Dragons 21 – 31 Benetton: Lorenzo Cannone secures back-to-back wins for Italian side

10/20/2024 03:40 AM

By Harry Tovey

It's back-to-back wins for Marco Bortolami's Benetton, as they edged past a spirited Dragons away from home.

Tries from Bautista Bernasconi, Enzo Avaca, Marco Manfredi and Lorenzo Cannone helped the Italian side build on last week's win over the Sharks as they were made to work for the bonus point in South Wales.     

The first attacking threat came after six minutes when Ben Carter stripped Benetton in the tackle and offloaded to Lloyd Evans, who kicked in behind. However, after recycling at the lineout, the visitors kicked to relieve pressure. 

The Italian side suffered an early setback when Tongan international Malakai Fekitoa replaced Ignacio Mendy before the ten-minute mark. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as hooker Bautista Bernasconi was yellow-carded after making contact with scrum-half Rhodri Williams' head at the breakdown. Then, after stealing the ball at the lineout, the ball was spread quickly to the outside and Jared Rosser got the hosts up into the Italians 22, but the ball was lost and the visitors regained possession and kicked to relieve pressure. 

Another opportunity came for the hosts, with winger Rio Dyer showing his pace in breaking through Benetton's defence. However, a poor pass to the outside by outside-half Lloyd Evans broke all momentum. The hosts were then penalised for coming straight off their feet at the breakdown and Benetton kicked to touch. After the numerous opportunities in the visitors 22, the deadlock was broken after Joe Westwood intercepted and won the foot race from inside his own half. This came from reading the visitors' attack excellently and crossed over. Evans added the crucial extras in a tightly contested first 30 minutes.

Jacob Umaga's boot was instrumental in scoring the visitors' first points of the evening. Aneurin Owen was penalised for being in front of the kicker, and the flyhalf slotted the three. This was shortly followed by back-to-back penalties and the visitors found themselves metres from the Dragons line. After a clean take at the lineout, a catch and drive followed and hooker Bernasconi crossed over. Umaga converted the extras and put his side into a 10-7 lead at the break.

HT: Dragons 7-10 Benetton Rugby 

Unlike the first half, the first points were scored after only five minutes. Scrum-half Williams knocked the ball on with tight-head Avaca regathering and powered his way through to score the visitors' second, which wasn't greeted well by the Dragons faithful.   

Moments later, the hosts found themselves on the front foot after a wrap-around. Angus O'Brien kicked in behind and left outside centre Tommaso Menoncello, taking the ball into touch to relieve pressure. It looked to be an overthrow at the lineout from Brodie Coghlan, but flyhalf Evans pounced on the loose ball and crossed over. Evans added the extras to reduce the deficit to three points after 50 minutes. 

The visitors responded accordingly after the Dragons were penalised for being off their feet. After the lineout, a few phases followed and replacement, Manfredi powered his way over after picking it up quickly from the breakdown. 

A brilliant kick in behind forced Angus O'Brien to take the ball over his try-line, which resulted in a five-metre scrum for the visitors. A powerful push at the scrum followed by the visitors and Cannone crossed over for his side's fourth of the evening. 

Minutes later, the hosts scored their third after a robust carry from Shane Lewis-Hughes, who made his way through to score. O'Brien added the extras to reduce the deficit to 10 points with seven minutes left on the clock. However, this proved insufficient as the Italian side recorded their second consecutive victory.           

Dragons: 21 

Tries: 3 (Joe Westwood 26', Lloyd Evans 51', Shane Lewis-Hughes 73')

Conversions: 3 (Lloyd Evans 26', 51', Angus O'Brien 73')

Penalties: 0

Drop Goals: 0

Yellow Cards: 0

Red Cards: 0

DRAGONS: 15. Angus O'Brien, 14. Rio Dyer, 13. Joe Westwood, 12. Aneurin Owen, 11. Jared Rosser, 10. Lloyd Evans, 9. Rhodri Williams, 1. Rodrigo Martinez, 2. Brodie Coghlan, 3. Leon Brown, 4. Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5. Ben Carter (capt), 6. Ryan Woodman, 7. Harri Keddie, 8. Taine Basham.

Replacements: 16. Oli Burrows, 17. Cameron Jones, 18. Chris Coleman, 19. Steve Cummins, 20. Dan Lydiate, 21. Dane Blacker, 22. Steff Hughes, 23. Ewan Rosser.

Benetton: 31  

Tries: 4 (Bautista Bernasconi 38', Enzo Avaca 45', Marco Manfredi 61', Lorenzo Cannone 67')

Conversions: 4 (Jacob Umaga 38', 45', Tomas Albornoz 61', 67') 

Penalties: 1 (Jacob Umaga 32')

Drop Goals: 0

Yellow Cards: 1 (Bautista Bernasconi 15')

Red Cards: 0

BENETTON: 15. Matt Gallagher, 14. Ignacio Mendy, 13. Tommaso Menoncello, 12. Ignacio Brex, 11. Louis Lynagh, 10, Jacob Umaga, 9. Andy Uren, 1. Thomas Gallo, 2. Bautista Bernasconi, 3. Simone Ferrari, 4. Niccolo Cannone, 5. Federico Ruzza, 6. Alessandro Izekor, 7. Michele Lamaro (capt), 8. Lorenzo Cannone.

Replacements: 16. Marco Manfredi, 17. Destiny Aminu, 18. Enzo Avaca, 19. Eli Snyman, 20. Manuel Zuliani, 21. Alessandro Garbisi, 22. Tomas Albornoz, 23. Malakai Fekitoa.

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