Benetton will host the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Italy on Saturday at 16:00 (SA Time) at the Stadio Monigo, Treviso.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks will target their second victory on tour after losing by a narrow six points in their opening match against Connacht and then bouncing back with a tenacious effort against the Dragons last week to come away with a valuable 33-30 victory.
These results will certainly boost their confidence against a desperate Benetton side, who are currently languishing at the foot of the log after playing to a 30-30 draw against the Scarlets at home in their opening match before going down 42-10 against Glasgow away and 35-5 against log-leaders Leinster in Italy last week.
Not many people would have predicted Benetton being bottom of the Vodacom URC table after the opening three rounds. So Marco Bortolami’s team will be determined to kick start their season as they welcome their visitors from Durban.
Benetton Head Coach Marco Bortolami said: “There is a small rotation in the 23 to give those who have played in the last 3 weeks a rest. The injuries in the front row give Avaca and Gallorini the opportunity to demonstrate their value and I am sure they will help the team perform at their best. The whole group is focused and motivated to perform at their best and the week of preparation has been very good. Countering the power of their forwards and the two centres will be the key to the match”
The Hollywoodbets Sharks do have a win under their belts, but coach John Plumtree was far from satisfied with the nature of that final-play victory over the Dragons last weekend.
“I wasn’t happy with the performance. We have got a lot of work to do around our game, not just from a physical point of view, but an emotional one,” said Plumtree.
“We were pretty passive and lacked urgency, so we have got stuff to fix around that space. We didn’t really execute our plan, our discipline was poor and we allowed them to create scoreboard pressure.
“We were pretty lucky at the end just to get the win, so, yeah, not happy and a lot of work to do. We take the win, but really that’s all it was and we have got to get a lot better.”
Teams:
Benetton Rugby: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c) 6 Alessandro Izekor 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Enzo Avaca, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spagnolo. Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Aminu Destiny, 18 Marcos Gallorini, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Eli Snyman, 21 Sebastian Negri, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Leonardo Marin.
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka (c), 6 James Venter, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Trevor Nyakane. Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne’ Rahl, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Bradley Davids, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Francois Venter.
