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Benetton 25 Leinster 37
An injury to Jordan Larmour overshadowed Leinster’s brave and hard-fought victory, his 21st consecutive Pro14 victory, against Benetton on Saturday afternoon.
The Leinster and Ireland wing received oxygen for what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder / forearm, sustained in one inning in 48 minutes. He finally left the field but with great discomfort.
Leinster will be more satisfied with the result than with the performance. Although he yielded a victory with four attempts and bonus points, it was of uneven quality. There were some aspects to admire in terms of the collective, from time to time, but it was a few individuals that caught the eye.
Ryan Baird had a brilliant match, the backrow was very effective at the beginning, James Tracy and Ed Byrne had some good times, as did James Lowe and Garry Ringrose behind the scrum, although they all made mistakes.
Benetton will be disappointed that he did not secure an extra losing point that his performance deserved. Once again they posed big problems for Leinster, but were also guilty of a sloppy play that cost them dearly in the end.
The first 20 minutes were dominated by the whistle of referee Ben Whitehouse and that was reflected on the scoreboard, the teams achieved six points each through the precision of kicking the place of the respective media, Ross Byrne of Leinster and the young pivot Italian Paolo Garbisi.
The game got a bit open in the 19th minute when Leinster chose to kick a penalty to the corner rather than take the mere opportunity for three more points. The lineout maul was perfectly set and Tracy broke a meter to jump over the line.
Ross Byrne added the conversion and the visitors had made some money, while the home team was down to 14 players after the previous binning sin of Benetton’s right wing Iliesa Ratuva. However, Leinster’s lack of control, occasionally neglected or perhaps telegraphed in intent to attack, proved costly.
When no one claimed a Jamison Gibson-Park boxing throw, the home side fly ball cut the ball downfield. Hugo Keenan conceded a penalty and when the visitors conceded a couple more in quick succession, Leinster’s second in line, James Ryan, paid for the accumulation of infractions by receiving a yellow card.
Benetton kicked to the corner, but when the standout Baird cut the lineout, the danger seemed to have been avoided, but the home team pushed him back over the line and several phases after scrum flank Sebastian Negri made his way from short. distance (although he was grounded short managed to stretch and place the ball on the try line). Garbisi took advantage of the conversion, the teams once again tied 13-13.
The visitors looked sure to regain the lead in the 35th minute when Garry Ringrose found a hole in Benetton’s defense after good work from Will Connors and Jack Conan, but what would have been a goal pass for Ed Byrne was a bit high. the land.
Leinster took the lead again a couple of minutes later, Lowe got involved a couple of times, before a definitive intervention inside the Benetton 22. Appearing from the side of a ruck, he showed his strength and passing ability to convert a half chance in a try. Ross Byrne added the conversion as Leinster escaped into the break with a 20-13 lead.
The visitors were occasionally passive in their line speed, initially advancing smartly but then hesitating and allowing Benetton to pick up momentum with positive win lines. The power and direct carry was a precursor to a second try that came off a corner penalty and a well-executed lineout maul saw hooker Hame Faiva.
Larmour’s arm / shoulder injury looked severe, taking oxygen when he was escorted off the field to be replaced by Jimmy O’Brien.
The arrival of Cian Healy and Sean Cronin coincided with two impressive Leinster scrums, the second of which led to a penalty try that saved Conan’s blushes; Leinster’s number eight was judged to have struck while attempting to land and Whitehouse made the correct decision.
Ross Byrne took a penalty and at 30-18 Leinster needed to manage the game wisely, but the visitors’ performance continued to be marked by errors, missed tackles and oversights that eventually saw them concede a third try and the second from a lineout maul. well crafted. . Replacement hooker Gainmarco Lucchesi was the beneficiary with Garbisi improving on the try.
To his credit, Leinster forced an error from kick-off and maintained control of the ball as they drifted off the sidelines until replacement Ross Molony managed to put the ball on the try line to the referee’s satisfaction. Ross Byrne had a good conversion before being replaced by his brother Harry for the final 60 seconds.
Scoring sequence – 2 minutes: Penalty by R Byrne, 0-3; 3 minutes: Garbisi Penalty, 3-3; 6 minutes: Penalty by R Byrne, 6-3; 14 minutes: Penalty by Garbisi, 6-6; 19 minute: Tracy try, R Byrne conversion, 6-13; 31 minutes: Negri try, Garbisi conversion, 13-13; 37 minutes: Lowe try, R Byrne conversion, 13-20. Halftime: 13-20. 45 minutes: Faiva test, 18-20; 57 minutes: Penalty test, 18-27; 63 minutes: Penalty by R Byrne, 18-30; 74 minutes: Lucchesi try, Garbisi conversion, 25-30; 78 minutes: Molony test, R Byrne conversion, 25-37.
Benetton: J Hayward; I Ratuva, L Morisi, M Zanon, M Ioane; P Garbisi, D Duvenage (captain); C Traore, H Faiva, T Pasquali; I Herbst, E Snyman; S Negri, A Steyn, T Halafihi. Replacements: N Quaglio for Traore 51 minutes; S Ferrari for Pasquali 53 minutes; N Cannone for Herbst 53 minutes; G Lucchesi for Faiva 57 minutes; G Pettinelli for Negri 59 minutes; C Braley for Duvenage 61 minutes; E Padovani for Hayward 66 minutes.
Leinster: H Keenan; J Larmour, G Ringrose (captain), R Henshaw, J Lowe; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; E Byrne, J Tracy, M Bent; R Baird, J Ryan; C Doris, W Connors, J Conan. Replacements: T Clarkson for Bent 6-10 and 63 minutes; J O’Brien for Larmour 48 minutes; S Cronin for Tracy 53 minutes; C Healy for Ed Byrne 53 minutes; L McGrath for Gibson-Park 56 minutes; R Ruddock for Connors 59 minutes; R Molony for Baird 64 minutes; H Byrne for R Byrne 79 minutes.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Yellow card: I Ratuva (Benetton) 10 minutes. J Ryan (Leinster) 28 minutes.
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