Leinster, Ospreys, Munster and Glasgow all finished the regular season on a winning note to secure their spots in the Pro12 semifinals.

Scarlets managed to beat Welsh rivals Cardiff but it was not enough to get them a semifinal as Glasgow prevailed over Connacht to take fourth spot.

Edinburgh may not have been challenging for a play-off spot but they managed to send stalwart Chris Paterson off on a winning note in their match against Treviso whilst Munster avenged their Heineken Cup defeat to Ulster by putting their Irish rivals to the swaord.

Scarlets 29-20 Blues

Gareth Davies bagged a double as Scarlets lived up to their side of the bargain against Cardiff - but Connacht didn't as they fell to Glasgow, who secured the final Pro12 play-off spot.

The 21-year-old scrumhalf touched down in either half while a score from Liam Williams and a late penalty try were enough to give the Scarlets a 29-20 victory over their Welsh rivals.
 
Cardiff twice led as Andries Pretorius and Alex Cuthbert grabbed respective tries, Harry Robinson getting on the scoresheet himself, but it wasn't enough at Parc y Scarlets.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Davies 2, Williams, Penalty
Cons: Priestland 3
Pens: Priestland

For Blues:
Tries: Cuthbert, Pretorius, Robinson
Cons: Parks, Sweeney
Pen: Parks

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick Reynolds, 12 Stephen Jones, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Josh Turnbull (captain), 6 Kieran Murphy, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Aaron Shingler, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Phil John, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Johnathan Edwards, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Adam Warren, 23 Viliame Iongi.
 
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Harry Robinson, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Andries Pretorius, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Marc Breeze, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 John Yapp, 18 Ryan Harford, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dan Parks, 23 Gavin Evans.
 
Edinburgh 44-21 Treviso

Greig Laidlaw tried his best to upstage Chris Paterson but the Scotland legend had the last laugh scoring a try in his final ever game as Edinburgh brought the curtain down on their Pro12 season with a 44-21 victory over Treviso.
 
The result was never in doubt as David Denton and Laidlaw - who ended up with a personal points haul of 24 - tries had Edinburgh cruising at half-time, despite Tommaso Benvenuti replying for the Italian outfit.
 
But, after Ludovico Nitoglia had reduced the arrears, Murrayfield erupted as Paterson went over the tryline for his farewell try before retiring.
 
Edoardo Gori dulled the celebrations when he went over for Treviso moments later but Tim Visser's 13th Pro12 try and another for the departing Kyle Traynor helped the Gunners ease to victory.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Denton, Laidlaw, Paterson, Visser, Traynor
Cons: Laidlaw 5
Pens: Laidlaw 3

For Treviso:
Tries: Benvenuti, Nitoglia, Gori
Cons: Burton 3

Yellow cards: Zanni, Williams 

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 9 Chris Leck, 8 Roddy Grant, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 David Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Steven Turnbull, 20 Alan MacDonald, 21 Alex Black, 22 Harry Leonard, 23 Phil Godman.
 
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Edoardo Gori, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Valerio Bernabò, 3 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 2 Franco Sbaraglini (captain), 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Gonzalo Padrò, 20 Marco Filippucci, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Tommaso Iannone, 23 Brendan Williams.
 
Glagow Warriors 24-3 Connacht

DTH van der Merwe helped Glasgow secure a Pro12 play-off spot in his first start of the season and gave Warriors fans the perfect Firhill send off following a 24-3 win over Connacht.

The Canadian wing, who made a try-scoring return from the bench against Treviso last time out, crossed in the first half to get the hosts on their way and was ably assisted by flyhalf Duncan Weir who kicked 12 points.
 
With a trip to Heineken Cup finalists Leinster in the Pro12 semifinals next on the agenda for Sean Lineen's side, the Warriors coach sensibly withdrew his injury-prone wing on the hour before No.8 John Barclay added gloss to the scoreline with ten minutes remaining.
 
