Taine Plumtree marked his Scarlets debut with a pair of tries but the Welsh side were outclassed as they were beaten 63-21 by Bulls in their United Rugby Championship season opener at Loftus Versfeld.

Flanker Plumtree arrived in Llanelli from the Blues with hopes of impressing Wales coach Warren Gatland and forcing his way into the national squad and caught the eye in Pretoria despite Scarlets being second best. Plumtree went over for the visitors a minute before the interval after Tom Rogers had broken clear and also added a late consolation try for Scarlets.

On Saturday, late tries from Andrew Conway and Ethan Coughlan earned Munster a 34-21 bonus-point win over Sharks as they made a successful start to their URC title defence at Thomond Park. Academy lock Edwin Edogbo’s first URC try put his side on course for a 21-7 half-time lead, with Diarmuid Barron and Antoine Frisch also scoring to sandwich Werner Kok’s 37th-minute reply. Despite James van Rensburg crossing in the 48th minute to cancel out a Joey Carbery penalty, those scores from Conway and Coughlan put the result beyond doubt. The Sharks did muster a late consolation effort from Aphelele Fassi, something to take with them into next week’s trip to Leinster.

Caolin Blade’s 22-minute first-half hat-trick catapulted Connacht to an opening 34-26 bonus-point win over the Ospreys at the Sportsground. The scrum-half has started the new season in brilliant form and half-back partner JJ Hanrahan kicked 12 points as Connacht built a 27-5 half-time lead. Following up on a late Keelan Giles try, Ospreys cut the gap to eight points after Reuben Morgan-Williams and new signing James Ratti had crossed. A closing effort from Rhys Davies did earn the Welsh side a try-scoring bonus point but Cathal Forde’s 56th-minute score, converted by Hanrahan, had Connacht too far in front.

Ulster staged a second-half fightback to beat Zebre Parma 40-36 and get their campaign off to a winning start at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.Zebre had lost 25 matches in a row and were without a victory since April 2022. But the Italians showed they are a far more serious proposition this season, sharing 12 tries in a dramatic contest and picking up two bonus points.

Stormers survived a second-half Lions fightback to prevail 35-33 at Emirates Airline Park. After PJ Botha crossed early for the Lions, Stormers moved 32-7 in front thanks to tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Joseph Dweba and Herschel Jantjies. Clayton Blommetjies kicked three conversions and a penalty while Feinberg-Mngomezulu also landed a three-pointer. But tries from Henco van Wyk, Ruan Venter, Morne van den Berg and Francke Horn, three of them converted, either side of a Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty saw the Lions move to within two but they had to settle for two losing bonus points.

Cardiff's Ciaran Parker was sent off on his debut to hand Benetton a dramatic late winning penalty at the Arms Park. New head coach Matt Sherratt looked on course for a perfect start when Cardiff led 19-3 in the first half. Liam Belcher, Rhys Carre and Ellis Bevan all scored in the space of 13 minutes to put the hosts in control. But Gianmarco Lucchesi and Tomas Albomoz crossed in either half for the Italians before Jacob Umaga's 79th-minute penalty snatched a 23-22 win.

Weekend results: Zebre 36-40 Ulster, Connacht 34-26 Ospreys, Lions 33-35 Stormers, Dragons 17-22 Edinburgh, Munster 34-21 Sharks, Cardiff 22-23 Benetton, Bulls 63-21 Scarlets, Glasgow Warriors 43-25 Leinster.

How Edinburgh and Glasgow’s URC rivals fared over weekend - Bulls shine, Zebre denied huge win

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