Benetton Rugby will host the Vodacom Bulls in the opening match for the domestic franchises in Treviso on Friday at 20:35 (SA Time).
The Vodacom Bulls will have their minds firmly set on returning to winning ways in their third tour game, against Benetton at Stadio Monigo, before the competition breaks until late November after suffering their first defeat in heart-breaking fashion last week when a red card in the fourth quarter saw the Scarlets sneak through for a one-point victory.
The visitors from Pretoria are ranked four places higher on the standings than the eighth-placed Italians, but they will be wary of the fact that Benetton is high on confidence after back-to-back victories – a morale-boosting 31-21 away win against the Dragons in Newport and a 38-10 victory against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Treviso.
The fourth-placed Vodacom Bulls have been superior on defence so far this season, conceding 49 points fewer than the Italians in four matches to five by the hosts, while they also boast a better-attacking record with 120 points scored to 104 by Benetton, which should boost their confidence going into the clash.
Bolstering the Vodacom Bulls’ confidence, they won their last four fixtures against Benetton, with their only defeat against an Italian opponent in the competition being against this team at Stadio Monigo in the final of the Rainbow Cup in June 2021.
The Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby made ten changes to their starting line-up to face Benetton. At the back, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Boeta Chamberlain are the survivors at the back while JF van Heerden and Wilco Louw return.
Jake White said Benneton will be a tough nut to crack at home: “If you go through their team there’s lots of Argentinians, they’ve got some Kiwis, some South Africans, they’ve got Zimbabweans."
“They have a really well-balanced squad and put players in certain positions that make their squad so much stronger."
“They made the quarterfinals last year and we played really well to beat them. They recently beat the Sharks with a bonus point, and it doesn’t matter which Sharks team played, they would’ve taken a massive amount of confidence from beating an SA team at home."
“It’s going to be a tough game like it always is, but we just have to find a way to play our best rugby.”
Rhyno Smith returns at fullback for Benetton Rugby to form an attacking back-three combination with Paolo Odogwu and Matt Gallagher.
The halfback combination of Alessandro Garbisi and Tomas Albornoz at flyhalf is one of the strong points in the Benetton backline and one that will test the Bulls.
Benetton coach Marco Bortolami made some changes up front which sees prop Simone Ferrari return to the front row while captain Michele Lamaro, Alexander Izekor, and Lorenzo Cannone are set to test the Bulls around the fringes.
Benetton Rugby coach Marco Bortolami said: ""The lineup was chosen to respond to the qualities of the Bulls, but also to play our game."
"It will be very important to respond physically at the beginning. They are a team that scores 60% of the points in the first 30 minutes of every game, so it will be essential to withstand the initial shock and then, when spaces open up, have the right players also in the second half."
"The balance we have chosen goes in this direction, plus we wanted to give continuity to the last two victories obtained against Sharks and Dragons. I think the game will be played on the basics, simple and will be very similar to the one against Leinster. We will absolutely have to make improvements" said coach Marco Bortolami.
Teams:
Benetton Rugby: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Paul Odogwu, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannon, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Alexander Izekor, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spanish. Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Enzo Avaca, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Sebastian Blacks, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Jacob Umaga
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw (c), 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Barend Smit, 23 Harold Verster.
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