Leinster 30 Benetton Treviso 5:Benetton Treviso proved obdurate opponents for Leinster's youths before the Joe Schmidt's side moved through the gears to secure a comfortable win at the RDS where the hosts' clinical finishing was the difference between the sides.
David Kearney and Ian McKinley scored tries either side of half-time for Leinster, with Treviso flanker Gonzalo Padro touching down in first half injury-time.
The Italians survived the sin-binning of lock Corniel van Zyl but leaked a late try to winger Andrew Conway, which Isa Nacewa converted for a 25-point winning margin.
Treviso’s New Zealand-born full-back Joe Maddock caused Leinster’s defence a great deal of worry early on, but winger Benjamin de Jager was unable to supply the finish in the corner.
Nacewa landed three successful penalties in the opening 15 minutes, with Treviso outside-half Willem de Waal missing two difficult efforts.
In the 28th minute, Leinster finally got made the try-scoring breakthrough. Outhalf McKinley skipped away from de Waal’s attempted tackle and his timely offload sent Kearney into the 22 and he stepped inside Maddock to score by the posts. Nacewa converted for a 16-0 lead.
Treviso kept hammering away and got their reward after building pressure through their forwards. de Waal kicked a penalty to touch and although Leinster initially held out, a subsequent drive from close range saw Padro crash over in the left corner for an unconverted score.
Leading 16-5 at the break, Leinster put the result beyond doubt with a superb 46th minute try. Dominic Ryan led a counter-attack, Isaac Boss, McKinley, Nacewa and Kearney were all involved as they gained ground and McKinley jinked past the final defender to score to the left of the posts. Nacewa again added the extras.
The game ended as a contest in the 56th minute when van Zyl was yellow carded for persistent infringing in the ruck. But problems at set-piece time prevented Leinster from turning pressure into further points. They also had a try ruled out for a forward pass from Richardt Strauss, just as Kearney looked set to score his second of the night.
The third try finally came in injury-time with Conway touching down in the right corner after a long pass from replacement Ian Madigan was nicked on by Strauss.
Leinster:I Nacewa (capt); A Conway, E O'Malley, E Sheridan, D Kearney; I McKinley, I Boss; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, S Wright; E O'Donoghue, D Toner; K McLaughlin, D Ryan, S Keogh. Replacements:R Ruddock for S Keogh (36 mins, inj), C Newland for S Wright (half-time), I Madigan for I McKinley, P O'Donohoe for E Sheridan (both 60 mins), P Ryan for E O'Donoghue (61 mins), J McGrath for H van der Merwe (63 mins), J Harris-Wright for R Strauss (74 mins), N Morris for I Boss (79 mins).
Benetton Treviso:J Maddock; M Sepe, E Galon, A Vilk, B De Jager; W De Waal, L Nitoglia; M Rizzo, E Ceccato, I Fernandez Rouyet; A Pavanello (capt), C van Zyl; B Vermaak, G Padro, M Filipucci. Replacements:F Sbaraglini for E Ceccato, P di Santo for M Risso, E Pavanello for G Pedró (all 51 mins), A Macato for W de Waal (60 mins), M Muccignat for I Fernandez Rouyet (61 mins).
Referee:N Hennessy (WRU)
