Carbery and Daly at the double as Leinster hit the top

Joey Carbery and Barry Daly each scored twice as Leinster dominated Edinburgh 39-10 to move top of Pro12.

Daly scored the only try of a first half that saw Leinster lead 8-3, but Carbery – deputising at 10 as Jonathan Sexton remained with Ireland’s Six Nations squad – added a quickfire double after the re-start that proved the catalyst for a six-try haul at RDS Arena.

Man of the Match Daniel Leavy and Bryan Byrne also put their names on the scoresheet as Leinster moved top, albeit Munster will return to the summit if they beat Ospreys on Saturday.

In Friday’s other contest, Steff Evans impressed as Scarlets battered sorry Zebre 42-7 to consolidate their grip on fourth place.

FULL TIME SCORE from the RDS Arena #GUINNESSPRO12 #LEIvEDI pic.twitter.com/J7UDckKTSK

— PRO12RUGBY (@PRO12rugby) February 17, 2017

FULL TIME SCORE from Parc y Scarlets – @Scarlets_Rugby 42-7 @ZebreRugby #GUINNESSPRO12 #SCAvZEB pic.twitter.com/hyGaMOl9Lb

— PRO12RUGBY (@PRO12rugby) February 17, 2017

Scarlets, fresh from a huge win over top-four rivals Glasgow Warriors last time out, earned a bonus point win by running in six tries, with the impressive Evans diving down in the corner for the game’s first try.

Mattia Bellini levelled the match shortly after, but that was as good as it got for the Italians, as Aaron Shingler, Tom Williams and Tom Price took the match away from Zebre, before a penalty try and Will Boyde’s score compounded the visitors’ misery at Parc y Scarlets.

Scarlets are now eight points ahead of fifth-place Glasgow, who face a tricky trip to Ulster on Saturday.