Saturday 15 September 2018 21:44, UK
Leinster, Scarlets, Zebre and Glasgow Warriors all picked up wins on Saturday in Round 3 of the Guinness PRO14.
Last season's finalists, Leinster and Scarlets, sit first and second in Conference B while the Warriors top Conference A and remain unbeaten after three rounds of action.
Josh van der Flier made a try-scoring return from a knee injury as Leinster dished out a 52-10 Guinness PRO14 defeat to Dragons at the RDS Arena.
The Ireland flanker crossed on the stroke of half-time, adding to Sean Cronin's opener, as Leinster built a 17-0 lead.
Man of the match Jamison Gibson-Park and Jordan Larmour sealed the bonus point while Ross Moriarty was in the sin-bin.
Further tries from Gibson-Park, Tadhg Furlong and Scott Fardy, allied to Johnny Sexton's 15-point kicking haul, and completed the rout.
The high point for Bernard Jackman's Dragons was a scintillating solo score from full-back Jordan Williams - but the defending champions proved too strong in their first home game of the new campaign.
Scrum-half Gareth Davies scored twice as Scarlets came from behind to beat 14-man Benetton 38-29 at Parc y Scarlets.
The Italian side paid after having lock Irne Herbst sent off in the 27th minute for elbowing Samson Lee in the head at a ruck.
Scarlets had trailed twice but recovered to secure a bonus-point win, with Gareth Davies (2), Kieron Fonotia, Johnny McNicholl, Ed Kennedy and Tom Prydie scoring tries - four of which were converted by Leigh Halfpenny.
Props Nicola Quaglio and Simone Ferrari, Monty Ioane and Luca Sperandio all went over the line for Benetton, for whom Tommaso Allan kicked nine points.
Glasgow Warriors were another side to break the 50-point barrier on Saturday as they maintained their unbeaten start to the new season in South Africa.
Ali Price scored two tries and the Scottish side ran in seven in total as they produced a fine second-half display in Bloemfontein.
The hosts led 19-14 at the interval thanks to tries from William Small-Smith, Malcolm Jaer and Nico Lee, while Adam Hastings and Price crossed for Glasgow.
Three tries in the first 10 minutes of the second half turned the contest, with Tommy Seymour, Price and DTH van der Merwe all crossing, and after Jaer touched down for the second time, Callum Gibbins and George Horne went over and Hastings took his personal tally to 22 points.
Zebre produced a superb late comeback to beat Cardiff Blues 26-24 in Italy.
Cardiff led 24-7 with 16 minutes to go but they were left to deal with a third straight defeat at the start of their Guinness PRO14 campaign after late tries from Johan Meyer, Francois Brummer and Oliviero Fabiani.
The Blues led 21-0 after 10 minutes thanks to tries from Olly Robinson, Kristian Dacey and Gareth Anscombe, who converted all three scores.
Carlo Canna scored and converted a try to get the hosts on the board in the 14th minute and, despite Anscombe's 53rd-minute penalty, Zebre produced a rousing finish to take victory.
