Very late score by Thomas hands Cardiff five points
MATCH REPORT: Wales international Owen Lane scored two early tries as Cardiff remained in United Rugby Championship play-off contention with a 30-13 victory over Benetton at the Arms Park.
The powerful wing struck twice in the opening seven minutes to underpin Cardiff’s bonus-point win, while Benetton had fly-half Tomas Albornoz was sent off six minutes from time for making contact with the eye area of an opposition player.
Number eight James Ratti and full-back Ben Thomas also crossed for the hosts, while Thomas kicked two penalties and two conversions.
Benetton trailed by just three points at half-time, but that was as close as they got despite tries by full-back Rhyno Smith and centre Marco Zanon, with Albornoz booting a penalty.
Scrum-half Lloyd Williams led Cardiff out on his 256th appearance – a club record for the professional era – and the game got off to a blistering start with three tries during the opening seven minutes.
Lane scored the first after just 90 seconds following a Cardiff lineout drive, then Smith replied with a slick Benetton score before Cardiff centre Max Llewellyn’s break set up Lane for his second touchdown.
Cardiff saw fly-half Jarrod Evans go off following a heavy midfield collision, with Matthew Morgan replacing him and Thomas moving from full-back into the number 10 position.
Prop Dimitri Arhip then limped off as Cardiff lost two players through injury inside the opening quarter, but it did not unsettle them as two Thomas penalties put them 11 points clear.
Benetton needed to cut the deficit before half-time, and Zanon obliged when he finished off patient build-up play before an Albornoz penalty meant Cardiff led 16-13 at the interval.
The visitors were temporarily reduced to 14 players just after the break, though, when referee Chris Busby yellow-carded Benetton prop Tiziano Pasquali for a scrummaging offence.
It gave Cardiff a chance to re-establish some momentum, and they claimed a third try after 50 minutes when Benetton struggled to contain sustained forward pressure.
Benetton were on the back foot, and Ratti went over, with Thomas’ conversion leaving the Italians 10 points adrift and Cardiff comfortably closed things out.
The scorers
For Cardiff:
Tries: Lane 2, Ratti, Thomas
Cons: Thomas 2
Pens: Thomas 2
For Benetton:
Tries: Smith, Zanon
Pen: Albornoz
Yellow card: Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton, 42′)
Red card: Tomas Albornoz (Benetton, 73′)
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Ben Thomas, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 James Ratti, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull (captain), 5 Seb Davies, 4 Lopeti Timani, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Corey Domachowski.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Aled Summerhill, 23 Matthew Morgan.
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Onisi Ratave, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Filippo Drago, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Henry Time-Stowers, 7 Alessandro Izekor, 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Riccardo Favretto, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Nahuel Tetaz.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Toa Halafihi, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Jacob Umaga, Joaquin Riera.
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wales) & Stephen Allsop (Wales)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
