The Stakes
WITH SIX REGULAR-SEASON games remaining, it might feel extreme to bill this as a must-win fixture for Connacht, particularly with only nine points separating Ospreys in 11th place and Munster in fourth.
But when you consider that the westerners, currently ninth, still have penciled into their diary away days at both Leinster and Munster, and a home clash with the Stormers who will be seeking to ensure knockout rugby in Cape Town, today’s meeting with 10th-place Benetton at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo is about as close to must-win as a game in late March can be.
Benetton will equally view it as such: should Marco Bortolami’s side overcome their play-off rivals today, they’ll have a chance to build serious momentum as they welcome the Lions and the Dragons to Treviso over the next fortnight before facing into tough but winnable trips to Ulster and The Sharks.
Connacht’s last visit to the Comunale became disastrous: they were eventually hosed down 41-19 by the Italians in last season’s Challenge Cup round of 16. But their league form against Benetton in recent years has been excellent, with the western province winning the sides’ five most recent bouts — including a couple of squeakers on Italian soil during the pandemic.
Bortolami’s heavy hitters
Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami once became Italy’s youngest ever captain when he was thrust into the role for a Test against the All Blacks in Hamilton 10 days shy of his 22nd birthday.
He scored his side’s only try in that summer tour game in 2002, leading an Italian side which also included debutants Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni.
But Bortolami is now overseeing at club level the next wave of Italian rugby stars — and there are frankly more of them in 2024 than there ever has been before.
Fresh off the country’s best ever Six Nations under new Argentinian boss Gonzalo Quesada, national-team captain Michele Lamaro, 25, returns at openside from where he’ll lead his team alongside co-captain Eli Snyman at lock.
Arguably more exciting for Benetton, however, is the return of European rugby’s most exciting midfield pairing.
Inside centre Tommaso Menoncello, 21, was shortlisted for Six Nations player of the tournament. His partner in crime, the 31-year-old Ignacio Brex, should have not only been nominated alongside him but probably won the award such were his exhilarating performances throughout the championship.
It speaks to Benetton’s growing depth that they have players of the calibre of test number eight Lorenzo Cannone and former Munster centre Malakai Fekitoa on their bench. Both men will be unleashed to target tired Connacht equivalents at some point in the second half.
Connacht’s seven changes
Pete Wilkins’ response to Connacht’s dreadful 38-14 home defeat to the Lions last time out has been to blow the whole thing up, albeit a couple of his seven changes have been enforced through injury.
Plainly and simply, the loss of top try-scorer Caolin Blade at scrum-half reduces Connacht’s chances of winning this game. He’s replaced by Ulster loanee Michael McDonald, who has started just one game all season and whose six cameo appearances otherwise have amounted to 79 minutes.
With out-half JJ Hanrahan following return-to-play protocols, McDonald is partnered at out-half by Jack Carty, who took some fight to the Lions late on last Saturday but should be carrying a giant chip on his shoulder having been displaced as his side’s go-to 10.
In midfield, Connacht are without Bundee Aki, Tom Daly and Tom Farrell, meaning inside centre Cathal Forde is partnered by David Hawkshaw who finds himself in the relatively unfamiliar terrain of the outside channel.
Four of Wilkins’ seven changes to his starting team come in the forwards, where loosehead Jordan Duggan, hooker Dave Heffernan, openside Shamus Hurley-Langton and number eight Paul Boyle are named to start.
Their respective inclusions make for a combative-looking Connacht pack, and it will need to be if an all-round makeshift-looking Connacht side are to upset the odds and get a pivotal win on the road in Italy.
Benetton: R Smith; I Mendy, T Menoncello, I Brex, O Ratave; J Umaga, A Garbisi; T Gallo, G Nicotera, G Zilocchi; N Cannone, E Snyman (capt); A Izekor, M Lamaro, T Halafihi
Replacements: B Bernasconi, M Spagnolo, T Pasquali, F Ruzza, L Cannone, A Uren, T Albornoz, M Fekitoa
Connacht: T O’Halloran; D Kilgallen, D Hawkshaw, C Forde, A Smith; J Carty (capt), M McDonald; J Duggan, D Heffernan, J Aungier; N Murray, J Joyce; C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton, P Boyle
Replacements: E de Buitléar, D Buckley, S Illo, D Murray, J Butler, C Reilly, S Jennings, S Bolton
Match officials:
- Ref: M Ferreira (SARU)
- AR: F Vedovelli (FIR)
- AR: M Bottino (FIR)
- TMO: M Jonker (SARU)
