Italian outfit Treviso moved to within one place of a play-off spot as the Pro12 competition's Round Seven action were completed on Saturday.

Brendan Williams scored two tries on his 200th appearance for Treviso as the Italians secured their first ever Pro12 bonus point win in emphatic fashion, beating Newport Gwent Dragons 50-24.

And Cardiff got their Pro12 play-off push back on track as they came from behind to defeat Connacht 26-20.

In other Saturday action centre Adam Warren scored for the second game running to end Scarlets' poor run of form against Irish opposition in their 24-17 defeat of Ulster.
 
We look at all the Saturday action!

Benetton Treviso 50-24 Newport Gwent Dragons

Brendan Williams scored two tries on his 200th appearance for Treviso as the Italians secured their first ever Pro12 bonus point win in emphatic fashion, beating Newport Gwent Dragons 50-24.

The Australian wing crossed twice in the first half while Ludovico Nitoglia, Alessandro Zanni, and replacements Robert Barbieri, Paul Derbyshire and Tobias Botes also scored tries as Treviso made it four wins in a row.

Tonderai Chavhanga scored two tries, his first in the Pro12 since arriving last month from South Africa while Steffan Jones also scored a try for the visitors.

Treviso welcomed back several World Cup stars but it was the players who had helped them to their first league wins away from Italian soil against Glasgow and Ulster who proved the difference with Kris Burton contributing 13 points with the boot.

It was the home side who made the better start as Azzurri flanker Zanni scored the first try of the game after just five minutes.

Burton added the extras and he was on target again three minutes later after Williams scored his first of the afternoon.

Williams had his second on the quarter hour, with Burton's conversion giving Treviso a comfortable 21-0 lead.

The Dragons were handed another blow as wing Mike Poole was forced off midway through the half, but replacement Jason Tovey and Burton exchanged penalties as Treviso led 24-3 at the break.

South African international Chavhanga got only his second try in Dragons colours immediately after the break, but any hopes of a comeback were killed off five minutes later as Nitoglia sealed Treviso's first-ever four-try bonus point.

Burton's conversion made it 31-10, and the Italians put the Dragons to the sword with three tries in five minutes to reach the 50-point mark.

First Botes crossed with 15 minutes to go, followed three minutes later by Barbieri, and finally back row Derbyshire scored Treviso's seventh with ten minutes remaining.

The Dragons did manage to show some fight as Chavhanga scored his second before Jones crossed with three minutes remaining, Tovey converting on both occasions.

The scorers:

Benetton Treviso:
Tries: Williams 2, Nitoglia, Barbieri, Zanni, Derbyshire, Botes
Cons: Burton 5, Botes
Pen: Burton

Newport Gwent Dragons:
Tries: Chavhanga 2, S Jones
Cons: Tovey 3
Pen: Tovey

Teams:

Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Ezio Galon, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Valerio Bernabò, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Paul Derbyshire, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 Luke McLean.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Mike Poole, 10 Steffan Jones, 9 Joe Bedford, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Andrew Coombs, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Tom Willis (captain), 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Dan Way, 19 Jevon Groves, 20 Tom Brown, 21 James Leadbeater, 22 Lewis Robling 23 Jason Tovey.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Stefano Mancini, Domenico Sironi (both Italy)

Scarlets 24-17 Ulster

Centre Adam Warren scored for the second game running to end Scarlets' poor run of form against Irish opposition in their 24-17 Pro12 defeat of Ulster.

The Scarlets had lost their lost ten matches against opposition from across the Irish Sea but a try in each half from Liam Williams and Warren ensured a measure of revenge after Ulster did the double over Nigel Davies' side last season.

Ulster, despite welcoming back six internationals to their starting XV, meanwhile have now lost their last four matches and came away from Parc y Scarlets with just a losing bonus point despite Andrew Trimble's delightful try from Ruan Pienaar's clever kick.

Both teams struggled to master the conditions in the opening half with knock-ons occurring with frequent regularity.

It was the visitors who broke the deadlock after nine minutes as Ulster fly-half Ian Humphries split the posts with a penalty on nine minutes.

His opposite number Aled Thomas missed the first opportunity on 16 minutes but a brace of penalties gave Scarlets a 6-3 lead.

That advantage was extended on the stroke of halftime when a good passing move culminated in wing Williams crossing for a try converted by Thomas.

