Fly-half Jayden Hayward missed a late penalty as Treviso missed the chance to win for the first time this season. The Italian side did however claim a bonus point with four tries against a lacklustre Leinster side, missing ten players away on international duty. Hayward’s late miss off the tee from 20 metres was a theme throughout, with neither team successfully scoring a penalty in 80 keenly-contested minutes. Leinster’s troubles began before kick-off when Luke Fitzgerald suffered an injury in the warm-up, forcing coach Matt O’Connor to draft Brendan Macken in at centre. Yet, the visitors went in front on three minutes when Zane Kirchner fed Darragh Fanning to dive over in the corner. But Treviso responded on 13 minutes when a quick line-out left the home side with an extra man as they worked the ball to the left flank, and Andrea Pratichetti made his break for the line, bursting between two defenders before diving over. Hayward converted. Rather than lick their wounds, Leinster pressed Treviso back deep inside their own half, hoping to force an error. Yet it was the visitors who found the initial penalty count was going against them. And Treviso stole the ball at a scrum five metres from the line, giving Dean Budd the chance to dive over at close range. Hayward missed his conversion however. Leinster hit back on the half hour, No.8 Jack Conan off-loading to David Kearney, back after six months sidelined with a knee injury, to score, but Jimmy Gopperth missed the chance to level the scores off the tee, leaving Treviso 12-10 in front at the interval. But Leinster, with a flea in the ear from O’Connor, came roaring out of the traps in the second half and moved ahead just a minute after the restart. Replacement prop Bryan Byrne charged down Joe Carlisle’s kick and raced 30m to score to the left of the posts. Gopperth added the extras. Treviso missed the chance to bridge the gap when, after winning a penalty at the breakdown, Hayward kicked wide. Yet they were not to be outdone for long. Fly-half Gopperth, looking to clear his lines, had his kick blocked by Marco Barbini, who raced onto the loose ball and touched down. Hayward made no mistake this time off the tee, edging the Italians 19-17 in front. With 12 minutes remaining Treviso succumbed to heavy pressure as Fanning picked the ball up from the bottom of a ruck and dived over, before Gopperth kicked them five points ahead. But Treviso were not done. Sam Christie’s long pass to the right put Davide Giazzon in on the overlap to dive into the corner. With the bonus point secured, Hayward missed his kick from the left touchline to leave the score locked at 24-24 with five minutes to play. Leinster conceded a penalty with four minutes remaining for not rolling away in the ruck, gifting Treviso a golden opportunity to win, but Hayward missed from 20m. A drop goal attempt from Gopperth with the final kick of the game flew wide of the posts ensuring Treviso got a deserved draw. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
