In a preview to their major clash at Croke Park next week, Leinster demonstrated significant superiority over Benetton in their recent United Rugby Championship match, presenting a stark contrast to the experience Munster had in Parma. By the 26th minute, they effectively secured their third consecutive victory with a third attacking bonus point.
While Benetton exhibited some determination and vigour in the latter half of the game, the result was realistically decided, particularly as the Treviso-based team had only suffered a single defeat at home in the entirety of the previous season.
Aside from a few scrum penalties and their scrum maul’s eventual success after numerous attempts, Benetton was generally outperformed. Even when Leinster were not tackling first or breaching primary defences, they mostly came out winning the physical contests. This typically led to more offloads from Leinster and with their clinically efficient rucking, they played at a much higher pace.
The match was a positive debut for RG Snyman and saw effective returns for eight of Ireland’s first liners, with Jack Conan and Caelan Doris making a highly impressive impact. Jamison Gibson-Park seems to have maintained his quick footwork and strategic mindset, and alongside him, Ciaran Frawley’s solid start as fly-half was regretfully curtailed due to the bench’s 6-2 split. Furthermore, Garry Ringrose displayed excellent strength and form.
Nevertheless, when Jimmy O’Brien had to leave during the 37th minute, Leinster was forced to reconfigure, which somewhat disrupted their momentum and consistency.
Ross Byrne was introduced as an outhalf, leading to Frawley moving to the inside centre, Jamie Osborne shifting to fullback and Hugo Keenan reassigned to the right-wing. This reshuffling took place amid a challenging game, aggravated by a string of penalties made against Leinster by Welsh referee Craig Evans.
There were setbacks for the team as key player, Ronan Kelleher, appeared to suffer from an ankle injury early in the game, which was a concern especially with Dan Sheehan not in action. Similarly, Ringrose was forced to withdraw towards the final stage of the match.
The much-needed break from the heavy rain of the preceding days, presented a beautifully sunny day in Treviso where the match took off in mildly cloudy, but warm conditions of 17 degrees. The distant view of the Dolomites wasn’t hampered by the weather.
Despite the perfect pitch, Keenan suffered a slip during the kick-off in his introductory 15s game, post his transition to Sevens. The pitch was visibly impacted after every subsequent scrum. The wet ball only added more to the number of scrums.
At the end of the first quarter, just as the sun set, chances of Benetton’s victory seemed bleak as Leinster rigorously scored three tries during that phase.
RG Snyman, although had a shaky start, displayed his exceptional offloading skills during his debut for Leinster aided by Josh van der Flier who managed to nudge the ball from Tommaso Menoncello’s grasp. The mounting pressure on Benetton’s lineout forced Jacob Umaga to give away a five-metre lineout.
Though Kelleher bravely continued despite his pain, it led to several lineout drives, a penalty try and a yellow card for Mirco Spagnolo, which subsequently saw Leinster securing a stunning long-range score instantly after the restart.
Frawley surprised everyone with a dummy, outsmarting Malakai Fekitoa who was anticipating a deep pass. Frawley, instead, connected smoothly with Ringrose for an upfield break. Gibson-Park provided the inside support line, linking back outside successfully with Frawley, who effortlessly pushed past Menoncello to score.
Despite the substitution of Kelleher for Lee Barron, Leinster’s performance didn’t significantly drop. Following Conan securing the turnover ball that was then passed out wide to James Lowe, a meticulously executed kick and chase ensued, earning a five-metre scrum.
The game took a turn when Sebastian Negri was temporarily replaced which led to an aggressive move up centre by Jamie Osborne. Notably, Gibson-Park eliminated five opponents through a pre-planned blindside pass at the boundary line to Conan, who clinched a score.
From the edge, Frawley succeeded in a conversion and when Baron blocked Umaga’s erasure, forcing another five-metre scrum, a score came from Caelan Doris who pushed through Manuel Zuliani’s tackle to achieve the bonus point try.
With a crowd of around 3,500 people, the home supporters tried to boost their team with chants of ‘Le-oni, Le-o-ni’ each time a penalty was kicked within the Leinster 22. Despite this encouragement, due to Benetton’s imprecisions at the breakdown and ball inaccuracies, the home team made no gains from their four incursions into the opposition’s 22 in the first half. This was in marked contrast to the optimum return of Leinster.
The second half was uneventful, though changes to Benetton’s bench and Ryan Baird’s yellow card led to Marco Manfredi, the replacement hooker, scoring a try after successful teamwork with Niccolo Cannone and other backs. But even with Josh van der Flier ending the game playing on the wing, his lead on the breakout with Osborne and Leinster’s final move with Barron breaking off a lineout maul to finish powerfully, gave Leinster the advantage.
The game ended with the following score sequence: 10 mins penalty try 0-7; 12 mins Frawley try and con 0-14; 17 mins Conan try, Frawley con 0-21; 26 mins Doris try, Frawley con 0-28; (half-time 0-28); 66 mins Manfredi try 5-28; 79 mins Barron try, Byrne con 5-35.
The starting line-up for Benetton included Matt Gallagher, Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Malakai Fekitoa, Paolo Odogwu, Jacob Umaga, Alessandro Garbisi, Mirco Spagnolo, Siua Maile, Simone Ferrari, Niccolò Cannone, Riccardo Favretto, Sebastian Negri, Manuel Zuliani, and team captain Michele Lamaro. The replacements were Aminu Destiny – replacing Negri for a six minute period and Spagnolo later in the game, Federico Ruzza who replaced Favretto, Lorenzo Cannone substituting for Negri, Andy Uren who took over from Garbisi, Marco Manfredi for Maile, Giulio Marini replacing Zuliani, Leonardo Marin for Umaga; all taking place on the 57 minute mark, along with Enzo Avaca stepping in for Ferrari after 59 minutes. Yellow card was given to Spagnolo after 10 minutes.
Leinster’s beginning squad was made up of Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe, Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, RG Snyman, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, and the captain Caelan Doris. The substitutions included Lee Barron coming on for Kelleher 13 minutes into play, Ross Byrne replacing O’Brien on 37 minutes, Ryan Baird took over from Snyman after 52 minutes, and on the 57 minute mark Michael Milne substituted for Porter, alongside Thomas Clarkson for Furlong and Brian Deeny for McCarthy. Fintan Gunne took Gibson-Park’s place after 68 minutes of play and Scott Penny arrived onto the pitch at the 75 minute mark. Ryan Baird received a yellow card at the 65 minute mark. The referee for the match was Craig Evans from Wales.