URC: the preview of Ulster-Benetton

Yet another decisive match in a key phase of the 2023/2024 sporting year: it sees Benetton away to Belfast to challenge Ulster on the fourth to last day of the United Rugby Championship.

A crucial match in the Lions’ journey, perhaps even more so than the recent matches defined as such: the Irish are a direct competitor in the wonderful race for qualification for the playoffs which is animating the championship, with 7 teams competing for 4 places and separated in the standings by only 3 points.

In the final weeks of their season, Benetton must seek and find luck far from the walls of Monigo.

In Treviso this year Benetton lost only one match of the twelve played at home between the championship and the cup, erecting a real fort amidst the applause of their fans. If last year the away games were the Achilles’ heel of the Venetian team, it is precisely here that the progress was seen the most: in the 8 games away from home played by the green and whites, four were won.

Read also: Benetton, Bortolami: “We will face 4 weeks of travel, but we have a plan”

Ulster is also a team that makes its stadium, Ravenhill, an important weapon: this year only two defeats within friendly walls, against Toulouse in the Champions Cup and against Edinburgh in the URC. The home schedule allowed the Irish to stay in the running for the playoffs and to have a positive record in the URC (8 wins, 6 losses) despite a season that was anything but simple.

After a mediocre start by previous years’ standards, the franchise decided to part ways with head coach Dan McFarland last February. After the Six Nations break the team was taken over by Ireland U20 manager Richie Murphy.

Both Ulster and Benetton noted many absences for the occasion. The Irish have to do without many of their internationals: props Tom O’Toole and Steven Kitshoff are missing (season over for the South African), hooker Rob Herring, Iain Henderson and Kieran Treadwell on the second row, Nick Timoney on the third row. Behind the only notable absence is that of James Hume, forced into a long stop. The franchise also lost the young midfield pair of Nathan Doak and Jake Flannery, but returned the experienced John Cooney and Billy Burns.

Marco Bortolami instead lost Onisi Ratave to injury. The Fijian winger had played continuously in every Benetton match from December to today, scoring 8 tries in 13 appearances. The quality of backlinerather reworked compared to the ideal one, is nevertheless up to a task whose weight will fall mainly on the pack.

It will be with the forwards that Benetton will have to prevail against a team that cannot succeed regardless of the contribution of their forwards to the game. And it is there that Benetton’s greater overall quality could balance the difficulty of the away match.

Kick-off of the match is scheduled for 8.35pm, with Scottish Sam Grove-White refereeing.

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 David McCann, 7 Reuben Crothers, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Alan O’Connor (C), 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Available: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 James French, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Ethan McIlroy

Benetton: 15 Jacob Umaga, 14 Leonardo Marin, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Rhyno Smith, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (C), 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Edoardo Iachizzi, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Thomas Gallo
Available: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Filippo Drago

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