Treviso 29 Leinster 13:LONG BEFORE Manoa Vosawai stopped Rhys Ruddock with a shuddering tackle that brought the crowd to their feet at the end of the first half in the Stadio Monigo, Leinster understood Treviso were in this match for much more than the stated ambition of coach Franco Smith, who had said his side's hopes were for respect at home from all the other teams.
That respect has now been earned. Now, maybe even fear will be an issue for the other Magners League sides which take the trip to Italy, as Treviso nailed down an emphatic win against one of the heavyweights.
A breakaway touchdown from fullback Brendan Williams put a gloss on the scoreline as Leinster tried to squeeze a final try out of the match, but it was a result the home team thoroughly deserved on a night of trench warfare.
Leinster were in dire need of a kicker and their return from Isa Nacewa and Fergus McFadden, when he came on late in the second half, was just three from seven, while Treviso couldn’t miss.
The result was that Treviso earned an Irish scalp for the first time from what was a hugely physical display married to clever home opportunism. Leinster left without a losing bonus point in their second away defeat of the season.
When Treviso went to the break 12-10 ahead after some smart thinking from outhalf Kevin Burton, who landed two drop goals, Leinster knew they had a game on their hands.
The conditions didn’t lend themselves to Leinster’s brand of handling rugby and a greasy ball and a skiddy surface in constant rain contrived to frustrate in the first half. Nacewa, despite running in a try after less than two minutes and converting for 7-0, missed two kickable penalties. Conversely Treviso’s Chris Burton and scrumhalf Toby Botes gobbled up every scrap available.
The Leinster lineout was scrappy and they messed up twice in the first half, but again the scrum was strong with Cian Healy, John Fogarty and Mike Ross in the frontrow presenting Leinster with a platform in the setpiece.
But they weren’t allowed to get much going, and when the visitors built up territory with recycles, it invariably broke down. Ian Madigan fumbled, Luke Fitzgerald slipped and Nacewa kicked out on the full.
Luke McLean finally put distance between the sides shortly after half-time. Leinster will rue what was a soft score as he eluded Jennings and ran through Eoin Reddan. Botes converted to give Treviso a 22-13 lead.
Even when hooker and captain Leonardo Ghiraldini was binned for punching in the 73rd minute, Leinster couldn’t put any score up, Nacewa and McFadden missing kicks that would have kept the board ticking and instilled some confidence the hard graft was resulting in something tangible.
From the early try, which should have consolidated Leinster’s position, they seemed to chase the game after that. The physical confrontations at the breakdown forced many turnovers and regularly knocked Leinster back, but with Burton controlling at outhalf, Vosawai rampaging around the pitch and fullback Brendan Williams always sniping, it was fitting that he should touch down at the end.
A strong-looking Leinster were sucker-punched just inches from taking the score to 22-20, making this a joyous day of history for Treviso.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 2 mins: Nacewa try, con 0-7; 5: T Botes pen 3-7; 12: Burton drop goal 6-7; 16: Botes pen 9-7; 37: Burton drop goal 12-7; 40: Nacewa pen 12-10; (Half-time, 12-10); 42: Nacewa pen 12-13; 50: Botes pen 15-13; 54: McLean try, Botes con 22-13; 80: Williams try, Botes con 29-13.
TREVISO: B Williams; J Maddock, T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi, L McLean; K Burton, T Botes; I Rouyet, L Ghiraldini, L Cittadini, V Bernabo, C Van Zyl, R Barbieri, A Zanni, M Vosawai. Replacements: E Pavanello for Bernabo, 51 mins; L Sharaglini for Rouyet, 51 mins; P Di Santo for Cittadini, 61 mins; E Galon for Vosawai, 73 mins; D Vidal for McLean, 75 mins; P Derbyshire for Maddock, 75 mins.
LEINSTER: R Kearney; I Nacewa, E O'Malley, G D'Arcy L Fitzgerald; I Madigan, E Reddan; C Healy, J Fogart, M Ross, N Hines, E O'Donoghue, R Ruddock, S Jennings, S O'Brien. Replacements: R Strauss for Fogarty, 35 mins; H van der Merwe for Healy, 57 mins; F McFadden for D'Arcy, 57 mins; S Shawe for Ross, 66 mins; I Boss for Reddan, 67 mins; M Galarza for Hines, 74 mins; S Keogh for Ruddock, 77 mins.
Referee: P Allen(SRU).
