Cardiff stays unbeaten, Connacht sneaks past Benetton

WRAP: Cardiff defeated Zebre 40-27 to remain unbeaten, while Connacht snuck past Benetton 22-19 in Round Two of the United Rugby Championship.

Zebre opened the scoring with a penalty goal by Tommaso Allan after five minutes, before Teddy Williams and Javas Sebastian responded with tries for Cardiff,  one of which Callum Sheedy converted for a 12-3 lead.

Zebre closed the gap when Francisco Minervino dotted down in the 20th minute, but scores by Taine Basham and Alex Mann, both converted by Sheedy, saw Cardiff heading into the break up 26-8.

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Tom Bowen scored a brace in the second half, with Bowen and Jarrod Evans converting one each, respectively, before Giacomo Ferrari and Giacomo Da Re scored in the final quarter to seal a four-try bonus point.

Scorers:

For Cardiff:
Tries: Williams, Sebastian, Basham, Mann, Bowen 2
Cons: Sheedy 4, Evans

For Benetton:
Tries: Minervino 2, Ferrari, Da Re
Cons: Da Re 2
Pen: Allan

Teams:

Cardiff: 15 Jacob Beetham, 14 Harri Millard, 13 Le Roux Malan, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taine Basham, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally (captain), 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Tom Howe, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Evan Lloyd, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Steffan Emanuel

Zebre: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Damiano Mazza (captain), 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Thomas Dominguez, 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Francesco Ruffolo, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Juan Ignacio Castellano, 2 Francisco Minervino, 1 Federico Pisani
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Sergio Pelliccioli, 18 Matteo Barbotti, 19 Alessandro Ortombina, 20 Giacomo Ferrari, 21 Patricio Baronio Guana, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Giacomo Da Re

Referee: Morné Ferreira (SARU)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor (WRU), Lucas Yendle (WRU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

Not to be for John Dobson’s men in Scotland…https://t.co/sIU0ZEbJHl

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— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) October 2, 2026

Down in Treviso, Ciaran Frawley scored a late try to seal victory for Connacht to edge Benetton in a hard-fought encounter.

Connacht opened the scoring in the fourth minute through Cian Prendergast before Bautista Bernaconi levelled matters after 10 minutes of play.

Sean O’Brien took Connacht back into the lead when he crossed the whitewash, but Leonardo Marin responded in the 33rd minute with Jacob Umaga slotting the conversion to get Benetton in front for the first time.

The see-saw battle continued when Frawley dotted down for the first of his brace two minutes later, with Sam Gilbert slotting the conversion.

The visitors went down to 14 players when Finlay Bealham was sent to the sinbin in the 38th minute.

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Bernaconi levelled the scores again with his double, with Umaga retaking the lead following his conversion kick in the 51st minute.

The match remained scoreless before Frawley dotted down in the 76th minute to seal the deal for his team.

Scorers:

For Benetton:
Tries: Bernasconi 2, Marin
Cons: Umaga 2

For Connacht:
Tries: Prendergast, O’Brien, Frawley 2
Con: Gilbert

Yellow card: Finlay Bealham (Connacht, 38′)

Teams:

Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Riccardo Favretto, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Giulio Marini, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Matias Medrano
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Sootala Fa’aso’o, 20 Antony Miranda, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Ignacio Mendy

Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Finn Treacy, 13 John Devine, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Seán O’Brien, 6 Cian Prendergast (captain), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Matthew Victory, 1 Francois van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Billy Bohan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Shane Jennings

Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
Assistant referees: Franco Rosella (FIR), Manuel Bottino (FIR)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)