"That last try is legal" – Marco Bortolami: Benetton head coach upset at disallowed match winner against Bristol Bears
Yesterday at 10:47 AM
Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami felt hard done by last night, after a dissallowed try denied his side a memorable win at Ashton Gate. Benetton forged a strong second half comeback to be within one score of Bristol Bears, and thought they had edged into the lead as fullback Rhyno Smith crossed the whitewash in the 76th minute.
However, a lengthy TMO review chalked off the score, due to an obstruction from a Benetton dummy runner. The player ran directly at two Bristol defenders, who were lining up a tackle on Tommaso Menoncello, before the Italian midfielder shipped the ball out wide for the supposed assist. Whilst Bortolami was unhappy with how the last few minutes played out in the West Country, he was impressed to see his Benetton side rally back against the Bears, in the eventual 35-29 defeat.
“I think it was a good performance, and we’re proud of that. Unfortunately, I think we did enough, because there to me, the last try is legal. Menoncello is behind the ball and running into a gap, and we see hundreds of those actions, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“So it’s very important we focus on the positives that we came here and against a strong Bristol team, and we deliver a good performance. And next week, we need a little bit of a work to do against La Rochelle to make through (the Champions Cup pool stage), for the first time in the history for this club. That’s what we want to do.”
One of the most beloved underdogs in any competition, Benetton are steadily establishing themseleves to be more than a side that simply makes up the numbers in hopes of an upset win. The Italian side have a star-studded squad with an assortment of Azzurri internationals, including the likes of Menoncello and Juan Ignacio Brex in the centres, and Italian captain Michele Lamaro leading from the flanks. Benetton qualified for the Champions Cup last season for the first time in five years, which is metric evidence of the Treviso side’s upward trajectory.
“It’s the first time since five years ago, that we played the Champions Cup, and the club was never as competitive. We’re very proud, and we’re building on that. We’re building on the (URC) playoffs last year and the semi-final last two years, we’ve made the semi finals of the Challenge Cup. So the belief is growing and the performance is growing.
“It’s always a big work on for us as a group, because we’ve got so many internationals, so the season is never smooth in the way we can build, build and build. There’s always a lot of disruption when a big numbers of players go away (to Italy) and then they comes back. But this group is becoming better and better, at getting back together to quickly align and perform well.”
“I think they (Menoncello and Brex) performed very well. They are well mixed because they have different sets of skills, but they understand each other very well.I think also the other backs played very well. I think Mark Gallagher was very consistent throughout the 80 minutes, and Rhyno Smith as well. But as you know, when you play against an English team, even if it’s a team like Bristol that they move a lot the ball, you’ve got to be physical up front, and we could have been slightly better, especially in the first half, but that’s a work on. We’ve got to be proud of all the performers.”
With an exciting squad brimming with talented youngsters, Bortolami decided to bring in an experienced older head in the lead up to the 2023/24 United Rugby Championship season. Andy Uren departed Bristol after a seven-year service with the club, to bestow his knowledge in his new surroundings of Northern Italy. Uren started at scrum half for Benetton for his return to Ashton Gate, and Bortolami was impressed by the performance of the 28-year-old.
“He’s doing very well. He’s brings a lot of energy every day and, and I think today, he played very well, stuck to the game plan. And he could have scored a try that was, maybe special for him. But, he’s adding a lot, he’s played a lot of games for Bristol, so he’s got experience and I think he offers something different than Alessandro Gabisi. So a selection, most of the time is about the game we want to play against the opposition and how they fit into the game plan of that week. But yeah, very happy to have him in Treviso.”
The post “That last try is legal” – Marco Bortolami: Benetton head coach upset at disallowed match winner against Bristol Bears appeared first on Ruck.
