Gavin Henson made a winning return to rugby on his Cardiff Blues debut, but he was overshadowed by Wales fullback Leigh Halfpenny in 28-9 win over the Dragons at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Henson was making his first appearance since suffering a wrist injury playing for Wales against England back in August which ruled him out of the World Cup.

The enigmatic 29-year-old showed some nice touches at fullback as the Blues strangled the life out of their struggling opponents.

The win was enough to fire Henson and co into fourth in the Pro 12, behind leaders Leinster and Welsh rivals the Ospreys and level with Munster.

First half tries from winger Alex Cuthbert and second row Bradley Davies allowed the Blues to take a significant lead into the break.

And after kicking his side out of range of a comeback, Halfpenny produced a searing break to set up Cuthbert for his second to seal the win.

In Friday's other match Mauro Bergamasco marked his first game for Aironi with only their second win of the season 27-13 against Italian rivals Benetton Treviso.

The Italy international signed for the club at the start of the month but has spent the last few weeks returning to fitness after spending a month without a club after the World Cup.

And while the curly-haired flank made little impact, coming off the bench with nine minutes remaining, it was his Azzurri colleague Luciano Orquera who orchestrated the win.

The flyhalf was flawless from the kicking tee slotting nine penalties from as many attempts to hand the Pro 12 bottom side a first success since beating Edinburgh in September.

Treviso, on the other hand, missed the chance to boost their play-off chances as they slumped to only their second away defeat in the league this season.

The visiting side managed the only try, a penalty effort late on, but could not even come away with a losing bonus point as their indiscipline cost them dear.

Cardiff 28 Dragons 9

Scorers:

For Cardiff:
Tries: Cuthbert 2, Davies
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny 3

For Dragons:
Pens: Tovey 3

Teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gavin Henson, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Ryan Tyrell, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 John Yapp, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Josh Navidi, 20 Maama Molitika, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dan Parks, 23 Jamie Roberts.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Lewis Robling, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau. 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Lloyd Burns, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Jevon Groves, 20 Darren Waters, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Anitelea Tuilagi, 23 Will Harries.

Aironi 27 Treviso 13

Scorers:

For Aironi:
Pens: Orquera 9

Yellow cards: Masi, Bortolami

For Treviso:
Try: Penalty try
Cons: Di Bernardo
Pens: De Waal 2

Teams:

Aironi: 15 Andrea Masi; 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti; 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tito Tebaldi; 8 Josh Sole, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Nicola Cattina; 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys; 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Alberto De Marchi
Replacements: 16 Roberto Santamaria, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Filippo Ferrarini, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Naas Olivier, 23 Alberto Benettin. Coach: Rowland Phillips.

Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Ezio Galon, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Benjamin Vermaak, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 2 Diego Vidal, 1 Matteo Muccignat.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Michele Rizzo, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Gonzalo Padrò, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Edoardo Gori, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.