Benetton boost as Leinster hold back the big guns

Not many will have predicted the events that unfolded in Ballsbridge on Saturday night, but there will be little appetite to dwell on this defeat as Leinster push on towards this weekend’s season-defining meeting with Scarlets.

Benetton, with no game this weekend, will have time to celebrate their first win in Dublin. They should. Between themselves and Zebre they had made the trip to the Irish capital 17 times before and left empty-handed.

As for their Irish hosts ... Only once in their 37 previous games played in Dublin, stretching back to December 2015, had they been bettered in these parts and that was when Scarlets had their number in a Guinness PRO14 semi-final.