Leinster find second gear to ease past Zebre

United Rugby Championship leaders Leinster continued their relentless play-off push by beating Zebre 31-7 in Parma.

Leinster will go into next week's Dublin clash against fellow title challengers the Bulls with a four-point advantage over the second-placed South African side.

And it promises to be a heavyweight encounter, with many of Leinster’s sizeable Ireland international contingent potentially returning following their Six Nations success.

First-half tries by wings Rob Russell and Andrew Osborne sent Leinster on their way to a 10th win from 12 URC starts this season.

Scrum-half Luke McGrath and captain Scott Penny then added touchdowns during the third quarter to secure a bonus point, while Russell crossed for his second try near the end and Ross Byrne kicked three conversions.

Zebre claimed a well-worked try from full-back Jacopo Trulla that Geronimo Prisciantelli converted, but despite plenty of hard graft they had no real answer to Leinster’s attacking flair.

Half-time: Zebre 7-14 Leinster
The Irish province lead at the break due to this fine try by debutant Andrew Osborne.
Watch live now on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer #URC pic.twitter.com/kVuhRorLVa

Leinster were off and running after just four minutes when Byrne’s inside ball to Russell saw the wing accelerate clear of Zebre defenders and claim a fine 45-metre solo score.

Byrne added the conversion, and a passive Zebre defence was almost unlocked again eight minutes later when Leinster full-back Ciaran Frawley attacked in space, but he was hauled down five metres out.

Leinster had centre Liam Turner yellow-carded following head-on-head contact with Zebre fly-half Prisciantelli, and the home side rapidly drew level.

Prisciantelli was the architect, kicking with pinpoint accuracy