Ringrose hat-trick sinks Benetton
CHAMPIONS CUP REPORT: Ireland centre Garry Ringrose bagged his first career hat-trick as Leinster set down a marker in Pool One with a 33-19 triumph over plucky Benetton.
Ringrose had been the star of the opening period after bagging a brace of tries which set his side on the path to victory.
First the 24-year-old finished off some lovely handling from right to left and his power did the rest through the covering defence.
Then on 14 minutes Ringrose popped up in midfield and left several defenders clutching thin air as he powered in by the posts.
Leinster’s dominance was underlined when hooker Ronan Kelleher celebrated his first European call-up with a try under the posts which Sexton converted to establish a 19-7 interval lead.
Benetton had fought back well after being stunned by Leinster’s fifth minute try and were on the board themselves as second-row Dean Budd twisted close to the line to plunge over and Ian Keatley’s conversion edged the visitors 7-5 ahead.
The visitors added second half tries by hooker Epalahame Faiva and one in the dying moments from winger Luca Sperandio in the corner and should be applauded for their fighting spirit which meant Leinster could never afford to relax.
There was no denying the home side’s superiority though as Johnny Sexton underlined with a classy try following a smart link-up with Josh van der Flier.
It was fitting though that Ringrose should score the decisive try with ten minutes remaining as he again showed his finishing power between two defenders.
Benetton will attempt to pick themselves up in Treviso against Northampton next Saturday while Leinster are in Lyon.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Ringrose 3, Sexton, Kelleher
Cons: Sexton 3, Byrne
For Benetton:
Tries: Budd, Faiva, Sperandio
Cons: Keatley 2
Yellow card: Nicola Quaglio (Benetton, 27)
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rónan Kelleher,1 Cian Healy,
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Scott Fardy, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O’Loughlin
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (cptain), 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Nicola Quaglio,
Replacements: 16 Engjel Makelara, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Marco Lazzaroni, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Tito Tebaldi, 23 Tommaso Allan
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini (France), Laurent Cardona (France)
TMO: Éric Briquet-Campin (France)
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Main photo: @leinsterrugby