It could yet be a season to remember for Glasgow who will move to the Scotstoun Stadium in the summer, but for Connacht a fine recent run came to an abrupt end.

Munster 36-8 Ulster

Munster warmed up for the Pro12 play-offs in style with a 36-8 win over Ulster but they were left sweating as skipper Paul O'Connell hobbled off in the second half.
 
Ulster came into the game having made a host of changes knowing it would take an unlikely set of results for them to reach the Pro12 play-offs.
 
And with Glasgow Warriors seeing off Connacht even a bonus-point win would not have been enough for Ulster to reach the semifinals.
 
Munster's European ambitions were ended in the quarterfinal stage by their Northern Irish opponents and they clearly had revenge on their minds at Thomond Park.
 
And Tony McGahan - who will return to his native Australia in the summer - watched as his side ran in five tries ahead of a semifinal away to the Ospreys in Swansea.
 
However the Munster head coach will be concerned at seeing skipper O'Connell helped from the field early in the second half with what appeared to be a knee injury.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: Archer, O'Donnell, O'Mahony, Sherry, Zebo
Cons: Cusack, Deasy 3
Pen: Deasy

For Ulster:
Try: Henderson
Pen: Jackson

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Ivan Dineen, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Mick O'Driscoll, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Tomas O'Leary, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Keith Earls.
 
Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Nevin Spence, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Chris Cochrane, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Nigel Brady (captain), 1 Paddy McAllister.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Callum Black, 18 Tom Court, 19 Mike McComish, 20 Ali Birch, 21 Blane McIlroy, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Craig Gilroy.
 
Dragons 18-22 Leinster

Leinster's pretenders laid down the gauntlet to their more established teammates as Joe Schmidt's second string clinched a narrow 22-18 Pro12 victory over Newport Gwent Dragons.

Already assured of top spot in the regular season, Schmidt made 15 changes, completely overhauling the side that booked Leinster's place in the Heineken Cup final last weekend.

But at Rodney Parade the stand-ins were just as impressive, ensuring Leinster have lost just once since September as they close in on a Pro12 and Heineken Cup double.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Lydiate, Harries
Cons: Hughes
Pens: Robling 2

For Leinster:
Tries: J McGrath
Cons: Madigan
Pens: Madigan 5

Dragons: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Will Harries, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Lewis Robling, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Lewis Evans, 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Luke Charteris (captain), 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Jevon Groves, 20 Tom Brown, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Pat Leach, 23 Jack Dixon.
 
Leinster: 15 David Kearney, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Kevin McLaughlin (captain), 5 Damian Browne, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Nathan White, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Isa Nacewa, 23 Darren Hudson.
 
Aironi 11-18 Ospreys

Ospreys' energetic outside backs Richard Fussell and Hanno Dirksen both scored tries to ensure the region can head into the Pro12 play-offs with a spring in their step with a 18-11 win against Aironi.
 
The verve and confidence the Ospreys have shown in their last four league victories was missing in Italy but a fifth win in a row will give head coach Steve Tandy true belief that his side can beat Munster in their home semifinal next Friday - already secured prior to kick-off.
 
Flyhalf Dan Biggar kicked eight points and controlled the ball well to prevent Aironi from putting their tails up and causing an upset.

The scorers:

For Aironi:
Tries: Williams
Pens: Olivier 2

For Ospreys:
Tries: Fussell, Dirksen
Cons: Biggar
Pens: Biggar 2

Yellow cards: Romano (Aironi), Smith (Ospreys)

Aironi: 15 Paolo Buso, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Nicola Cattina; 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys; 3 Lorenzo Romano, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Salvatore Perugini, 19 Carlo Del Fava, 20 Josh Sole, 21 Tyson Keats, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Gilberto Pavan.
 
Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Tom Smith, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Adam Jones 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Joe Rees, 19 James King, 20 George Stowers, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Tom Isaacs.