The Benetton side which squares up to Munster in Friday’s glorified playoff to reach the playoffs, and also next season’s Champions Cup, is probably the best to ever set foot on an Irish ground. The financially well-backed Treviso-based outfit are ambitious for themselves as well as being bulk suppliers to the Azzurri, and arrive on the back of their best win of the season.
This season is no one-off. The vast bulk of this side have been together for three or four years, their core of Italian internationals garnished with a sprinkling of clever overseas acquisitions, including seven Argentinians.
Benetton are seeking a place in the top eight for the second season running and this season have beaten Premiership leaders Bath and La Rochelle, came within one play of reaching the Champions Cup knock-out stages for the first time and last Saturday outplayed the admittedly off-colour and injury-hit champions Glasgow by 33-7.
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It’s perhaps a measure of Benetton’s ambition that in February they announced head coach Marco Bortolami would be stepping down at the end of the season, even though his contract was to run until the summer of 2026, to be replaced by his assistant Calum MacRae, with former Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins joining next season as attack coach in place of the departing Alessandro Troncon.
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Benetton had just beaten La Rochelle (32-25) and Ulster (34-19) at home, although in between lost 43-0 away to the Ospreys. They were then a little unlucky to come away from the Dexcom Stadium empty handed after a 38-30 defeat, and lost 56-5 away to the Stormers a fortnight ago. But they have won four of their last six as well as losing unluckily 39-37 away to Castres in the Champions Cup Round of 16.
“They’ve a serious team,” says their former player Ian McKinley. “They’re probably where they should be given the investment made and the high-profile players they have like [Tomás] Albornoz, [Tommaso] Menoncello, [Malakai] Fekitoa.
“They have the Italian national team as well, which helps, and they’re coming into form since the announcement that Bortolami is moving on. Their performances have been a lot more consistent. That has been their Achilles’ heel all season. They’re definitely coming into this game with form.”
In the Azzurri duo of Nacho Brex and Menoncello, Benetton have as good a midfield as any. While the 32-year-old Brex is Toulon-bound, last week Benetton vehemently dispelled reports of the 22-year-old Menoncello leaving too, pointing out that he has a year left on his contract, albeit it seems likely that their star homegrown jewel will move to the Top 14 then.
“It’s a devastating midfield; they just work so well together,” says McKinley. “They’ve a very well organised line-out. In their scrum, they’ve got [Thomas] Gallo who starts for Argentina, and Simone Ferrari [50-times capped Italian tight-head] is not electric around the field but is a strong scrummager, and they pride themselves on that.
“They don’t tend to play in their own half if there’s any sign of danger. Losing Andy Uren, their English scrumhalf, is a big blow. He got a bad injury recently in South Africa. He’s really key to a lot of their play. They do have Alessandro Garbisi, who has a fair few Italian caps, but Uren is a bit of a step above.”
The once-capped English scrumhalf Jacob Umaga, son of Mike and nephew of Tana, was man of the match against Glasgow, while the Pumas winger Ignacio Mendy, South African full-back Rhyno Smith and Italian winger Paolo Odogwu provide a sharp cutting edge.
“Their attack is very good,” adds McGinley. “Rhyno Smith has been fantastic over the last few years. Ignacio Mendy has been hit or miss but he’s one of those who’s been getting a bit of a flow and looked very dangerous in recent games, and Odogwu has also come back to form.”
“Obviously they’ve significantly increased their budget from when I played there,” adds McKinley, who nonetheless believes the farewells to Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony and Stephen Archer will add to the home mix.
“There’s too much at stake, with Munster needing to win as well to make the playoffs and the Champions Cup and the lads bidding farewell, and Munster played well against Ulster. They seem to be hitting form at just the right time and you’d still make them favourites.”
