The Italian outfit gave as good as they got for long spells and is wasn’t until close to the hour mark that Leinster secured victory with the first of two tries in a six minute spell.

Benetton were also hit by a sin-binning for second-rower Irne Philip Herbst for obstruction two minutes into the second period.

As Leinster finally found their feet first number eight Caelan Doris plunged over after a dominant spell by the visitors’ pack which resulted from Benetton centre Angelo Esposito being trapped behind his own line.

Then as Leinster finally got the wind in their sails replacement James Tracy charged over from a driving maul and Ross Byrne, who also landed a second half penalty, converted to finally kill off the Benetton challenge.

TRY! Two of them fell over the line with the ball at the back of that maul…but looks like @jamestracy02 getting more taps on the head than Jamo! #BENvLEI pic.twitter.com/rybWe3AkNE

— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) January 18, 2020

The home side came out of the blocks quickly and dominated the opening stages but the tough-tackling Leinster defence managed to keep them at bay.

Leinster’s frustration at not being able to get into top gear was highlighted when Doris was sent to the sin-bin midway through the first half after repeated offending by the visitors.

#BENvLEI Allo Stadio Monigo Leinster batte i Leoni 18 a 0 pic.twitter.com/80nQqKBugQ

— Benetton Rugby 🦁 (@BenettonRugby) January 18, 2020

But the Pool 1 winners enjoyed more territory as the half progressed and finally broke the deadlock when fly-half  Byrne was on target with a simple penalty five minutes before the interval and by the close had underlined their superiority.