Glasgow's Franco Smith era begins with defeat to Benetton
URC REPORT: Benetton got their 2022/2023 United Rugby Championship campaign off to a perfect start with a 33-11 win over Glasgow Warriors in Treviso on Friday.
The Italian side scored four tries in the match which also gave them a bonus point.
The result will be a massive disappointment for Franco Smith, who started his reign as Glasgow’s head coach.
The South African took over from Danny Wilson after Glasgow’s poor 2021/2022 campaign.
Benetton opened the scoring with a Rhyno Smith penalty in the 13th minute before George Horne levelled matters with a penalty kick of his own four minutes later.
However, it wasn’t long before Glasgow found themselves behind on the scoreboard again.
Benetton Wing Edoardo Padovani was put into space to run in for an easy try in the 22nd minute and Gianmarco Lucchesi compounded Glasgow’s woes in the 37th minute with a try after a powerful maul.
Horne then converted another penalty into three points, which meant the visitors were only seven points behind at the break.
However, the home side started the second half in fantastic fashion with Ignacio Mendy weaving through Glasgow’s defence to score his team’s third try.
Smith added the extra two points with the conversion before adding another two penalties to take his team to a 20-point lead after 57 minutes.
Glasgow received some hope a few minutes later when Zander Fagerson crossed for a try.
However, that was Glasgow’s only points in the second half with Mendy securing the bonus point for the hosts with his second try at the death.
Smith capped things off with an easy conversion.
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Tries: Padovani, Lucchesi, Mendy 2
Cons: Smith 2
Pens: Smith 3
For Glasgow Warriors:
Try: Z Fagerson
Pens: Horne 2
Teams:
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Joaquin Riera, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Scott Scrafton, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Ivan Nemer.
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Mattia Bellini.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Cole Forbes, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (captain), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Matt Fagerson, 6 Sintu Manjezi, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Lewis Bean, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatt.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Oliver Kebble, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Rory Darge, 21 Thomas Gordon, 22 Ali Price, 23 Duncan Weir.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Manuel Bottino (Italy)
TMO: Brian McNeice (Ireland)
Main Photo: @GlasgowWarriors
