Ulster gave their end-of-season prospects a huge boost thanks to a last minute try, while a youthful Ospreys side were heavily beaten by Zebre.
Ulster 36-15 Glasgow Warriors
Kingspan Stadium
Ulster kept their quarter-final hopes alive and boosted their chances of playing in next season’s Champions Cup by defeating Conference A leaders Glasgow Warriors 36-15.
While the Scottish outfit have confirmed a home semi-final, the Irish province are still battling for a position in the top three of their conference.
Their main aim on Saturday was to help themselves in the race for European rugby but this victory has also aided their play-off prospects, moving them four points behind Edinburgh.
The Irishmen started impressively and quickly went into a 10-point lead thanks to John Cooney’s try and penalty, but Glasgow were level by the 21st minute.
Finn Russell initially reduced the deficit thanks to a three-pointer before Callum Gibbins scampered across the whitewash unopposed.
Ulster remained in control, however, and Cooney gave them a six-point buffer going into the second period. Although Gibbins hit back for the Warriors early in the second period, the hosts proceeded to control the rest of the encounter.
Quick-fire tries by Nick Timoney and Sean Reidy provided a huge boost and, after Johnny McPhillips had kicked a three-pointer, the home team’s blindside flanker sealed the bonus-point win.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Cooney, Timoney 2, Reidy
Cons: Cooney, McPhillips
Pens: Cooney 3, McPhillips
For Glasgow:
Tries: Gibbins 2
Con: Russell
Pen: Russell
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jean Deysel, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Nick Timoney, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Ross Kane, 2 Rob Herring (c), 1 Andy Warwick
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Tom O'Toole, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Angus Curtis, 23 Tommy Bowe
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lelia Masaga, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Callum Gibbins (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Siua Halanukonuka, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Alex Allan
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Matt Smith, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Nick Grigg
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ireland), Helen O'Reilly (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Zebre 37-14 Ospreys
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
An inexperienced Ospreys outfit were comprehensively outplayed by Zebre as the hosts went away with a comfortable 37-14 victory at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.
With nothing to play for, the Welsh region fielded a number of youngsters and it told in the opening exchanges as the home side touched down four times.
George Biagi and Mattia Bellini (twice) crossed the whitewash inside the first 13 minutes before Giulio Bisegni completed the bonus-point soon after.
To the visitors’ credit, they improved and were rewarded by Sam Cross’ effort, reducing the arrears to 22-7 at the interval.
The second period was tighter and Carlo Canna’s penalty was the only score in the third quarter, but Zebre completed the win in the latter stages.
Bellini touched down for an excellent hat-trick before Gabriele di Giulio confirmed the win with the Italians’ sixth try.
Reuben Morgan-Williams hit back straight away for the Ospreys but it was a rather big learning curve for the Welsh team’s young players.
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Tries: Biagi, Bellini 3, Bisegni, di Giulio
Cons: Canna 2
Pen: Canna
For Ospreys:
Tries: Cross, Morgan-Williams
Cons: Davies 2
Zebre: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Mattia Bellini, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Tommaso Castello (c), 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 David Sisi, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 George Biagi, 4 Leonard Krumov, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luhandre Luus, 17 Cruze Ah-Nau, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Derick Minnie, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Gabriele Di Giulio
Ospreys: 15 James Hook (c), 14 Dewi Cross, 13 Joe Thomas, 12 Luke Price, 11 Dylan Moss, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Matthew Aubrey, 8 Sam Cross, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Giorgi Nemsadze, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Ifan Phillips, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Matthew Dodd, 20 James Ratti, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Kieran Williams, 23 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Keith Allen (Scotland), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Charles Samson (Scotland)
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