Leinster 29 Zebre 9
Cian Healy finally made his appearance for the first time since September 2014. The Leinster prop and his now famous hamstrings arrived to the game with Sean Cronin two minutes into the second half.
What a game he chose for his return as Leinster stuttered for fluency and continuity right up to seven minutes after the break, when Luke Fitzgerald jinked and twirled through the heart of Zebre with Dominic Ryan on his shoulder muscling in under the posts for 10-8. It was incredibly, the first time in the game Leinster were in front.
Zebre might never have beaten the home side but it was difficult to tell from large swathes of both halves as a gutsy Italian side led 3-8 at the break .
Jimmy Gopperth squandered an early kick just outside the Zebre 22 five minutes into the match and that was as much as Leinster got in the opening quarter save for a one handed catch from Fergus McFadden, who burned some ground after the outhalf had cross field kicked breaking out of defence .
McFadden’s injection of tempo seemed to spur the home side and after the disjointed opening they at least began to play the ball in the Zebre half. Maybe Leinster got a sense that they were building towards the first score and the crowd certainly believed it.
But they had nothing to show and each badly executed move seemed to build and frustrate the players to the point of rushing their plays. The best chance arrived when Shane Jennings peeled from the back of a maul in the left corner and was brought down just short of the line. Jack Conan was at hand to take it over only for referee Nigel Owen to go to the TMO.
Jennings had fractionally knocked on taking the ball and it was disallowed. Conan was over for a try shortly after but Owen had blown for a penalty and Leinster were again denied.
A try appeared inevitable but on 22 minutes Leinster were caught thin by Zebre on the right and the visitors swept up the pitch with numbers on their side.
In a deft interchange many would have expected from the home side, loosehead prop Andrea De Marchi and Mirco Bergamasco took it on before Bergamasco patted it two-handed to the Zebre fullback Hendrik Daniller revving through for 5-0.
That pretty effectively silenced the thin crowd and when Mirco Bergamasco kicked a penalty after Gopperth had landed on 33 minutes Zebre were forcing Leinster to chase.
Bergamasco kicked as the Zebre starting outhalf and his replacement were both off injured and later in the match they had a winger in the scrum.
Leinster, winless in their last two outings with a draw and a defeat last week to Dragons, hadn’t gone three defeats in succession since December 2012. More impressively they had never lost successive matches in the RDS.
This is just Zebre’s third year in the Pro12 league but even before last night Leinster had scored 64 points against them at home, winning 37-7 and 27-0 in previous seasons. In the last five meetings Leinster had outgunned them 20 tries to five.
Patience though was with Matt O'Connor's side and 10 minutes after Ryan, Gopperth was in, Eoin Reddan feeding him close to the posts and the outhalf zigging and zagging left and right to make himself a hole for the second try, which he converted for 17-8.
That made the crowd a little more upbeat but Leinster couldn’t put together any really consistent territory or phases. After two tries there was little danger of Zebre coming back but for all the possession the fans began to vote with their feet, filtering away before the end.
Fitzgerald, the sharpest edge on the night, was out wide for Leinster’s third try on 74 minutes as Zebre were inevitably stretched before Sean Cronin added the last on 80 minutes. Not a pleasant video session next week.
“We should have taken our chances in the first half and looked after the ball better in the second half,” said Matt O’Connor after the match.
Scoring sequence: 22 mins H Daniller try 0-5; 33 mins Gopperth pen 3-5; M Bergamasco pen 3-8. Halftime. 47 mins D Ryan try, Gopperth con 10-8; 57 mins J Gopperth try, con 17-8; 74 mins L Fitzgerald try 22-8; 80 mins S Cronin try, Gopperth con 29-8.
Leinster: Z Kirchner; F McFadden, B Te'o, G Darcy, L Fitzgerald; J Gopperth, E Reddan; M Bent, A Dundon, M Moore; M McCarthy, K Douglas; D Ryan, S Jennings (capt), J Conan.
Replacements: S Cronin for Dundon, C Healy for Bent (both 42 mins); R Moloney for Jennings, D Leavy for Conan (both 60 mins); T Furlong for Moore (65 mins); I Boss for Reddan, D Kearney for Kirchner (both 66 mins).
Zebre: H Daniller; D Berryman, Mirco Bergamasco, M Pratichetti, M Visentin; L Orquera, B Leonard; A De Marchi, O Fabiani, L Leibson; V Bernabo, M Sutto; J Sarto, Mauro Bergamasco (capt), S Vunisa.
Replacements: E Padovani for Orquera (4 mins); G Bernini for Sutto (20 mins); A Chillon for Padovani (35 mins); L Naka for A De Marchi (51 mins); L Giovanchelli for Sarto, R Riccioli for Mauro Bergamasco (both 63 mins). D Odiete for Bernabo (65 mins).
