Ospreys continue strong start

Cian Bohane's second-half try was enough to ensure Munster scraped past a battling Newport Gwent Dragons 20-16 at Rodney Parade to earn Rassie Erasmus' outfit a second win of the campaign as they rebounded from last weekend's loss.

Ospreys continued their impressive start to the season with an emphatic 64-10 win over Benetton Treviso and became the first team to have secured maximum points from the first three games, following earlier wins against Zebre and defending champions Connacht.

The game between Zebre and Connacht had to be abandoned at half-time, with Zebre holding a 22-10 lead, due to adverse weather conditions causing considerable risk to both the players and spectators at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.

Because the game was abandoned after only 40 minutes of play, the result of the fixture is null and void and the fixture will need to be replayed.

All Saturday's scores and scorers!

Newport Gwent Dragons 16-20 Munster

Munster struck first, Bleyendaal knocking over a penalty after 10 minutes but O'Brien pulled the hosts level three minutes later. Kleyn, on his first start for Munster, powered over from close-range and Bleyendaal kicked the conversion, to put the Irishmen 10-3 ahead after 20 minutes.

Welsh wing Amos was again their go-to man, plucking a fine interception and racing 50 metres to score his first try of the season, which O'Brien converted. Erasmus' side looked to have restored their lead but were pulled back for an O'Mahony knock on and the two sides went in level at 10-10.

Munster had struggled with handling throughout the first period and it again blighted their play after the break, a knock on handing Dragons a scrum inside the 22 that instigated a period of pressure from the hosts.

O'Brien made them pay on 48 minutes, kicking his second penalty of the evening to move Dragons 13-10 ahead. It was to be short-lived, Bleyendaal on target from the tee to punish Dragons' indiscretion at the ruck.

O'Brien continued to edge Dragons ahead, the 22-year-old firing over a third penalty as the visitors continued to shoot themselves in the foot.

Bohane's score was the turning point but the man himself got lucky. Darren Sweetnam looked to have finished well for Erasmus' side but he spilled the ball backwards in going over the line, leaving the 25-year-old centre the easiest try he is likely to score, Bleyendaal adding the extras for a 20-16 lead.

Newport had time for one final foray, kicking a penalty deep into the Munster 22 and driving for the line, but it was not to be for Jones' side. They did, however, claim a losing bonus point.

Scorers:

For Newport Gwent Dragons:

Try: Amos

Con: O'Brien

Pens: O'Brien 3

For Munster:

Tries: Bohane 2

Cons: Bleyendaal 2

Pens: Bleyendaal 2

Teams:

Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Pat Howard, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Ed Jackson', 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Lewis Evans (captain), 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Nick Crosswell, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Rhys Buckley,

1 Sam Hobbs.

Replacements: 16 Darran Harris, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James Thomas, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Angus O'Brien, 23 Adam Warren.

Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Christiaan Stander, 7 Jack O'Donoghue, 6 Billy Holland (captain), 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin.

Replacements: 16 Duncan Casey, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Brian Scott, 19 Dave O'Callaghan, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Colm O'Shea.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Ospreys 64-10 Benetton Treviso

Flyhalf Davies was at his creative best as he set up tries for Ben John and Jeff Hassler in the first half during a hot 15-minute spell where Ospreys ran riot and scored four times. And they continued after the break as Dafydd Howells, Keelan Giles and Alun Wyn Jones all scored to rack up the points in a comprehensive win.

The match did not get off to a good start as flank Tyler Ardron was injured in the seventh minute and forced to come off on his 50th appearance for the club. Treviso were physical in the early stages and forced Ospreys back, as both sides exchanged penalties in a slow start.

Ospreys soon got their backs on the ball though and Davies superbly set up John with a subtle late pass which released the centre through a gap to touch down under the posts.

Hooker Sam Parry, who scored a hat-trick earlier this season, scored minutes later as he powered over from close range after the Ospreys pack forced Treviso into a series of errors before Davies released wing Hassler with another smart pass.

And the bonus point was secured before the interval as Dan Evans capitalised on some good work by Howells and captain Tom Habberfield to score. Howells' acrobatic finish six minutes into the second half inflicted more pain on Treviso.

It was a sign of things to come for the Italian team as replacement hooker Luca Bisi was sin-binned. It got worse minutes later when a penalty try was awarded and Ian McKinley was shown a yellow for a high tackle on Habberfield.

Dan Biggar and Alun Wyn Jones then came off the bench to a rapturous reception, and the flyhalf was soon on the board as he converted the penalty try seconds later. He was busy again soon after as Giles showed off his potential by side-stepping his way through to score his first Ospreys try on his debut before Ma'afu Fia also powered over.

Jones wrapped it up in the final 10 minutes with his first try of the season, before Treviso scored in the final minute through Dean Budd who charged down a Rhys Webb kick and sprinted up field.

Scorers:

For Ospreys:

Tries: John, Parry, Hassler, Evans, Howells, Penalty try, Giles, Fia, Jones

Cons: Davies 4, Biggar 4

Pens: Davies

For Benetton Treviso:

Try: Budd

Con: McKinley

Pen: Allan

Yellow cards: Luca Bigi (Benetton Treviso, 50); Ian McKinley (Benetton Treviso, 53); Braam Steyn (Benetton Treviso, 64)

Teams:

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ben John, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Dafydd Howells, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield (captain), 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 James King, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Paul James.

Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Ma'afu Fia, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Keelan Giles.

Benetton Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 David Odiete, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (captain), 11 Andrea Buondonno, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 6 Dean Budd, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Filippo Gerosa, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Cherif Traore, 19 Guglielmo Zanini, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Andrea Pratichetti.

Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)

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