Ulster will be hoping that they have finally kickstarted their Pro12 charge as Stephen Ferris led a clinical fightback to see off Scarlets 24-17 at Ravenhill on Friday.

Brian McLaughlin's side went into this game having won just one of their last six league games and quickly found themselves 10-0 down as Sean Lamont and Viliame Iongi crossed for the visiting Welsh side.

But Ulster recovered and scored 24 unanswered points through two Ferris tries and the boot of flyhalf Ian Humphreys to inflict a first defeat for Scarlets in nine games in all competitions, despite a late Kieran Murphy try.

Ulster got off to the worst possible start when straight from the kick-off the returning Ferris passed the ball straight to wing Lamont who couldn't believe his luck before running in for an easy try in the left corner.

The wind was playing havoc with any kicking attempts and Stephen Jones missed his conversion before Humphreys hit the post with a penalty attempt as Ulster looked to get back into the game.

And they were made to rue that miss opportunity as on 19 minutes Scarlets' Tongan international Iongi demonstrated speed and power to cross in the right corner, Jones wayward again with his conversion attempt.

Just two minutes later Humphreys did get the Ravenhill faithful off their feet as he reduced the Scarlets lead to just seven points with a penalty.

The Scarlets were reduced to 14 men just after the half-hour mark when fullback Dan Evans was sent to the sin-bin for deliberate offside, and they were made to pay for it just two minutes later as Ulster grabbed their first try of the game.

Starting in their own half the ball found its way to scrumhalf Paul Marshall who gathered his own chip forward before Ulster worked the ball from right to left for Ferris to atone for his earlier mistake and barge his way over for a try, Humphreys wide with his extras attempt.

Ulster clearly had their backs up after finishing the first-half strongly and went ahead just two minutes after the half-time break through a Humphreys penalty before stretching their lead moments later with another three-pointer.

The Ulster flyhalf was at it again just before the hour mark with a booming penalty and then converted Ferris' second try of the game five minutes later to give his side a comfortable 14 point lead.

Scarlets however didn't go down without a fight and after Ulster replacement Adam Macklin was shown a yellow card, the Irish side conceded penalty after penalty and No.8 Murphy forced his way over for their third try of the game, although it was too little too late for the Welsh side.

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: Ferris 2
Con: Humphreys
Pens: Humphreys 4

For Scarlets:
Tries: Lamont, Longi, Murphy
Con: Jones

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Steven Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (captain), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.    
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Ian Whitten

Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Viliami Iongi, 13 Nick Reynolds, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Stephen Jones (captain), 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Rob McCusker, 6 Mat Gilbert, 5 Adam Powell, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.     
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Iestyn Thomas, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Johnathan Edwards, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Daniel Newton, 23 Iolo Evans.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Eanna O'Dowd (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)

Connacht 13-15 Treviso

Dave McSharry's first try in a Connacht shirt was in vain as the Irish side's poor Pro12 form continued with a 15-13 defeat to Benetton Treviso at the Sportsground.

The Italians themselves were looking to stem a mini-slump of two straight league defeats and quickly build up a comfortable lead thanks to tries from Ludovicio Nitoglia and Tommaso Iannone, Willem De Waal kicking the remaining points.

And although centre McSharry and Niall O'Connor's boot pulled the hosts back into contention, they ran out of time and had to settle for a losing bonus point.

Connacht were looking to arrest a slide of seven straight defeats in all competitions and started the game with some great attacking intent.

Some great passing and linebreaks eventually led to a penalty for Niall O'Connor on four minutes but the flyhalf put his kick well wide.

Connacht continued to press and looked like the more likely side to get on the scoreboard first but on 11 minutes Treviso were awarded a penalty for a ruck infringement and De Waal made no mistake with his kick.

And it got worse just four minutes later as early of Connacht's early promise was blown away as Nitoglia touched down for the Italians, De Waal converting for a 10-0 lead.

But the mood around the Sportsground worsened after 23 minutes as wing Iannone went over for a try, this time De Waal missing the conversion.

The home side were continuing to press and Treviso scrum-half Fabio Semenzato soon found himself in the sin-bin.

And the Irish side soon made the most of their man advantage with their only try of the game as centre McSharry helped himself to his first try in Connacht colours, O'Connor this time successful with his kick.

Connacht had their first opportunity to reduce the arrears in the second-half eight minutes after the restart but O'Connor pulled his penalty from the Treviso ten metre line wide of the posts.

And the home side were made to wait until the 57 minute to get on the scoreboard again, Treviso flank Monoa Vasawai sent to the sin bin and O'Connor making no mistake from the resulting penalty to bring them to within five points of their Italian visitors.

Connacht were doing their best to cross for their second try of the game but just as it looked as though captain John Muldoon would find his way over, the referee blew for a penalty and they had to settle for an O'Connor penalty.

And although they continued to press they were unable to find another score and have now tasted defeat in their last eight games.

The scorers:

For Connacht:
Try: McSharry
Con: O'Connor
Pens: O'Connor 2

For Treviso:
Tries: Nitoglia, Iannone
Con: De Waal
Pen: De Waal

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (captain), 14 Mark McCrea, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 John Muldoon, 6 Dave Gannon, 5 George Naoupu, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Dennis Buckley, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Eoghan Grace, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Fetu'u Vainikolo.

Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Ezio Galon, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Benjamin Vermaak, 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo (captain).
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Corniel Van Zyl, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Gonzalo Padrò, 22 Edoardo Gori, 23 Kristopher Burton.

Referee: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)

Edinburgh 50-10 Aironi

Edinburgh exacted revenge on Aironi for a shock September Pro12 loss as they hammered the Italians at Murrayfield 50-10.

