Leinster 30 Treviso 5:OUTHALF IS not a concern for Joe Schmidt at the moment but it may well become one soon enough. In a good way.
Less than a year ago it looked like Ian McKinley might never get the chance to realise his full potential after a freak accident in a club game when he nearly lost an eye.
Thankfully, he made a full recovery. His meteoric boot was evident last night but so too was the rare ability to effectively direct the Leinster offence. The first evidence of this was the try he manufactured on 27 minutes.
Devin Toner supplied perfect off-the-top lineout ball to allow McKinley attack the gainline where he went through opposite number Willem de Waal before releasing David Kearney on his inside shoulder. The young winger continued his impressive season by stepping the last defender to give Isa Nacewa a simple conversion. Nacewa had already registered three penalties, to two wayward efforts from de Waal, to leave it 16-0 nearing the interval.
Treviso’s kneejerk attempt to keep it interesting didn’t work as planned. Not that it was their fault. As usual, their Maori fullback Joe Maddock provided the spark but referee Neil Hennessy intervened to deny them what seemed, in real time anyway, a legitimate try. Kearney made an admiral attempt to stop number eight Marco Filippucci from crossing in the left corner but it didn’t matter as Hennessy adjudged Maddock’s assist to be a forward pass.
From the resulting scrum Isaac Boss burst into open country only to spurn a chance to showcase his range of passing off the left hand and, in turn, put Andrew Conway into a straight sprint with opposite number Benjamin de Jager. Boss seemed to make no decision at all, allowing Treviso regain possession and from this they eventually got their solitary try when flanker Padró Gonzalo squeezed over in the left corner. De Waal, again, never looked capable of landing the conversion but, at 16-5, the contest was still up for debate.
But this night belonged to McKinley. He secured victory early in the second-half when finishing off a fine Dominic Ryan break. Nacewa was also involved, putting Kearney down the tramline and his offload allowed McKinley to streak clear and ensure the man-of-the-match performance was sealed when he gingerly departed after an hour.
Michael Cheika exceeded his brief in a five-year term as Leinster coach – winning the ultimate prize – but Schmidt has already given those ploughing away in the Academy a clear route to the first XV. Eight of last night’s starting line-up and seven replacements are home-grown. Their attitude, one and all, is ultra-positive. With 56 minutes on the clock Treviso lock Corniel van Zyl was sin-binned in sight of his own uprights. Leinster kicked for the corner – the clear intention being to ensure the senior contingent are in sight of league leaders Munster when they return to the fold ahead of April’s trip to Thomond.
The understandable emptying of the bench disrupted matters, with sub scrumhalf Paul O’Donohoe being asked to showcase his versatility at inside centre, but in injury time Niall Morris’ clever pass did put the patient Conway over for a third try.
There was no time remaining to chase the bonus point but this must still go down as another progressive night’s work when the “Galácticos” are away.
LEINSTER: I Nacewa (capt); A Conway, E O’Malley, E Sheridan, D Kearney; I McKinley, I Boss; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, S Wright; E O’Donoghue, D Toner; K McLaughlin, D Ryan, S Keogh. Replacements: R Ruddock for S Keogh (36 mins, inj), C Newland for S Wright (half-time), I Madigan for I McKinley, P O’Donohoe for E Sheridan (both 60 mins), P Ryan for E O’Donoghue (61 mins), J McGrath for H van der Merwe (63 mins), J Harris-Wright for R Strauss (74 mins), N Morris for I Boss (79 mins).
BENETTON TREVISO: J Maddock; M Sepe, E Galon, A Vilk, B De Jager; W De Waal, L Nitoglia; M Rizzo, E Ceccato, I Fernandez Rouyet; A Pavanello (capt), C van Zyl; B Vermaak, G Padro, M Filipucci. Replacements: F Sbaraglini for E Ceccato, P di Santo for M Risso, E Pavanello for G Pedró (all 51 mins), A Macato for W de Waal (60 mins), M Muccignat for I Fernandez Rouyet (61 mins).
Referee: N Hennessy (WRU)
