Fortress Treviso
THE DAUNTING REALITY for Connacht is that Benetton have never lost a Challenge Cup knockout fixture at their Stadio Monigo ground.
As Pete Wilkins’ side found to their cost at the last-16 stage 12 months ago, the Italians tend to hit top gear in home knockout games and this year’s Challenge Cup is especially valuable for Benetton in that they may yet need to win it to qualify for next season’s Champions Cup. Marco Bortolami’s side are currently sixth in the URC table — but the gap to the Lions in 11th is only three points.
That said, Connacht were only a couple of made tackles away from winning away at Benetton in a URC game of equal importance to both sides a fortnight ago. Last week’s strong finish in Pau will only imbue them further as they seek to book a semi-final with either Gloucester or the Ospreys.
The sense of ‘mission’ will have been heightened by the fact that Connacht invited their supporters to join the team on Saturday’s chartered flight from Shannon to Treviso. By all accounts, there were close to 190 people on the flight, team included.
Connacht’s travelling fans appeared to make a material difference in Pau last weekend and the westerners will need those wearing their shade of green to be even more vocal at the Monigo, which will make for far more hostile territory on Saturday afternoon.
Team changes
Frustratingly for Pete Wilkins and co, Connacht’s come-from-behind, 40-30 success in France last week came with a heavy tax. Jarrad Butler, Jack Carty and Shayne Bolton have all missed the trip to Italy due to injuries suffered in that game, enforcing three of Wilkins’ four total changes.
Paul Boyle replaces Butler at number eight, while JJ Hanrahan — who was superb off the bench as Connacht sealed the deal last week — starts at out-half in Carty’s stead.
Onto the wing for Bolton comes Andrew Smith, while Connacht’s one change that hasn’t been enforced sees a swap of Murray brothers at lock, with Darragh swapping in for Niall.
It makes for a relatively inexperienced Connacht back three: while Tiernan O’Halloran has lined out 234 times for his native province, wings Smith and Shane Jennings have made only 20 first-team appearances between them.
Benetton have drafted back in Argentinian out-half Tomas Alboroz who will seek to exploit any insecurities in the Connacht backfield. Alboroz’s inclusion, incidentally, is one of six changes made by Bortolami to his starting XV that beat the Lions in the round of 16.
Most notable is the return of Italy captain Michele Lamaro, who will lead the side with club captain Eli Snyman on the bench.
The Zimbabwean Snyman is one of several heavy-hitting replacements, with Italy internationals Lorenzo Cannone and Alessandro Izekor — the latter the hero against Connacht two weeks ago — also set to be sprung from the stand in the second half.
🦁 La formazione designata per sfidare in casa il @connachtrugby
— Benetton Rugby 🦁 (@BenettonRugby) April 12, 2024
🏆 Quarto di finale @ChallengeCup_
📅 14.04.2024
Forza ragazzi!#wearelions #benettonrugby pic.twitter.com/vVlB7OSpph
🟢 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🦅
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) April 12, 2024
The 2⃣3⃣ players marching to Italy this Sunday for the @ChallengeCup_ clash against @BenettonRugby 👊
🔙 JJ at 10
💪 Darragh Murray starts
🪽 Smithy on the wing
Read more: https://t.co/vGjKhySKuc#ConnachtRugby pic.twitter.com/quqtHC7nAZ
Keys to victory
Benetton loosehead Thomas Gallo has already noted in the lead-up to this afternoon’s encounter that he found Connacht’s scrum a real handful in the same fixture two weeks ago.
It remains an underrated aspect of Connacht’s game and is second only to Leinster’s in the provincial pecking order.
While the injured Jack Aungier will be a loss to Connacht on this front, Finlay Bealham will bring some thunder at tighthead having missed his side’s last trip to Benetton in the aftermath of the Six Nations.
Should the game follow a similar, low-scoring pattern, scrum penalties — and shots at goal for JJ Hanrahan — could become precious currency at the Monigo.
Soft Connacht defence, meanwhile, cost them what would have been an impressive victory in Treviso last time out. For the winning score, Alessandro Izekor broke attempted tackles by both Tiernan O’Halloran and David Hawkshaw on his way to the paint. Such moments simply can’t happen again in this quarter-final.
Benetton are second in the Challenge Cup in most attacking metrics, including for clean line-breaks. On a harder surface than was the case two weeks ago, and with a dry ball, they’re likely to break the Connacht line on a few occasions today. But they must be made to earn it.
Temperatures in Treviso should hit the mid-20s during this game and Bortolami’s side will be far more acclimatised to those conditions than their visitors, who trained in similar heat for only one day. If Connacht find themselves in a double-digit hole as they did against Benetton a fortnight ago, or against Pau more recently, there may be no salvaging the situation — particularly considering Benetton’s bench quality.
A fast start and and early lead will be paramount for Pete Wilkins men from the west as they seek to win a first European quarter-final since their home victory over Bourgoin in the Challenge Cup 14 years ago.
