Benetton stun Leinster, Munster punish Ulster

SATURDAY WRAP: Leinster fell to a painful 26-29 defeat against Benetton at a raucous Stadio Monigo after a contest that oscillated wildly from breathless to brutally attritional.

The opening quarter was played at full throttle, with both sides carving holes but failing to land a knockout blow.

Benetton struck first through Alessandro Garbisi after Leinster bit in too hard, but the visitors hit back in style, the impressive Conor O’Tighearnaigh rumbling over from close range to underline his growing influence.

Josh van der Flier then finished a sharp sequence from Jamison Gibson-Park to give Leinster a narrow edge in a half defined by ambition rather than accuracy.

The URC champions briefly looked to have seized control early in the second half when Gibson-Park finished following some slick passing from Dan Sheehan, but any sense of ascendancy was short-lived.

Defensive malfunctions allowed Ignacio Mendy to race clear, swinging momentum firmly back toward the home side.

From there, the game descended into a scrappy, confrontational arm-wrestle.

Sheehan’s line-breaking brilliance and Ciarán Frawley’s late try hauled Leinster back into contention, but Benetton’s forward power told in the closing stages, with two near identical maul tries for Bautista Gasperini either side of Frawley’s 65-minute effort, levelling the score at 26-26 with five minutes on the clock.

Leinster’s scrum creaked, penalties piled up, and former England star Jacob Umaga punished them with a last-gasp kick to seal a famous win over the URC heavyweights.

*John Hodnett helped himself to four tries and Alex Kendellen a hat-trick as Munster beat Ulster 41-14 at Thomond Park to boost their bid for a top-eight finish.

Winger Aitzol Arenzana-King got the visitors off to the perfect start when he went over with just 13 minutes gone and stand-off Jake Flannery made it 7-0.

However, the home side turned the tables swiftly in the wake of Ulster flanker Tom Brigg’s 23rd-minute yellow card, fellow back row Hodnett crossing twice within five minutes, and flyhalf JJ Hanrahan converting the second to edge them in front.

Munster flexed their muscles as the second half got underway, replacement Kendellen touching down twice to wrap up the bonus point and Hanrahan successful with his second attempt at goal to stretch his side’s lead to 24-7.

Hodnett completed his treble with 25 minutes still to play, and after replacement John Andrew had touched down for the visitors and Flannery kicked the conversion, made it four with 68 minutes gone.

But Kendellen went over for a third time seconds later, and Hanrahan took his tally to six points to ease Munster across the finishing line.

Munster 41-14 Ulster

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: Hodnett 4, Kendellen 3
Cons: Hanrahan 3

For Ulster:
Tries: Arenzana-King, Andrew
Cons: Flannery 2

Teams:

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Edwin Edogbo, 20 Brian Gleeson, 21 Ben O’Donovan, 22 Dan Kelly, 23 Alex Kendellen.

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry (captain), 14 Aitzol Arenzana-King, 13 Ethan McIlroy, 12 Ben Carson, 11 Ben Moxham, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 Conor McKee, 8 Lorcan McLoughlin, 7 Tom Brigg, 6 James McKillop, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Bryan O’Connor, 2 James McCormick, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Tom McAllister, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 Marcus Rea, 21 David Shanahan, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Jonny Scott.

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Andrew Fogarty (Ireland)
TMO: Dave Sutherland (Scotland)

Benetton 29-26 Leinster

The scorers:

For Benetton:
Tries: Garbisi, Mendy, Gasperini 2
Cons: Umaga 3
Pen: Umaga

For Leinster:
Tries: O’Tighearnaigh, Van der Flier, Gibson-Park, Frawley
Cons: Byrne 2, Prendergast

Teams:

Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Manuel Zuliani, 5 Riccardo Favretto, 4 Giulio Marini, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Destiny Aminu.
Replacements: 16 Nicholas Gasperini, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Marcos Gallorini, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 21 Eli Snyman, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Leonardo Marin.

Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Ed Byrne.
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jerry Cahir, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Alex Soroka, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Charlie Tector.

Referee: Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Alberto Favaro (Italy), Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Christopher Allison (South Africa)