Maximum points for Leinster

Nacewa: Scored Leinster's second try

Leinster had to come from behind to record a 26-7 bonus-point victory over Italian side Aironi in the RaboDirect Pro12 at the RDS.

The Irish side were trailing at the interval but were boosted by the introduction of stand-off Ian Madigan, who scored the first of their four tries and proved inspirational in the win.

Isa Nacewa and Luke Fitzgerald took the hosts into the lead with further scores before stand-in captain Rhys Ruddock crossed in the final minute to seal the extra point.

Despite having the better of the early exchanges, Aironi faltered in the hosts' 22 as three knock-ons in the opening 10 minutes prevented the visitors from getting the first points.

Leinster got their chance 16 minutes in when Aironi were punished as the home forwards mauled through with intent, but full-back Nacewa kicking his penalty wide of the right hand post.

Missed opportunities

Leinster's backs failed to make the most of their opportunities with ball in hand as David Kearney was penalised when taking the ball into contact, Fionn Carr failed to gather a Nacewa offload with the try-line metres away and then when Luke Fitzgerald darted inside the Treviso defence, he wrongly decided to take the ball into contact with Kearney available on the overlap.

Aironi were reduced to 14 men on 23 minutes when right winger Sinoti Sinoti was sin-binned, but Nacewa pulled the resulting penalty wide of the left upright and minutes later reproduced an identical miss when a Cillian Willis charge-down led to another penalty opportunity.

The visitors responded with a period of sustained pressure that brought about the game's first points, the Italian pack using lineout ball to drive towards the Leinster line and Nick Williams was able to touch down. Tito Tebaldi converted to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.

Leinster responded immediately with Ruddock making the initial break and Schmidt's men inched closer to the Aironi whitewash but it was as close as they were going to come however, as their push to the line was held up short.

Madigan try

Madigan, who came on for debutant Noel Reid, made an immediate impact after the resumption. He first found Kearney on the wing in a phase which resulted in a penalty for the home side.

With Nacewa having missed three penalty attempts, Madigan was asked to go for the corner and when the ball finally came back it was Madigan himself who split the Aironi defence before touching down.

Nacewa's conversion levelled the tie and after a brief spell of Aironi pressure, it was Madigan again who broke the first tackle and set the Leinster attack in motion. The lively replacement then linked with the supporting Nacewa to finish the move in the 58th minute, cutting in from the wing to score to the right of the posts.

The try went unconverted and it took Leinster another 10 minutes to cement their victory when Fitzgerald scored a breakaway try. The Ireland international collected a stray Gilberto Pavan pass on halfway and dashed in under the posts. Nacewa added the extras for a 19-7 advantage.

With nine minutes remaining, Carr cut inside from the wing before a backhanded offload found Fitzgerald. Leinster recycled the ball and although Madigan's looping pass to wing found Kearney, a subsequent knock on spoilt the promising move.

With time almost up, Ruddock pounced for his try following a five-metre scrum.

Aironi had taken the ball behind their own goal line and were forced to touch down, providing Leinster with the perfect attacking platform to gain the bonus point.