Vodacom Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee said Benetton were fully deserving of their victory in Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup Final in Treviso after the Italian club side ended a remarkable season turn-around by dismantling the men from Pretoria in front of their ecstatic home crowd at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
The Italians won by 35-8 after taking a commanding 20-8 lead at the break, and never surrendered their supremacy in a dominant and clinical display of finals rugby.
Coetzee, who led the Vodacom Bulls in the absence of the injured Duane Vermeulen, said Benetton were deserved winners of the title.
“Fair play to Benetton, they thoroughly outplayed us in all areas today,” explained the Vodacom Bulls No 8.
“We have to take the loss on the chin and take the learnings onboard. They were brilliant with their handling and played in the right areas awhile managing to keep the pressure on us right through the game.”
Triumphant Benetton skipper Dewald Duvenhage, a former DHL Stormers scrumhalf, indicated that his side was fairly confident going into the historic cup final match.
“We were tactically good with ball in hand, while we also managed to keep on the pressure throughout the match,” said Duvenhage.
“The team played well on attack, while we must also give credit to defence coach Marius Goosen, who prepared us very well in that department.”