Rhyno Smith stars as Benetton beat Zebre
MATCH REPORT: Benetton scored six tries as they eased to a 38-5 bonus-point win over Italian rivals Zebre at the Stadio Monigo.
Tomas Albornoz and brothers Niccolo and Lorenzo Cannone touched down as the hosts claimed a 19-0 interval lead in the Christmas Eve encounter.
The domination continued in the second period with further Benetton scores from Rhyno Smith, Giacomo Nicotera and Riccardo Favretto, while Smith finished with four conversions. Luca Bigi claimed Zebre’s consolation.
Zebre applied some pressure in the early stages but it did not take long for Benetton to take control as Albornoz burst through a gap, beat another challenge and sped away to the line.
Smith converted and almost went over for another try soon after but was denied out wide by a fine tackle from Geronimo Prisciantelli.
Benetton enjoyed a further spell camped on the Zebre line before finally claiming their second try on the half-hour.
The influential Albornoz was again involved as both he and half-back partner Alessandro Garbisi opened up the defence for Niccolo Cannone to touch down.
Lorenzo Cannone then underlined Benetton’s first-half dominance by claiming another just before the break, taking a smart pass back inside from Michele Lamaro to finish a fine move by the posts.
Zebre’s hopes of getting back into the game suffered a blow early in the second period when Marco Manfredi was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle on Simone Ferrari.
Benetton took immediate advantage of their extra man as they pieced together a flowing attack that ended with Nacho Brex sending Smith over for a fourth try and a bonus point.
The procession continued as Nicotera burrowed his way for another from a maul.
Zebre finally registered 16 minutes from time when Bigi was driven over following a line-out but Benetton were soon back in command.
Onisi Ratave thought he had touched down when he gathered a Marco Zanon pass only to be denied by the TMO, but Riccardo Favretto scored under the posts moments later.
Smith’s fourth conversion of the afternoon wrapped up a comfortable win for the hosts.
Player of the Match:
Scrumhalf Garbisi delivered a highly-influential performance with his constant probing, ability to pick holes in the Zebre defence and organisational qualities. His role in his side’s second try was important, with strong driving runs as well as quick passing to maintain the momentum of the attack.
Play of the match:
Benetton took a firm grip of the match with their third try just before half-time. The hosts had committed a number of handling errors previously but they put that behind them by engineering a fine move, ending with Michele Lamaro reversing play with a clever inside pass for Lorenzo Cannone to score.
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Tries: Albornoz, Cannone 2, Smith, Nicotera, Favretto,
Cons: Smith 4
For Zebre:
Try: Bigi
Teams
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Onisi Ratave, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Joaquin Riera, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Niccolò Cannone, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Cherif Traore.
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Marco Zanon.
Zebre: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Enrico Lucchin (captain), 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Taina Fox-Matamua, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Juan Pitinari.
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Dennis Visser, 20 Guido Volpi, 21 Ratko Jelic, 22 Nicolò Teneggi, 23 Tommaso Boni.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Alex Frasson (Italy) and Filippo Russo (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
