Halfpenny stakes claim for Wales return in impressive showing against Munster

Leigh Halfpenny impressed ahead of his potential Wales return as the full-back helped the Scarlets defeat Munster 10-6, with Glasgow Warriors beating Zebre to go top of Pro14 Conference A.

Wales, who have won all three games in this year’s Six Nations, could recall Halfpenny for next weekend’s clash with Scotland at Murrayfield, and the 30-year-old came through 80 minutes in his latest appearance on his comeback from concussion.

The full-back scored five points, adding the extras to Ioan Nicholas’ 11th-minute try and then slotting over a second-half penalty against a Munster side whose only points came from two Bill Johnston penalties.

Munster also lost top spot in Conference A as Glasgow ran in six tries in a 42-10 thrashing of Zebre in Parma.

Final Score | Sgor Terfynol @GroupJuno
Scarlets10 Munster 6 pic.twitter.com/icOlhFEgir

— Scarlets Rugby (@scarlets_rugby) March 2, 2019

Five of their half a dozen tries occurred in the first half of their bonus-point victory, with Matt Fagerson crossing twice in that period and Chris Fusaro, Stafford McDowall and Ruaridh Jackson also going over prior to the interval.

Adam Hastings made each of those conversions and he remained perfect for the day, adding the extras to Tim Swinson’s second-half score.

Zebre, who had gone ahead through Carlo Canna’s penalty, scored a consolation try through Tommaso Castello, yet lost Canna to a 66th-minute red card.

Third-placed Connacht also scored six tries, two of those coming from Kieran Marmion, as they hammered the Ospreys 46-5.

Thomas Farrell, Matt Healy and Tom McCartney also touched down for Connacht, who were awarded a penalty try too.

Like Connacht, Cardiff Blues have 47 points after 17 games, with Olly Robinson’s 62nd-minute try proving crucial in a 19-12 victory over Southern Kings.

In Conference B, Benetton Treviso strengthened their grip on second place while hindering Edinburgh’s play-off aspirations with an 18-10 victory.

Antonio Rizzi scored 10 of Treviso’s points with a try, conversion and a penalty after Niccolo Cannone had earlier crossed.