Michael Bradley's side now boast a record of seven wins from their nine home matches this season, which include a thrilling 48-47 win over Racing Metro in the Heineken Cup last month.

Edinburgh welcomed back international front row trio of Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford and Geoff Cross and the stability upfront seemed to work wonders as the Scots raced into a 21-0 lead after just 17 minutes.
 
After missing an early strike at goal through Greig Laidlaw - three tries in nine minutes from David Denton and a double from Tim Visser effectively ended the contest before a quarter of the game had even elapsed.
 
Inside ten minutes Nick De Luca recycled the ball for Edinburgh, allowing Denton to crash over - Laidlaw kicked the extras.
 
And it was 14-0 just minutes later as once again De Luca was the provider for Edinburgh, crashing through the Aironi defence before offloading to Visser.
 
Edinburgh's dominance upfront was confirmed on 17 minutes as the Aironi scrum creaked and off first-phase ball - Visser scored a cracking try - his second of the evening.
 
Aironi briefly looked as though they would get a foothold in the game as George Biagi charged down a kick and scored under the post but normal service was shortly after for Edinburgh.
 
Just five minutes later Laidlaw extended Edinburgh's lead to 24-5 with a penalty, before De Luca added his side's fourth try of the evening under the posts, finishing off a fine move following lovely hands by Sean Cox.
 
Edinburgh's relentless charge towards the win was briefly halted just before half-time when try-scorer Denton was yellow carded for an infringement but Aironi's comeback hopes were short-lived.
 
Despite the withdrawal of the impressive De Luca at the break - Edinburgh dominated the early exchanges of the second-half, dominating territory.
 
And on 52 minutes they won a scrum against the head and after recycling the ball, it was worked out to Visser who darted over for his third try of the game.
 
Lee Jones was the next man to go for Edinburgh, collecting a perfectly weighted kick from Phil Godman to go over - unfortunately the latter couldn't add the extras.
 
Chris Leck brought up the half century with Edinburgh's seventh score of the night, while Aironi added a late consolation score from Filippo Ferrarinni to make the final score 50-10.
 
The scorers:
 
For Edinburgh:
Tries: De Luca, Leck 2, Visser 3, Denton, Jones
Cons: Godman, Laidlaw 5
Pens: Cox, Laidlaw
 
For Aironi:
Tries: Ferrarini, Biagi

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 James King, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Harry Leonard, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Sean Cox, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Steven Lawrie, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Netani Talei, 20 Ross Rennie, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Tom Brown, 23 Phil Godman.

Aironi: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tito Tebaldi; 8 Josh Sole, 7 Filippo Ferrarini, 6 Nicola Cattina, 5 George Biagi, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (captain), 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D’Apice, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Lorenzo Romano, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Frans Viljoen, 21 Tyson Keats, 22 Gilberto Pavan, 23 Giulio Toniolatti.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland), Adrian Graves (Scotland)

Leinster 52-9 Cardiff Blues

High-flying Leinster mastered the difficult conditions as they downed a severely under-strength Cardiff 52-9 thanks largely to the boot of centre Fergus McFadden.

In gusty conditions McFadden kicked 18 points as Cardiff, missing a host of internationals due to Saturday's clash with Australia, struggled to get a foothold in this Pro12 clash.

Despite playing in the wind in the first-half, Leinster found themselves 13-9 up at the break as McFadden kicked eight points and Isaac Boss rumbled over for a try.
 
With kicking conditions woeful for Leinster in the opening 40 minutes, after a series of pick-up and drives - Boss was adjudged to have got the ball down amidst an avalanche of bodies on ten minutes.
 
Ceri Sweeney ensured Cardiff stayed within touching distance at the break, kicking three penalties but with eight Blues on international duty and Chris Czekaj and replacement scrumhalf Lewis Jones dropping out late through injury and illness - Leinster never looked in trouble.
 
Despite having the best of the conditions in the first-half - Cardiff's below-par line-outs and needless handling errors and turnovers - ensured Leinster always had their noses in front.
 
Three minutes after the break McFadden nudged Leinster further in front with a well-taken penalty but just two minutes later the game was effectively sealed for the Irish team.
 
Fionn Carr was the architect of the score, breaking from deep and Nathan White was in support to charge over from close range for a popular score - McFadden again added the extras.
 
McFadden ensured the scoreboard kept ticking over as he landed a drop goal just before the hour to extend Leinster's score to 26-9.
 
Despite the needless sin-binning of Leo Cullen on 54 minutes - Cardiff were unable to take advantage of their numerical advantage and just minutes later Richie Rees was also yellow carded for the visitors.
 
Instead it got worse for Leinster on 63 minutes as Ian Madigan scored Leinster's next try, crashing over, with the ever reliable McFadden adding the extras.
 
Leinster wrapped up the bonus point win as Irish international Jonathan Sexton stepped off the bench for the final quarter.

First his kick through was picked up for David Kearney to score on 68 minutes and just minutes later the duo were at it again as Sexton once again set up his team-mate for a try.
 
And Leinster brought up their half century in the final minutes as Leo Auva'a went over from a tap penalty after Cardiff were penalised at scrum time

The scorers:
 
For Leinster:
Tries: Boss, White, Kearney 2, Madigan, Auva'a
Cons: Sexton 2, McFadden 3
Pens: McFadden 3
DG: McFadden
 
For Cardiff Blues:
Pens: Sweeney

Teams:

Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 David Kearney, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Leo Cullen (captain), 3 Nathan White, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Damian Browne, 20 Leo Auva'a, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Jonathan Sexton, 23 Rob Kearney.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Taufaao Filise, 2 Ryan Tyrrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Michael Paterson, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Dafydd Hewitt.

Referee: Andrew Macpherson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Peter Roche (Ireland)
TMO: Sean Flannery (Ireland)