Ian Madigan and Luke McGrath scored second-half tries to secure Leinster their third GUINNESS PRO12 win of the season with a 20-3 triumph over a resilient Zebre at Stadio XXV Aprile.

With the score poised at 3-3 at the break, Madigan surged through a gap in the Zebre defence to touch down before patient approach play allowed substitute McGrath to dive over late on.

Fly-half Madigan scored 13 points in total to inspire Leinster back to winning ways after a 34-23 defeat to rivals Munster last weekend and prevent them losing back-to-back games for the first time since 2010/11.

Matt O’Connor’s side also maintained their imperious record against Italian teams in the competition, losing only once in 17 clashes, and have now won all five of their encounters with the hosts.

Despite Marco Bortolami’s yellow card, Zebre had threatened to add another Irish scalp to their campaign after victory over Ulster in round four but Andrea Cavinato’s side faded after the break.

The hosts began brightly as full-back David Odiete broke through several Leinster tackles to chip in behind only for his opposite number Rob Kearney to cover.

A misunderstanding between Jack Conan and Isaac Boss at a scrum allowed Zebre to counter-attack through late replacement fly-half Luciano Orquera but the hosts failed to capitalise on the territory gained and conceded a penalty.

From the resulting lineout Zebre stole the Leinster throw and stretched their defence as Orquera offloaded inside to Gonzalo Garcia, who was eventually hauled down before knocking on.

After relieving the early pressure, Leinster gained an attacking platform in the hosts’ 22 with Bortolami sent to the bin in the 17^th minute.

The Irish side thought they had exploited their man advantage moments later as Boss attempted to ground the ball against the post when a maul was held short but the TMO ruled out the scrum-half’s effort.

Zebre’s ambition remained intact despite being down to 14 men and the hosts were rewarded with the lead as Orquera landed a penalty from near the left touchline after 25 minutes.

A deft chip by Orquera over the Leinster defence appeared to have put in Quintin Geldenhuys for a try only for referee Neil Paterson to rule Giulio Toniolatti’s flick on to Mauro Bergamasco in the build-up had gone forward.

Repeated surges over the gainline then put Leinster on the front foot with Zebre conceding a penalty in midfield – Madigan struck his attempt against the post but Guglielmo Palazzini knocked-on the rebound.

Leinster secured the resulting scrum and went in pursuit of the line but settled for three points after Zebre were penalised and Madigan redeemed himself from the tee to make it 3-3 at the break.

A tense start to the second half was broken after five minutes when Madigan spotted a gap between two forwards in the Zebre line and sprinted through to touch down before adding the extras.

Madigan then extended his side’s lead to ten points minutes later as Zebre infringed at a lineout on their own 22 and the Irish fly-half slotted the resulting penalty.

Leinster sensed a chance for a second try on the hour but Zebre wing Leonardo Sarto intercepted close to his own try line, kicked ahead and gathered after Kearney’s fumble.

The Italians recycled the ball only for a handling error to yield possession to Leinster, who cleared after Zebre were penalised for not releasing.

The visitors claimed their second try in the 67^th minute as they recycled numerous phases after a sublime break by substitute Jimmy Gopperth with McGrath diving over from short range.

Madigan sustained a huge hit in the build-up to McGrath’s try so Gopperth stepped up to add the extras from wide right to make it 20-3 as Leinster controlled the final stages.

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