NO ONE PREDICTED this. Not yesterday, when the pre-match previews were being penned; certainly not a couple of months ago when the Rainbow Cup was being finalised.
There and then the script seemed obvious. Leinster would continue their dominance of the Pro14 family and if not them, then Munster would take over.
When Benetton opened up with a win over Glasgow, again no one noticed. Back-to-back wins over Zebre followed. But it was only Zebre, so points may have been banked but credit was not.
That changed when they defeated Connacht; but a Covid-related walkover over Ospreys undermined the status of the competition still further.
This, however, cannot be sniffed at. This was the Bulls, a team with form, tradition and history. Today it was Benetton who made it.
You can’t argue with the result. Benetton were brilliant in every aspect of the game. Their set-piece impressed; their defence was organised but more than anything, their back row – Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro and Toa Halafihi, were magnificent.
So too was out-half Paolo Garbisi, scorer of eight of their points. Centre Ignacio Brex delivered defensive strength; Halafihi made more carries than anyone else, really impressing in the opening 25 minutes when the tone of the game was set.
For the Bulls, former Ulster No8 Marcell Coetzee the only one who came close to making a positive impression but in truth, all the heroes were in green. Irne Herbst won a couple of key turnovers. Frederico Ruzza tackled superbly.
Five minutes in, they were ahead. Benetton set the tone, and set up play deep in the Bulls’ 22 and from a ruck Negri and Jayden Hayward showed good hands before Monty Ioane finished well.
A Garbisi penalty on 19 minutes made it 8-0 and when the Bulls levelled through a Chris Smith penalty and a Madosh Tambwe try you just assumed that the script would return to normal.
But it didn’t. Crucially Benetton capitalised on a Bulls lineout mistake to score their second try via Corniel Els on 31 minutes.
Then came a penalty try just before the break; Stravino Jacobs getting yellow carded when he hauled Ioane down by the neck as the winger neared the try line.
A man down, they were also 12 points down as they went to the dressing room for their half time break.
Time remained on the Bulls side.
But the comeback just never came. On 42 minutes, Ioane collected a cross-field chip prior to offloading into Lamaro’s path. The flanker wasn’t going to be stopped. And nor were Benetton, Garbisi converting to make it 27-8.
Soon there would be 22 points between them – Garbisi getting his second penalty of the day and then came the fifth try, winger Edoardo Padovani getting it on 57 minutes, bashing his way past two defenders. That would prove to be the last score.
Benetton, finally, have their day in the sun.
