Lancaster legacy will live on

By JOHN FALLON

Leinster …………….42

Benetton …………..10

Stuart Lancaster may be heading to Racing 92 next season but the legacy he is going to leave in Dublin was all too apparent at the RDS on Friday night as they crushed Benetton in a six tries to one triumph.

Leo Cullen was remaining tight-lipped on the future of his righthand man but hinted that the former England coach might confirm his plans tomorrow when he is rostered for media duties by Leinster.

“Stuart has been a fantastic addition to the group over the last few years, amazing support for me. I think he's up on media on Monday so he might have something to tell you then,” said Cullen.

Dan Sheehan was the hero of this one as he became the first Leinster player to score four tries in a league match.

The hooker, who turned 24 last weekend, was in devastating form as he took his try haul for Leinster to 20 in 30 games, running in a hat-trick in the opening 28 minutes.

All three tries came on the back of good mauls and they wrapped up the bonus point six minutes after the restart when Jordan Larmour put Joshvan der Flier away down the right to score.

Ronan Kelleher was on the touchline ready to come when Sheehan drove over in the left corner after 53 minutes.

Cian Healy came on for his 250th appearance for Leinster as both sides emptied their benches and it was Benetton who struck next when winger Onisi Ratave put replacement scrum-half Manfredi Albanese over in the left corner after 58 minutes.

Scrum-half Luke McGrath jinked over for Leinster's sixth try eight minutes from time after an effort from skipper Garry Ringrose was chalked off after McGrath was tackled into touch before releasing the ball.