Leaders Munster strike late for home win over Ulster

The Magners League leaders extended their advantage at the top of the table to nine points over the Scarlets, who also won last night, with the bonus point, which was only secured in injury time.

Elsewhere, Leinster made it two Magners League wins in quick succession against Irish opponents as they followed up victory at Ulster with a bonus point success against Connacht at the RDS.

David Kearney's first try of the season established a slender 8-3 half-time lead for the hosts but they were clinical after the break and second-half touchdowns from Kearney, Fergus McFadden and Niall Morris powered them to a victory which sees them close in on the top four in the table.

Connacht got precious little reward for a committed display, with Ian Keatley kicking a first-half penalty and Eoin Griffin collecting a late consolation try.

Rhys Priestland scored 16 points as the Scarlets bounced back from their Christmas stuffing at the hands of the Ospreys to record a win over Newport Gwent Dragons at Parc y Scarlets.

The victory sees the Scarlets go back up to second place in the league although the Dragons did register a deserved losing bonus point.

The Scarlets were desperate to recover from their 60-17 hammering at the Liberty Stadium on Monday but found themselves 10-3 down at half-time despite the Dragons having Aled Brew in the sin-bin.

It took just 64 seconds for the home side to level the scores after the break when Maule crossed after good work by Davies.

There was more misery for the visitors when they lost back-rower Gavin Thomas to the sin-bin. That allowed Priestland to kick a penalty which put the Scarlets in the lead. The Scarlets lost a man of their own when they had centre Davies sin-binned on 64 minutes and that slowed their momentum.

However, the Dragons missed a golden opportunity to draw level on 71 minutes when Tovey was wayward with a straightforward penalty attempt, much to the delight of the home crowd.

And the Scarlets made the most of the error as Priestland raced over for the Scarlets' second try after good work by replacement centre Regan King and Davies.

As the match entered injury time Brew cut the deficit to three points with a try after a kick ahead by Tovey, but there was still time for a third Priestland penalty to seal the home side's success.