Leinster trounce Scarlets to reclaim leadership of Pro12

Leinster stormed back to the top of the Pro12 summit on Saturday with a 45-9 thrashing of Scarlets.

Ospreys had briefly taken over as leaders courtesy of their win at Edinburgh 24 hours earlier, but Leinster showed no sign of feeling the pressure as they romped to a bonus-point victory at the RDS.

Scrum-half Luke McGrath crossed twice inside the first quarter and, although three Dan Jones penalties initially kept the visitors in touch, Scarlets were blown away after the interval.

Rhys Ruddock and Ed Byrne each crossed either side of a brace for Joey Carbery as Leinster ran in four tries in 10 minutes. Jamison Gibson-Park added a seventh touchdown in the last minute.

The updated #GUINNESSPRO12 table following the conclusion of Round 17 pic.twitter.com/H35YSzVlRN

— PRO12RUGBY (@PRO12rugby) March 4, 2017

Third-placed Munster left it late to secure a 23-13 win at Cardiff Blues.

Cardiff led by 10 points when Steve Shingler converted Aled Summerhill’s 48th-minute score, but tries from Francis Salli and Conor Oliver turned things around.

Oliver’s score came with three minutes remaining, just after Rory Scannell had booted a drop goal to put Munster ahead for the first time.

Glasgow Warriors thumped the struggling Dragons 47-17 at Scotstoun in Saturday’s other fixture.

The Scottish side fell behind to a Rynard Landman try and were only four points to the good at the interval, before running away with the game in the second half.