Benetton overpowers Stade Francais

MATCH REPORT: Benetton Rugby couldn’t quite make it to the top of Pool B in the Challenge Cup – but they put in a determined display to edge Stade Français Paris 35-32 on Saturday.

Scarlets finish top of the pool with four wins out of four – but the Italian side are not far behind with three wins, and their bonus-point victory at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo means they have a home tie in the Round of 16.

Tries came courtesy of a brace from Mattia Bellini, Tommaso Menoncello and Rhyno Smith, who also slotted a drop-goal. Tomas Albornoz added three conversions and two penalties.

Stade Français, on the other hand, got five tries, with Kylan Hamdaoui, Sekou Macalou, Sione Tui, Giorgi Tsutskiridze and Peniasi Dakuwaqa all going over – but it was the lack of extras that made the difference, with just two conversions and one penalty bolstering their score.

They won’t be too disheartened, though, because their two losing bonus points saw them through to the knockout stage.

The scorers:

For Stade Francais
Tries: Hamdaoui, Macalou, Tui, Tsutskiridze, Dakuwaqa
Cons: Barre, Parra
Pens: Barre

For Benetton
Try: Bellini (2), Smith, Menoncello
Con: Albornoz (3)
Pens: Albornoz (2)
DG: Smith

Yellow cards: Huguen (Stade Francais, 10′), Macalou (Stade Francais, 75′)
Chapuis (Stade Francais, 76′, )

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Michele Lamaro (captain), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Seb Negri Da Oleggio, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Federico Zani.
Replacements: 16 Manuel Arroyo, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Henry Stowers, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Marco Zanon.

Stade Francais: 15 Kylan Hamdaoui, 14 Sione Tui, 13 Julien Delbouis, 12 Alex Arrate, 11 Stephane Ahmed, 10 Léo Barre, 9 Arthur Coville, 8 Juan Martin Scelzo, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Giorgi Tsutkiridze, 5 Juan Johan Van der Mescht, 4 Nathan Huguen, 3 Paul Alo Emile, 2 Laurent Panis (captain), 1 Sergo Abramishvili.
Replacements: 16 Lucas Peyresblanques, 17 Clément Castets, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ryan Chapuis, 20 Sitaleki Timani, 21 Harry Glover, 22 Morgan Parra, 23 Pienasi Dakuwaqa.

Referee: Jack Makepeace (England)
Assistant Referees: Mike Hudson (England), Peter Allan (England)
TMO: Dean Richards (England)

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