Disappointing night for Irish provinces

(Round-up) Connacht 15 Llanelli 37:  Llanelli Scarlets robbed Connacht of their unbeaten start to the Magners League as tries from Darren Daniel, Simon Easterby and a second-half brace from Regan King rocked the hosts at the Sportsground.

The Scarlets mercilessly picked up their third league win in the space of seven days, following on from their defeats of Glasgow and the Dragons, to mark themselves out as real title contenders.

Connacht's stand-in captain Mark McHugh, who tallied 10 points with a converted try and a penalty, was overshadowed by Wales outhalf Stephen Jones - who knocked over seven out of seven kicks for a 17-point haul.

Glasgow 24 Munster 13

Dan Parks was the Warrior king as Glasgow broke their Magners League duck by hammering the Heineken Cup holders.

The Scotland stand-off was back to his best, gathering a 19-point haul to thrill the Hughenden faithful. His tally included a dramatic interception touchdown which knocked the stuffing out of the European giants.

Munster made all the early running, only to find themselves three points adrift after six minutes. They failed to roll clear of the tackle scene inside their own danger-zone, giving Parks a simple penalty chance.

Munster hit back strongly, prompting Glasgow to make a spate of basic errors. And it was no surprise when Jeremy Manning confidently struck the equaliser in the 15th minute.

Parks was quickly back in the spotlight to edge his side back in front with a beautifully-executed penalty from 40 metres.

And the personal game of ping-pong continued just 60 seconds later as Manning replied in identical fashion.

Suddenly, Glasgow upped the pace to create a superb try for winger Thom Evans in the corner.

Even better was to come from Parks. His sense of anticipation was extra-sharp as he latched on to a floated pass in the Munster midfield before scuttling 70 metres to complete the interception score.

And he still had sufficient puff to bag the conversion to stretch the margin to 18 points.

The Warriors had their tails up with Evans and Johnny Beattie almost breaking through again, but they were on the back foot when Sam Pinder was yellow carded before Tom O'Leary nipped over for Munster - Eoghan Hickey adding the goal.

Edinburgh 20 Ulster 15

Ben Cairns was the toast of the Gunners as he snapped up the try which inspired his side to a morale-boosting Magners League triumph over the champions.

Cairns was making his first competitive start on the pro stage but he took his crucial score like an old hand.

Edinburgh made a jittery start, allowing the visitors to snatch the early initiative with a penalty by David Humphreys for offside.

Ulster continued to look the more hungry outfit, however the Gunners broke their duck in the eighth minute thanks to a slick drop-goal by Phil Godman.

Ulster came more into the picture with their powerful forwards posing problems for their home rivals.

The mounting pressure resulted in the Gunners giving away a series of penalties and Humphreys took full advantage by slotting two in quick succession to tie up the contest once again.

Edinburgh enjoyed a let-off when a Humphreys drop-goal bid was off-target, and they capitalised in the build-up to the break.

First, Paterson completed his penalty treble — then Cairns celebrated his full debut with the try that mattered.

Ally Hogg inflicted the initial damage with a surge up the centre of the field.

Dougie Hall and Matt Mustchin provided the link before Cairns underlined his speed and strength to shake off two challenges and plough over in the corner.

Ulster were in urgent mood after the restart and within two minutes Humphreys had collected his fourth penalty to narrow the gap to five.

He was on target again midway through the half to set up a tension-packed finale.

But captain cool Paterson held his nerve to bang over the kick that made sure of the glory for the Gunners.