Leinster came to within a whisker of securing a bonus point but had to be content with a deserved 30-5 victory over Benetton Treviso in Friday night’s Magners League clash at the RDS…O’Malley Post Match Reaction…

Speaking after the game, Eoin O'Malley said: "I think that towards the end we probably could have got the bonus point, but Treviso are a very strong side and really put it up to us.

"On reflection I think we tried to force it a bit at the end and that's something for us to work on towards the end. We knew how important it was to get the win coming into the match, especially in front of the RDS crowd, and it really sets up next week's game which is going to be huge."

LEINSTER SCORERS: D. Kearney, I. McKinley, A. Conway (1 try each), I. Nacewa (3 penalties, 3 conversions)

TREVISO SCORER: G. Padro (1 try)

Isa Nacewa kicked the hosts into a sixth minute with the first of three successive penalties as the Blues dominated the early proceedings. His second and third kicks came on 11 and 14 minutes respectively.

By the time David Kearney touched down in the 27th minute after some excellent work by the lively Ian McKinley who dummied wonderfully in the build up to see up the winger, skipper Nacewa’s conversion made it 16-0 and a large score looked likely.

Credit to the Italians though who rallied through some skilful forward play and pace out wide and on the stroke of half-time their efforts were rewarded when Gonzalo Padro touched down.

Willem De Waal’s conversion fell wide of the posts and Leinster went into the interval with a 16-5 lead.

Leinster roared into the second half and McKinley's skill was rewarded with his first Senior try in the Magners League when he benefitted from some excellent work by Dominic Ryan, Nacewa and Kearney to race clear after 45 minutes.

Nacewa added the points to make it 23-5. Again the Treviso defence withstood Leinster's pressure and a late Andrew Conway try in the last minute, which Nacewa expertly converted from the touchline, was the Blues' only further score as they chased the coveted bonus point. Sadly it was not to be, but Leinster were good value for their win.

LEINSTER:

15: Isa Nacewa CAPTAIN
14: Andrew Conway
13: Eamonn Sheridan (Paul O'Donohoe, 60)
12: Eoin O'Malley 
11: David Kearney
10: Ian McKinley (Ian Madigan, 60)
9: Isaac Boss (Niall Morris, 79)

1: Heinke van der Merwe (Jack McGrath, 63)
2: Richardt Strauss (Jason Harris-Wright, 73)
3: Stan Wright (Clint Newland, ht)
4: Ed O'Donoghue (Paul Ryan, 61)
5: Devin Toner
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Dominic Ryan
8: Stephen Keogh (Rhys Ruddock, 36)

BENETTON TREVISO:

15: Joseph Maddock
14: Michele Sepe
13: Ezio Galon
12: Andrew Vilk
11: Benjamin De Jager
10: Willem De Waal
9: Ludovico Nitoglia

1: Michele Rizzo
2: Enrico Ceccato
3: Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet
4: Antonio Pavanello CAPTAIN
5: Corniel Van Zyl
6: Benjamin Vermaak
7: Gonzalo Padrò
8: Marco Filippucci

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Franco Sbaraglini
17: Matteo Muccignat
18: Pedro Di Santo
19: Enrico Pavanello
20: Michele Sutto
21: Andrea Pratichetti
22: Andrea Marcato
23: Simon Picone

REFEREE: Neil Hennessy (WRU), ASSISTANT REFEREES: Dave Wilkinson (IRFU), Richard Kerr (IRFU), 4th OFFICIAL: Dan Wallace (Leinster Rugby Referees), 5th OFFICIAL: Gordon Murray (Leinster Rugby Referees), TMO: Tony Redmond (IRFU)
 

EVENING HERALD MAN OF THE MATCH: Ian McKinley