Markings: 6′ goal Smith tr. Albornoz, 30′ goal Lucchesi, 35′ goal Uren tr. Albornoz; 42′ Rosser goal tr. Evans, 45′ try Ratave, 52′ try Blacker, 70′ try Iachizzi, 75′ try Lamaro tr. Umaga, 77′ Hope try tr. Reed.
Note: Conversions: Benetton Rugby 3/6 (Albornoz 2/4, Umaga 1/2); Dragons 2/3 (Evans 1/2, Reed 1/1). Man of the match: Toa Halafihi (Ben).
Benetton Rugby:
15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Leonardo Marin, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Tomas Albornoz (50′ Jacob Umaga), 9 Andy Uren (55′ Dewaldt Duvenage), 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Michele Lamaro (C) , 6 Sebastian Negri (45′ Alessandro Izekor), 5 Riccardo Favretto (60′ Edoardo Iachizzi), 4 Scott Scrafton (40′ Gideon Koegelenberg), 3 Giosué Zilocchi (50′ Tiziano Pasquali), 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi (50′ Bautista Bernasconi) , 1 Mirco Spagnolo (50′ Ivan Nemer).
Head Coach: Marco Bortolami.
Dragons Rugby:
15 Cai Evans (56′ Jordan Williams), 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Sio Tomkinson, 12 Aneurin Owen (46′ Joe Westwood), 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Dane Blacker (56′ Che Hope), 8 Taine Basham ( 46′ Aaron Wainwright), 7 Sean Lonsdale, 6 Dan Lydiate (C), 5 George Nott (56′ Harri Keddie), 4 Ben Carter, 3 Luke Yendle (46′ Dmitri Arhip), 2 James Benjamin (46′ Brodie Coghlan) , 1 Rodrigo Martinez (46′ Aki Seiuli).
Head Coach: Dai Flanagan.
Referee: Frank Muphy (IRFU).
Assistants: Filippo Russo and Alex Frasson (FIR).
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU).
Benetton Rugby is ready to dive back into the United Rugby Championship. Round 14 is being staged today at the Monigo stadium in Treviso in a sold-out Monigo venue. The Lions want to impose the field factor and host the Welsh Dragons.
MATCH REPORT
The Lions’ start is tonic. The hosts first came close to scoring with Marin who missed the ball forward. But in the following play the green-and-whites move ahead. Sublime transmission of the ball, Marin triggers the supersonic speed of Rhyno Smith which escapes the opponents and goes towards the goal. Albornoz transforms. The Lions play the game, but are unable to materialize the quantity of opportunities produced due to errors in gestures. Benetton’s amount of work bears fruit after half an hour of play, with the drive goal, managed to perfection by Gianmarco Lucchesi. Albornoz is unlucky from the pitch and hits the post. The pressure from the Lions is suffocating and leads the Dragons to make a fatal mistake. Andy Uren he’s a vulture, he recovers the oval and all alone flies towards the goal between the posts. Albornoz converts and the first half ends with Lamaro and co ahead 19-0.
The second half begins and Koegelenberg replaces Scrafton. The Welsh took advantage of a lack of attention at home and went for the goal with Rosser’s interception which went all over the field alone. Evans converts. The Lions do not feel the blow and score the fourth try which is worth the offensive bonus point: Albornoz opens with a kissing kick to Onisi Ratave. The winger is overflowing, sweeps aside two opponents and scores the goal on the flag. Albornoz does not transform. Bortolami changes: Negri, Spagnolo, Lucchesi, Zilocchi and Albornoz out for Izekor, Nemer, Bernasconi, Pasquali and Umaga. The green-and-whites lose another bloody ball, then Blacker goes for the goal. Evans doesn’t convert from the pitch. Another substitution: Duvenage for Uren. There is a quarter of the match left and Iachizzi replaces Favretto. Fatal mistake by the Dragons, with Hope having the kick intercepted by the base five meters away Edoardo Iachizzi, formidable at scoring goals. Umaga does not transform. Benetton is overflowing and the captain Michele Lamaro scores a try after an excellent running feint. Umaga transforms. The Welsh closed the gap with Hope’s try, converted by Reed. This is the last flare-up of a match won by the Lions 36-19. Victory and five points for Lamaro and his teammates in front of a sold out Monigo.
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Tags: VICTORY OFFENSIVE BONUS MONIGO LIONS BEAT DRAGONS
