It was a day for returning World Cup stars, in particular two Irish flyhalves, as the Pro12 competition returned to action on Friday.

Leinster flyhalf Jonathan Sexton notched up 23 points as the European champions downed Edinburgh 36-28 in a thrilling encounter at Murrayfield.

And the return of their World Cup stars also proved the difference for Munster as they put consecutive defeats behind them with a comfortable 18-6 win over Aironi at Musgrave Park - Ronan O'Gara kicking all their points.

Scotland lock Richie Gray marked his return from the World Cup with the winning try, as a commanding second half saw Glasgow end Ospreys unbeaten start to the Pro12 season.

However, Ospreys held on to a slender lead at the top of the standings - two points ahead of the Irish pack of Munster and Leinster.

We look at all the Friday action!

Glasgow Warriors 28=17 Ospreys

Scotland lock Richie Gray marked his return from the World Cup with the winning try as a commanding second half saw Glasgow end Ospreys unbeaten start to the Pro12 season.

The 22-year-old stretched over for the decisive score in the 62nd minute as the Warriors recorded 25 unanswered points to win 28-17 and halt the Welsh outfit's six-game league winning run.

Duncan Weir showed he was more than a match for Ospreys' Matthew Morgan putting in a near-perfect performance with the boot kicking 23 points to the diminutive flyhalf's 12.

Morgan made sure the visitors had the final say with a try in the dying seconds but it was a scant consolation as Richard Hibbard's second-half sin-binning proved costly for the Welsh region.

The Warriors started like a house on fire and deservedly took the lead through the boot of Weir after a minute only for Morgan to reply with two penalties of his own in quick succession.

The 19-year-old repeated the trick for another three points after 17 minutes and his fourth just after the half hour mark topped the lot as he slotted an effort from well inside his own half.

But the Warriors had the last laugh of the first half, Weir kicking an easy penalty right in front of the posts to make it 12-6 moments after striking the post from far wide out on the left.

Like the first half, Glasgow started the second strongly and were rewarded for their efforts when Weir kicked his third penalty of the evening to reduce the deficit to three points.

Ospreys regained a foothold but couldn't add to their tally as Morgan missed a drop goal and Weir pulled Glasgow level with another three points with 57 minutes on the clock.

Their cause was boosted when Ospreys hooker Hibbard was given a yellow card for coming in from the side in the 60th minute - with the Warriors immediately setting about the try line.

After a succession of phases Gray used all of his giant frame to stretch over the whitewash out wide and Weir converted via the post to take the score to 19-12.

Weir booted three further penalties to make sure of the win and cap a fine night personally with Morgan's late burst to score a scant consolation.

The scorers:

Glasgow Warriors:
Try: Gray
Con: Weir
Pens: Weir 7

Ospreys:
Try: Morgan
Pens: Morgan 4

Teams:

Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Rob Dewey, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Colin Shaw, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Alastair Kellock (captain), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Michael Cusack, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Ed Kalman, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 John Barclay, 21 Colin Gregor, 22 Troy Nathan, 23 Federico Aramburu.

Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Jonathan Thomas (captain), 7 Joe Bearman, 6 Tom Smith, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Ryan Bevington, 19 James King, 20 George Stowers, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Ashley Beck, 23 Hanno Dirksen.

Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Andrew McMenemy, Iain Bruce (both Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Edinburgh 28-36 Leinster

Leinster flyhalf Jonathan Sexton notched up 23 points as the European champions downed Edinburgh 36-28 in a thrilling Pro12 encounter at Murrayfield.

In his first game back from the World Cup, the 26-year-old No.10 was in excellent form from the kicking tee, slotting six penalties, a conversion and a drop goal, while Leo Auva'a and Isaac Boss grabbed tries.

Fergus McFadden's last-minute penalty denied Edinburgh a deserved bonus point after Tim Visser had scored two tries, and Matt Scott another for the hosts.

Edinburgh took an early lead through scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw after Leinster were penalised for collapsing a scrum.

But the reigning European champions were back level after seven minutes as Rob Kearney was hauled down just short of the line by Visser after some good interplay, only for Allan Jacobsen to come in from the wrong side, with Sexton, on his return from the World Cup, adding the three points.

Luke Fitzgerald then made a fantastic half break to put scrum-half Boss away, but the New Zealand-born Irish international didn't quite have the pace to finish off the move and was stopped short of the line before Edinburgh again infringed, leaving Sexton a simple shot at goal from in front of the posts.

Edinburgh's reaction was immediate as Laidlaw laid a beautiful pop pass to Visser who shrugged off Sean Cronin's weak tackle before rounding Rob Kearney to go over, Laidlaw adding the extras to make it 10-6 after 17 minutes.

