Guinness PRO12 review: Leinster edge to glory

Ross Molony's 66th-minute try saw Leinster squeeze past Cardiff Blues for a nervy 22-21 Guinness PRO12 win at a sunny RDS. 

Leo Cullen's men remain top of the table despite coming under fierce pressure from a Cardiff side who thrived on turnovers, charging out of their own half for all three of their tries.

Dan Leavy and Luke McGrath returned from Ireland duty with a try apiece as Leinster led 14-7 at half-time, the Blues hitting back with a well-worked Tomos Williams effort.

Cardiff continued to capitalise on Leinster errors, a slick counter-attack putting scrum-half Williams over for a levelling 47th-minute try before Ross Byrne's penalty made it 17-14.

A breakaway score from Cardiff replacement Sion Bennett had Leinster's two-year unbeaten PRO12 run at the RDS under serious threat, however second row Molony's five-pointer from a maul proved to be the match winner.

Ronan O'Mahony touched down twice as Munster strengthened their grip on a top-four spot with a convincing 50-14 victory at bottom club Zebre.

Wing O'Mahony scored in either half at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi to continue his impressive form and become the competition's top try-scorer with nine.

Niall Scannell, Tommy O'Donnell and Rory Scannell were also on the scoresheet for the Irish province, while replacement James Cronin added a brace.

Glasgow gave themselves a huge confidence boost ahead of next week's European Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens by seeing off Connacht at Scotstoun.

Home lock Tim Swinson was shown a red card after 65 minutes for an incident at a ruck, but Glasgow still managed to secure a 35-24 victory.

It allows the sixth-placed Scots to pull clear of Connacht, the team directly behind them, and lifts their hopes of squeezing into the top four.

And eight days before the clash with Saracens at Allianz Park, the sight of Sean Lamont galloping in from 30 metres to touch down for a bonus-point try late on capped a successful encounter.

For Connacht, the defeat hits their prospects of making a late run to earn a place in next season's Champions Cup.

The Ospreys lost ground on the top two with a surprise 13-5 defeat to Treviso in Italy.

Steve Tandy's side were comfortable 64-10 winners in the corresponding fixture in Swansea but fortunes were dramatically reversed at the Stadio Monigo on Saturday night.

The hosts were on the front foot from the beginning, dominating possession, and took the lead midway through the first half when Alberto Sgarbi powered over the line. Tito Tebali, against his former club, added the extra points with the conversion as he made amends for an earlier penalty miss.

The Ospreys' performance was littered by uncharacteristic mistakes but they finally got going as half-time approached when Sam Davies ran down the line and off-loaded to Dan Evans before Keelan Giles ran in his 13th try of the season. Davies missed the conversion as the hosts led 7-5 at the break.

A Tebaldi penalty extended Treviso's lead in the second half while the other points came from the boot of Ian McKinley.

The defeat was only a second loss in the last 10 PRO12 games for the Ospreys and they remain in third place in the table. Their failure to pick up a bonus point means they are now six points behind leaders Leinster and four adrift of second-placed Munster.