Captain fantastic Jamie Heaslip scored the only try of the game as Leinster sealed a narrow 10-0 victory over Benetton Treviso in the GUINNESS PRO12 to guarantee a spot in next season’s Champions Cup.

The Irish side may be out of this year’s title race but Friday’s victory over the Italians means Leinster have secured European qualification for next term.

Leinster’s last defeat at the hands of Italian opposition was in September 2010 and to be truthful they never looked like losing that record on Friday night.

Despite the slender nature of their victory, the Irish province dominated the game and it only took
Heaslip’s early try to wrap up the points at the RDS Arena.

Leinster piled on the pressure in the first quarter but Treviso held firm, desperate to avoid their sixth consecutive defeat in the league.

But the Italians could do nothing when Heaslip picked the ball up from the scrum and drove over the line for his side’s first try of the game.

Ian Madigan added the extras to give the Irish province a 7-0 lead and a much-needed boost in confidence after defeat against rivals Ulster last time out.

Treviso could have reduced the deficit minutes later when Rob Kearney was penalised for not releasing the ball but Jayden Hayward kicked the penalty wide.

Great combination work from Jordi Murphy and Kearney out wide almost resulted in Leinster extending that lead but Treviso again knocked them back.

An unconvincing first-half from Leinster was topped off when Madigan missed a late penalty meaning the score remained 7-0 at the interval.

Leinster made the better start to the second half, with Jimmy Gopperth feeding the ball out wide to Heaslip but the No.8 knocked the ball on as he attempted to offload.

The Irish province enjoyed the bulk of possession but Treviso’s defence proved to be stubborn and Hayward might have put the Italians’ first points on the board if the wind hadn’t blown his penalty wide.

It was a largely uneventful second half, with Treviso seeming to accept they were on their way to yet another defeat in the GUINNESS PRO12.

The Italians’ only victory on the road in the league this season came when they visited Zebre in December but they would have been happy to take away a bonus losing point from the RDS.

Those plans were scuppered late on though when Gopperth converted a penalty to leave the score 10-0 at the final whistle.

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