The Christmas fixtures in the Pro 12 threw up a number of hugely exciting games for the festive spectators to take in.

Edinburgh 23-23 Glasgow Warriors

Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors fought out a highly entertaining draw in front of 13,000 fans at Murrayfield on Monday night, scoring three tries each in a game in which the home side started strongly but the Warriors fought their way back into and probably should have stole it at the end.

Edinburgh came firing out of the blocks and raced into a 7-0 lead thanks to a well worked try for Ross Rennie after some neat off-loading, converted by Greig Laidlaw.

Glasgow took a while to get into the match, not helped by hooker Pat MacArthur who was sin-binned for a block, but after an ambitious effort from David Lemi was denied by the TMO, captain Al Kellock sold a neat dummy to crash over from 5 metres with Duncan Weir landing a successful conversion.

The game was halted by a serious-looking head injury to Glasgow winger Rory Lamont just before halftime and the Scotland star was stretchered off, although word soon spread that he was not seriously injured and was in fact up walking around in the changing room before heading to hospital for routine checks.

The early stages of the second half were all about Edinburgh winger Tim Visser however, as the big Dutchman scored another brace of tries helped by the TMO, the first a highly inconclusive effort where he appeared to drop the ball over the line. There was no doubt about his second though as he collected a fine pass from Nick De Luca, fended off Stuart Hogg and Colin Shaw before squeezing in at the far corner. Laidlaw failed with both conversion attempts.

Glasgow responded by bringing on Ruaridh Jackson for Duncan Weir and the standoff quickly had Glasgow back in the game with a clever grubber kick through for Shaw to touch down. The conversion brought Glasgow to within five points.

With 5 minutes to go it was all about Glasgow and with the visiting pack awarded a penalty in the Edinburgh 22, scrum half Chris Cusiter who had a magnificent game, elected to launch a high kick into the dead ball area intended for winger David Lemi but Jackson was on hand to touch down but missed with the touchline conversion.

With the match level, Glasgow were again awarded a penalty just inside the Edinburgh half but Jackson’s effort dropped agonisingly short and hit the lower post before the whistle blew for full time.

Captain Kellock was the happier of the two captains at the end. “Any draw away from home is a good result”, he said knowing that the Warriors have now gone a record seven league matches unbeaten and move into the Pro 12 top four playoff spots.

Edinburgh will be disappointed that they did not put Glasgow away just after Visser’s second try and they now head to Firhill knowing that they face a huge challenge to overcome Glasgow and lift the 1872 cup.

Leinster 43-13 Ulster

Leinster continued their fine form despite fielding an experimental XV, to overcome Ulster at the RDS in Dublin.

Tries form Fionn Carr, Sean Cronin and Leo Auva’a gave the hosts a comfortable 15 point lead at half time and further scores from Jamie Hagan and Ian Madigan to add to a penalty try gave Leinster breathing space at the top of the Pro 12 table.

Ulster’s sole try came from debutant Chris Cochrane just after the break to add to penalty from James McKinney to add to his earlier penalty for a side missing several key players, possibly being rested for their home match with Munster later this week.

Scarlets 22-14 Ospreys

The Scarlets finally ended their seven-game losing streak with a hard fought win against the Ospreys in the west Wales derby at Parc Y Scarlets.

The Home side dominated the first half and scored a well-worked try through their prop Rhys Thomas which was converted by stand-off Rhys Priestland who also slotted three penalties to give the Scarlets a commanding 16-3 halftime lead which they weren’t to relent.

The Ospreys, themselves on a three-game losing streak, came out fighting in the second half however and fought their way back into the contest with two more penalties from stand-off Dan Biggar and a controversial score from former Scarlet Barry Davies, to take them to within five points of their hosts but despite their physical advantage and their domination of the set pieces, they were unable to find a way to overhaul the Scarlets’s haul and narrowly missed out on a losing bonus point.

Munster 24-9 Connacht

Munster legend John Hayes finished off his 14-year playing career helping his team secure a comfortable win over provincial rivals Connacht at Thomond Park.

Tries early in the first half from debutant Sean Scanlon and scrumhalf Tomas O’leary gave the hosts an 18-3 lead at the interval

Niall O’Connor kicked all Connacht’s points whilst the remainder of Munster’s points came from the boot of former Connacht standoff Ian Keatley in a forgettable second half.

The victory helped keep Munster in the top four as they prepare for Friday’s tough assignment at Ravenhill to face an Ulster side who will likely return to full-strength.

Cardiff Blues 28-9 Newport-Gwent Dragons

In the other all-Welsh derby on Friday night, Gavin Henson made his long-awaited debut of the Blues at full-back in a comfortable win over the Dragons at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Two tries from Alex Cuthbert and one from International Lock Bradley Davies earned the Blues a comfortable win although there was a serious-looking injury to centre Jamie Roberts which will be a major concern to the Welsh selectors with only five weeks until the Six Nations begins,

Dragons could only manage 3 penalties from stand-off Jason Tovey and never really looked like threatening the Blues stubborn defence.

Aironi 27- 13 Treviso

Aironi secured an impressive if unlikely win over their Italian rivals Treviso on Friday afternoon at the Stadio Zafanella.

Luciano Orquera kicked an emphatic 9 penalties to secure victory for the Pro 12’s bottom side whilst Treviso were awarded a penalty try to add to two penalties from Willem De Waal.

The two sides meet again next Saturday in what is usually a heated New Year’s Eve battle between two passionate sides.

You can follow Finlay Morrison on Twitter here.