Leinster bounce back with bonus-point win

REPORT: Leinster bounced back from their European Cup loss last week to stretch their lead at the top of the Pro14 Conference B.

as they ran out 31-3 winners away to Benetton in damp conditions in Treviso.

Last season, Kieran Crowley’s side won for the very first time in Dublin, but there was to be no repeat this time against a strong Leinster side.

The writing was on the wall early when Adam Byrne crossed in the early minutes, and James Tracy added another before half-time for a 12-3 advantage.

Replacement Conor O’Brien went over for the third early in the second half and just before the hour Andrew Porter had the power to drive over and secure the bonus point.

Leinster continued to push and added a fifth try in the closing stages, Joe Tomane collecting a little chip kick to dot down.

Leinster made the perfect start with a try after just four minutes from Byrne just as it seemed the Benetton defence had held out.

While the forwards struggled to make ground, Jamison Gibson-Park tried a little chip over the top and that was misjudged by Jayden Hayward, allowing Byrne to pounce and dot down.

Ross Byrne could not convert from the touchline, and Benetton then managed an extended spell of possession, earning three points from the boot of Antonio Rizzi when Leinster infringed on their line.

However on the half-hour, Leinster got back into Benetton territory and from a driving maul, Tracy was not going to be stopped.

While the first half was evenly-fought, despite the Leinster advantage, the second belonged to the visitors, who stretched away with ease.

Tracy was denied a try early in the half for a foot in touch, but the resulting line-out went astray and when Leinster’s scrum got the upper hand, they were able to go wide and O’Brien was strong enough to get over.

From this point, it seemed as though the bonus-point try was always on the cards, and it came from a Benetton error.

Taking advantage of a loose ball which was not dealt with in the Benetton 22, Leinster turned it over and threw everything at the line.

Eventually, that pressure told, with Porter picking and driving his way over, Ross Byrne’s conversion making it 26-3.

Leinster rang the changes and brought on a lot of replacements, with Noel Reid one of those and he set up the fifth try.

With the forward pack on the verge of crossing, the visitors turned to their backs and Reid’s little chip was collected by Tomane and dotted down.

The scorers:

For Benetton:
Pen: Rizzi

For Leinster:
Tries: A Byrne, Tracy, O’Brien, Porter, Tomane
Cons: R Byrne 3

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (captain), 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Antonio Rizzi, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Derrick Appiah.
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Tommaso Iannone, 23 Angelo Esposito.

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Seán O’Brien (captain), 5 James Ryan, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 James Tracy, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Conor O’Brien.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Andrea Spadoni (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)