ULSTER crashed to their first defeat in any competition to an Italian team and third in succession when they were outplayed by Benetton Treviso at Ravenhill last night.

CONNACHT grabbed a losing bonus point on their second away RaboDirect Pro 12 fixture this season with the last kick of the match against the Ospreys in Wales last night.

IT was more spit than polish at Musgrave Park as a workmanlike Munster kicked off their RaboDirect PRO12 campaign with four winning points on Saturday night.

TOMÁS O’LEARY suffered another blow yesterday when he was forced to withdraw from Munster’s squad for tonight’s opening clash with Newport-Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park.

Things are going from bad to worse for Tomás O'Leary who has been withdrawn from the Munster squad to face Newport-Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park on Saturday (7.45pm) because he is still suffering from lower back trouble.