Speedster Cleaves finishes the job in Italy

■ By JOHN WILKINS

Benetton………..14pts

Tries: Lynagh 52, Izekor 78

Conversions: Marin 53, 79

Harlequins …….19pts

Tries: Els 7, Jibulu 35, Cleaves 62

Conversions: J Evans 8, 36

HARLEQUINS completed their pre-season with a hard-fought win at the Stadio Monigo as they gear up for next Sunday’s trip to face Sale Sharks in their Premiership opener.

Quins dominated the first half in Treviso, crossing for two set-piece tries to lead 12-0 at half-time.

The Italians hit back with a try but Cassius Cleaves showed his speed and footwork to extend the lead before the Italians struck for a late consolation.

It was a special win for South African second row Irne Herbst who spent five years at Benetton prior to joining Quins.

“It’s nice to be back in Italy and it was a good win as we now put massive focus on Sale. The scrum went well but the lineout struggled a bit, so something to work on as Sale have a good set-piece.

“Discipline was good in the first half and we played with good structure, but second half second half discipline was not great so something else to work on.”

Quins showed grit in the first half to maintain their excellent defensive performance from last week’s 35-0 win over London Scottish.

T h e y opened the scoring after seven minutes when prop Jordan Els finished off a lineout move to barge his way over from close range. Jarrod Evans slotted the conversion.

In a tight and physical contest, it took Quins to the 35th minute to score their second. Another perfectly executed lineout provided Nathan Jibulu with the opportunity to peel off the back of the fast-moving maul to score.

Leading 12-0 heading into the second half, Quins turned brought on some big guns from the bench with Wyn Jones, Joe Launchbury and Danny Care entering the match in the 50th minute, followed by George Hammond, Bryn Bradley and the returning Dino Lamb.

But it was the hosts who fired the next shot. Former Quins wing Louis Lynagh found a gap in the defence to break through, with Leonardo Marin converting.

Quins hit back 10 minutes later when Cleaves, left, showed his extreme gas and nifty footwork to step through the line and race away for the decisive try.

Solid defence kept the Italians out until the final minutes when Alessandro Izekor collected a loose kick behind the Quins defence to dive over and score.