Scarlets shocked Leinster A, 27-7 in Carmarthen, Newport Gwent Dragons left it late to beat Yorkshire Carnegie 22-20, and Ospreys thumped Connacht Eagles 55-14 on Sunday.
But the Cardiff Blues were on the wrong end of a 30-27 scoreline against Ulster A at Sardis Road. Young outside halves Dan Jones and Arwel Robson commanded wins for Scarlets and the Dragons respectively.
The former put the boot into the Irish, scoring 12 points that included a try. Scarlets are now five points clear at the top of Pool 4 following the victory, and made amends for the 65-13 hammering they took in Ireland the week before.
Skipper Morgan Allen scored each side of half-time for the West-Walians, with Tom Williams dotting down for the other. Jimmy O’Brien crossed for Leinster’s opener, before Allen got his first on the cusp of interval, to give the hosts an 10-7 advantage.
But Scarlets put their foot down after the break, when Jones wriggled his way over, before a big hit in the midfield from Tom Price gave Williams the opportunity to touch down. Allen found his second 11 minutes from full-time for the valuable bonus-point.
At Ystrad Mynach, Robson crossed in the dying moments to tie the game 20-20, before the Wales U18 cap held his nerve with the conversion from out wide to give the Gwent side their first win in the Cup this season. Rob O’Donnell thought he had stolen the points for Yorkshire when he scored with seven minutes left to play, but Warren Seals’ missed conversion proved crucial, as Robson stole the show.
Ospreys made it back-to-back wins over Connacht as they ran in nine tries at the Talbot Athletic Ground. Jay Baker – who scored the winning try against the Eagles in round three – bagged a brace of tries, with Kieran Williams also scoring a double.
There were also tries for Phil Jones, Joe Thomas, Matt Aubrey, Andrew Claypole, and rising star Tom O’Flaherty. Ospreys are third in Pool 3, 10 points behind London Irish, trail Cornish Pirates by a solitary point.
There was no such success for the Blues, though, as they blew a 17-13 half-time lead against Ulster A. The Irish are widely considered as one of the favourites for the competition, and showed their mettle to come from behind to claim victory. Cam Dolan, Gareth Thompson and Ben Jones scored for the Blues