Virtually from the restart Edinburgh were again penalised and Sexton knocked over his third penalty of the evening.

Leinster reclaimed the lead on 24 minutes as Boss darted off the back of a ruck and slipped past Harry Leonard's tackle to cross, Sexton's conversion making it 16-10.

Laidlaw brought his side back to within three points as he knocked over another penalty after Leo Cullen had been penalised for offside at a ruck but Sexton was just as accurate a minute later for Leinster.

Three minutes into the second half Visser grabbed his second of the night as he went round David Kearney's poor attempt at a tackle before stepping his brother Rob, Laidlaw's conversion putting the home side back in front 20-19.

Sexton put Leinster back in front from wide out on the right but Laidlaw matched his kicking feats with a beautiful kick after Cullen had again infringed.

Leinster surged back into the lead as Auva'a finished off a fantastic move in the corner after replacement hooker Richardt Strauss had made a rampaging break for the visitors. Sexton finally missed a kick from on the right touchline but the visitors led 27-23 on the hour mark.

Leinster should have scored their third try when Rob Kearney broke through the Edinburgh defensive line before finding Sexton whose poor pass was knocked on by Fitzgerald with the line begging.

However Sexton made amends shortly after as he stroked over another penalty and then knocked over a simple drop goal from straight in front to take his side to a 33-23 lead.

With eight minutes remaining Edinburgh got themselves right back in it as fly-half Leonard dabbed through a delightful grubber for Scott to collect and fall over the line, but Laidlaw missed the conversion.

And Edinburgh were denied any points from the game as McFadden slotted a final penalty in the dying seconds to seal the win

The scorers:

Edinburgh:
Tries: Visser 2, Scott
Cons: Laidlaw 2
Pens: Laidlaw 3

Leinster:
Tries: Boss, Auva'a
Con: Sexton
Pens: Sexton 6, McFadden
DG: Sexton

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Nick de Luca, 12 Matthew Scott, 111 Tim Visser, 10 Harry Leonard, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Stuart McInally, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 David Denton, 5 Steven Turnbull, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Steven Lawrie, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Netani Talei, 21 Mike Blair, 22 Jim Thompson, 23 Tom Brown

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Nathan White, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fionn Carr.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant Referees: David Changleng, Archie McInally (both Scotland)
TMO: Iain Heard (Scotland)

Munster v Aironi

The return of their World Cup stars proved the difference for Munster as they put consecutive defeats behind them with a comfortable 18-6 Pro12 win over Aironi at Musgrave Park.

Ronan O'Gara was the star of the show for the defending champions as his 18-point haul put Munster back on track after defeats at Edinburgh and then at home to league leaders Ospreys.

O'Gara scored six penalties from seven attempts in his first appearance for the province since Ireland's World Cup quarterfinal exit at the hands of Wales.

It was a very different tale for Italy pivot Luciano Orquera who could not find his range from the kicking tee, missing three chances as Aironi struggled to spark in attack.

As a result the Italian side remain rooted to the bottom of the table with just one win to their name, a 25-19 success against Edinburgh in September, while Munster closed the gap on the Ospreys at the top of the table.

Munster took the lead after just four minutes as O'Gara slotting a penalty and the veteran fly-half was on target again soon after as he punished more Italian indiscipline to make it 6-0.

Orquera then missed his first shot at goal of the night but he soon made amends to bring the score back to 6-3.

The Azzurri flyhalf was off-target again midway through the half, and after seeing Joshua Furno replaced by Italian international Quintin Geldenhuys five minutes from the end of the half, O'Gara notched up his third penalty.

There was still time for Aironi to earn another penalty but Orquera's radar was off again as his kick drifted wide.

O'Gara began the second half in the same way he ended the first, knocking over two penalties in the 43rd and 48th minutes to stretch the home side's lead to 15-3.

And having missed the target for the first time of the night five minutes later, the 34-year-old found his range again soon after to put Munster 15 points clear.

Despite the loss of prop Fabio Staibano to the sin bin, Aironi did manage to come back into the game as Orquera found the target with 15 minutes to go but it wasn't enough.

The scorers:

Munster:
Pens: O'Gara 6

Aironi:
Pens: Orquera 2

Teams:

Munster: 15 Johne Murphy, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Will Chambers, 12 Danny Barnes, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Peter O'Mahony, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 John Hayes, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Niall Ronan, 21 Tomas O'Leary, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Lifeimi Mafi.

Aironi: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Gilberto Pavan, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tyson Keats, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Nicola Cattina, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Joshua Furno, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Roberto Santamaria, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Naas Olivier, 23 Giulio Toniolatti.

Referee: Peter Allan (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: John Carvill, David Keane (both Ireland)
TMO: Brian Fitzgerald (Ireland)