Benetton Treviso stun Leinster 15-17 in Dublin

Leinster 15 - 17 Benetton Treviso, Dublin

Benetton Treviso managed to hold off Leinster as they sealed a 15-17 victory in their Pro 14 clash in Dublin to keep their hope of qualifying for a European Champions Cup play-off place alive.

The win has taken Benetton Treviso to 54 points and they now trail fourth-placed Ulster by just one point while Leinster, who continue to top Conference B missed an opportunity to seal a home play-off spot.

Leinster got early momentum in the game when hooker Richardt Strauss pressed forward from a powerful line out and managed to get over the line in the 7th minute and Joey Carbery slotted the conversion. The response from Benetton came in the 11th minute when Strauss' opposite number Luca Bigi touched down as they reduced the gap to two points.

As the half-time was approaching, fullback Jordan Larmour sprinted past the defence of Benetton and fed to winger Barry Daly to score the second try for Leinster as they stretched their lead to seven points.

The visitors showed a better intent after the break as Federico Ruzza riding on the offload from Jayden Hayward crossed over to reduce the gap to two points and soon Benetton went on to claim a five point lead when Tommaso Allan finally got his mark with a converted try that came in the 53rd minute.

Carbery with his 57th-minute penalty goal kept Leinster in the game but they failed to add any more points despite Benetton suffering a setback in the 63rd minute with a sin-bin to scrum-half Tito Tebaldi.