Ex-England star sinks Leinster as Benetton humble Irish heavyweights

Leinster fell to a painful 29-26 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.

Benetton Rugby: Matt Gallagher; Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Malakai Fekitoa, Paolo Odogwu; Jacob Umaga, Alessandro Garbisi; Destiny Aminu, Bautista Bernasconi, Tiziano Pasquali; Giulio Marini, Riccardo Favretto; Manuel Zuliani, Michele Lamaro (C), Lorenzo Cannone.

Replacements: Nicholas Gasperini, Ivan Nemer, Marcos Gallorini, Niccolò Cannone, So’otala Fa’aso’o, Eli Snyman, Andy Uren, Leonardo Marin

Leinster Rugby: Ciarán Frawley; Tommy O’Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O’Brien; Harry Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Ed Byrne, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Brian Deeny; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (C).

Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Jerry Cahir, Thomas Clarkson, Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, Fintan Gunne, Sam Prendergast, Charlie Tector