four penalties and two conversions with Ben Thomas kicking a penalty.
Adam Byrne, James Tracy and Scott Penny were Leinster’s try-scorers with Ross Byrne kicking two penalties and three conversions.
Ospreys edge Edinburgh despite Boan Venter hat-trick
The Ospreys overturned an 11-point halftime deficit to beat Edinburgh 23-19 in Swansea.
Tries from Mat Protheroe and Sam Parry, along with 13 points from the boot of Stephen Myler, got the Welsh region over the line.
Edinburgh loosehead Boan Venter scored a remarkable hat-trick of trie, the first prop to achieve the feat in the competition’s history, while Jaco van der Walt kicked four points.
Muster extend a perfect record against Zebre Parma
Munster maintained their perfect record against Zebre Parma by winning 34-17 to make it 18 wins from as many meetings between the sides.
Shorn of their Ireland stars ahead of the Guinness Six Nations, Munster came out on top thanks to tries from Jack O’Donoghue, Dan Goggin, Fineen Wycherley, Josh Wycherley and Diarmuid Barron.
Zebre went over through Erich Cronje shortly before half-time and Junior Laloifi added a late consolation.
Jake Flannery kicked nine points and Jack Crowley booted three for Munster while Tim O’Malley delivered five points for Zebre from the tee and Antonio Rizzi contributed a conversion.
The result – Munster's sixth win from eight United Rugby Championship fixtures – takes them to four victories on the bounce in all competitions while Zebre remains rooted to the foot of the table after head coach Emiliano Bergamaschi’s first URC match in charge.
Cell C Sharks held to draw by DHL Stormers after last-gasp penalty try.
The Cell C Sharks were denied victory over the DHL Stormers by a penalty try in the last action of the match, drawing 22-22 in Durban.
Sean Everitt’s side led 19-3 at one stage thanks to tries from Springboks duo Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi and the kicking of Boeta Chamberlain, who ended the game with 12 points.
However, Damian Willemse touched down against the run of play 12 minutes into the second period before a pair of penalty tries robbed the Sharks of the win.
The second came right at the death, with Aphelele Fassi penalised for a deliberate knock-on when the Stormers had a two-man overlap.
The Sharks stayed top of the South African Shield but were unable to stretch their two-point advantage over the second-placed Stormers.
Glasgow Warriors claim a six-try win at Connacht
Rufus McLean and Kyle Steyn both touched down twice in Glasgow Warriors' runaway 42-20 United Rugby Championship win over Connacht at the Sportsground.
Chasing their third straight league victory, the Warriors led 17-10 at half-time thanks to tries from McLean, Steyn and co-captain Fraser Brown.
Connacht hit back through Sam Arnold during Richie Gray's sin-binning, and a Paul Boyle try drew them level in the 43rd minute.
Connacht's debutant fly-half Cathal Forde kicked 10 points, but McLean and Steyn struck again on the hour mark and replacement Johnny Matthews rounded off the six-try success late on.
Vodacom Bulls close gap in South African Shield with Emirates Lions Win
The Vodacom Bulls clawed back some ground in the South African Shield with a 34-10 victory over the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg.
Jake White’s men have struggled to live up to expectations this season and came into the weekend five points adrift at the bottom of their regional pool.
However, tries from Johan Grobbelaar, Embrose Papier, Arno Botha and Harold Vorster saw them to a bonus-point victory in a match in which they also had two scores disallowed.
The Lions, themselves, had a touchdown ruled out in the first half and although they did go over through Jaco Kriel just short of the hour mark, it was an afternoon to forget for the home side.
Morne Steyn kicked 14 points for the Bulls while Fred Zeilinga and Tiaan Swanepoel split the posts once apiece with a penalty and conversion respectively for the Lions.
The result sees the Bulls pull level on points with their third-placed hosts in the South African Shield after seven matches.
Ulster return to URC action with a bonus-point win over the Scarlets
Ulster returned to United Rugby Championship action with a 27-15 bonus-point win over the Scarlets in Belfast.
After the scores were tied 10-10 at half-time, the Irish side ran in three second-half tries through Sam Carter, Gareth Milasinovich and Craig Gilroy to secure the victory.
Scarlets touched down twice through Samson Lee and Kemsley Mathias.
Dragons held to a draw by weakened Benetton
The Dragons were unable to capitalise on Benetton’s raft of absentees as they were forced to settle for a 13-13 draw in a match they could have lost at the death.
The Welsh region were firm favourites to claim only a second win in their last 15 outings and their first home victory since April 25 with Benetton missing 23 players through international call-ups.
However, the Dragons not only had to be content with a draw after fighting back from 10-0 down, but they might easily have ended up defeated as Benetton fly-half Tomas Albornoz’s last-gasp penalty fell short after Wales hooker Elliot Dee was sent off in the final minute for a dangerous challenge.
Ross Moriarty scored Dragons’ sole try with Sam Davies adding the conversion and two penalties but the hosts were unable to claim victory as they made too many unforced errors in a game of poor quality.
Corniel Els was Benetton’s try-scorer with Albornoz kicking two penalties and a conversion.
