Mixed results for the four provinces with two bonus point wins but two stuttering defeats

Leinster and Ulster could have done with some of their harder hitters on Friday night.

The pair of Irish provinces came unstuck against Scarlets and Edinburgh respectively while Connacht absolutely cantered to victory over an out-of-their-depth Zebre side. Leo Cullen's Leinster didn't wake up until an hour into their trip to Llanelli and found themselves 25-0 down before Isa Nacewa was found by Noel Reid and the New Zealander crossed to narrow the margin. James Tracy followed suit with just two minutes remaining on the clock, with Fergus McFadden converting both tries, but the comeback attempt was too late to cause any real danger for Scarlets who ran out 25-14 winners on the night. Ulster did manage to secure a losing bonus point as they came out second best in a tightly contested affair at Murrayfield as Edinburgh triumphed 16-10. The sides exchanged penalties in the first half and it was the Scottish side who led 6-3 at half-time but Sean Reidy gave Ulster the lead early in the second with the game's first try, converted by Peter Nelson. Hamish Watson touched down to put the hosts back in the lead and they didn't slip up once they got their noses in front and a Greig Tonks penalty fifteen minutes from time put the result beyond Ulster. Pat Lam's men enjoyed a different kind of evening though as they maintained their record of having never been beaten by Zebre. Connacht looked unstoppable from the outset as they ran in four tries in the first half to make the second half something of a stroll. Matt Healy, Kieran Marmion, Eoin McKeon and Conor Ronaldson secured a relatively simple bonus point for Connacht before Denis Buckley got a fifth try in the second half to give his side a 34-15 victory. Munster followed Connacht's example on Saturday afternoon as Anthony Foley guided his side to a thrilling 35-27 victory over Cardiff Blues. Munster were 10-0 down after 25 minutes before they decided to turn the game into a tryfest and Jordan Coghlan, Andy Conway, Ian Keatley all crossed to add to a Mike Sherry double. Cardiff didn't exactly lie down for the taking though and they kept it tight throughout but the home side were too strong on the day. Keatley was awarded man of the match after converting each of the five tries to push Munster's PRO12 record to 4/4.