An even bigger cheer greeted the return of Wales captain Matthew Rees who took to the field on 46 minutes for the first time since the neck surgery that ruled him out of the World Cup.

Humphries missed one chance to reduce the arrears but made amends moments later following a bright piece of play from the visitors.

But Thomas soon replied for the hosts after Scotland international Sean Lamont had caused panic in the visiting ranks who were caught offside.

The teams continued to trade penalties when a great piece of improvisation by Pienaar led to Scarlets illegally trying to slow the ball down and Humphries' kick made it 16-9.

South African scrum-half Pienaar was showcasing his full range of talents in attack and a brilliant crossfield kick caught the Scarlets napping allowing the onrushing Trimble to touch the ball down one-handed.

In the absence of a television match official, referee Alan Falzone consulted his touch judges before awarding the try.

Humphries would have drawn the visitors level with his conversion only to see his kick come back off the post.

Memories of last season's encounter when Pienaar's last-gasp 55-metre penalty earned Ulster an improbable win were firmly in the minds of the crowd at Parc y Scarlets in a nervous last quarter.

But a huge sigh of relief was breathed when, after hammering away at the Ulster line Thomas offloaded to Warren on the angle to touch down.

The conversion was missed meaning Ulster were still in the game but Dan Newton's superb angled penalty with four minute left took the Scarlets a score clear.

However with a minute left Humphries' penalty ensured Ulster at least had the consolation of a bonus point but after losing four straight games alarm bells will be ringing for Brian McLaughlin.

The scorers:

Scarlets:
Tries: Warren, L Williams
Con: Thomas
Pens: Thomas 3, Newton

Ulster:
Try: Trimble
Pens: Humphreys 4

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Rob McCusker (captain), 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Phil John, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Richie Pugh, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Daniel Newton, 23 Scott Williams.

Ulster: 15 Simon Danielli, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Nevin Spence, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Chris Henry, 7 Mike McComish, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Andy Kyriacou, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Adam D'Arcy.

Referee: Alan Falzone (Italy, 6th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Gwynn Morris, Rhys Thomas (both Wales)

Connacht 20-26 Cardiff Blues

Cardiff got their Pro12 play-off push back on track as they came from behind to defeat Connacht 26-20.

The Blues, who had won just once in their previous five attempts in Ireland, picked up their third away win of the season, becoming the first side to come away from the Sportsground with a win this season.

But it didn't look like they would manage the win at half-time as Eric Elwood's men led 17-6 having scored tries through Tiernan O'Halloran and Mike McCarthy.

However the Galway side managed just three second-half points as Alex Cuthbert and Casey Laulala turned the tables, with Scotland fly-half Dan Parks keeping the scoreboard ticking over from the kicking tee.

The home side got off to a flying start as wing O'Halloran powered over after just two minutes after slick handling in the backs.

Parks and O'Connor exchanged penalties before Parks added another three after 15 minutes.

Connacht extended their lead just before the half hour as they forced a lineout deep in the Blues' 22 and from a driving maul second row McCarthy came up with the try.

Parks missed a second penalty of the half on the stroke of half-time as Connacht looked in complete control.

But the Blues came out a different animal in the second half and were right back in it after just a minute.

Laulala broke two tackles on the left before beautifully offloading for Cuthbert who strolled over in the corner with Parks conversion making it 17-13.

And the Blues took the lead two minutes later as Connacht tried to play too much rugby in their own half and prop Rodney Ah You's wild pass was collected by Josh Navidi.

The home side did manage to recover the ball only for John Muldoon's kick to be charged down and eventually Laulala burst through under the posts to put Cardiff in front.

Parks duly added the simple conversion but after Paul Tito was yellow-carded on the half hour, Miah Nikora drew Connacht level.

However the Blues came back and Parks punished some hands in the ruck with 15 minutes to go, before his drop goal ten minutes from time sealed the win for the Blues who move back into fourth place in the table just four points off the top-of-the-table Ospreys.

The scorers:

Connacht:
Tries: McCarthy, O'Halloran
Cons: O'Connor 2
Pens: O'Connor, Nikora

Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Laulala, Cuthbert
Cons: Parks 2
Pens: Parks 3
DG: Parks

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (captain), 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Dylan Rogers, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 George Naoupu, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Brian Tuohy.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Tyrrell, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Deiniol Jones, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Gavin Evans.

Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Leo Colgan, Peter Roche (both Ireland)
TMO: Jude Quinn (Ireland)