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Treviso stun Leinster, Edinburgh thrash under-strength Scarlets
By Peter Thompson
Benetton Treviso stunned Leinster with a 17-15 Pro14 win over the Conference B leaders and Edinburgh dished out an eight-try hammering to the Scarlets on Saturday.
Not since the 2010-11 season had Treviso beaten an Irish side, but they pulled off a big upset at the RDS Arena a week before Leo Cullen's men face the Scarlets in the semi-final of the European Champions Cup.
Richardt Strauss' early try put Leinster on course to seal a home semi-final and Barry Daly powered his way over in the corner just before half-time to put them 12-5 up after Luca Bigi got the Italian side on the board with a five-pointer.
Federico Ruzza scampered away for a second Treviso try and the influential Tommaso Allan touched down to put the visitors in front after booting the loose ball forward to punish a stray pass from Jack McGrath.
Joey Carbery was on target with a penalty just before the hour-mark, but Treviso held on for a famous win, the fit-again Sean O'Brien and Jordan Larmour unable to make an impact in a poor display from Leinster.
An under-strength Scarlets side were put to the sword by Edinburgh, Duhan van der Merwe scoring a brace of tries as Richard Cockerill's men took a giant stride towards qualification for the Final Series.
The Scarlets, missing key players with the Champions Cup last-four taking priority, conceded three tries in the first 20 minutes and four in the second half, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne racing 50 metres to go over for one of their eight tries and also kicking 10 points.
Jared Rosser's hat-trick was in vain as Zebre beat the Dragons 34-32, while Cardiff Blues were emphatic 45-12 winners at Southern Kings.
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Latest Comments
Well said TJ. You can be proud of your AB career and your passion for the country, the AB team and Canes and Wellington has always been unquestioned. Enjoy the new chapter(s).
Go to commentsAgree with Wilson B- at best. And that is down to skilled individual players who know how to play the game - not a cohesive squad who know their roles and game plan. For those who claim that takes time to develop, the process is to keep the game plan simple at first and add layers as the squad gels and settles in to the new systems. Lack of progress against the rush D, lack of penetration and innovation in the mid-field, basic skill errors and loose forwards coming second in most big games all still evident in game 14 of the season. Hard to see significant measureable progress.
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