URC: Edinburgh let it slip at the death against Benetton
03/22/2025 03:00 PM
Benetton 21
Edinburgh 18
ALASDAIR MACKENZIE @ Stadio Monigo
THE question on the minds of many Edinburgh fans in north-eastern Italy was a familiar one – will this be the week they finally see some elusive consistency?
Ultimately, the answer was no. A scrappy 21-18 defeat to Benetton in the Treviso drizzle ended with the heartbreak of a last-minute try from Alessandro Izekor, who stormed down the line to score and profit on Edinburgh's numerical disadvantage following a late red card to Mosese Tuipulotu.
Edinburgh, unlike Benetton, left their sizeable contingent of international stars to rest, but the side who sealed a shock win over Munster last week came close to earning another big scalp against Tommaso Menoncello and co.
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They led for the entire second half until the dramatic finale, after building a score through Ross McCann and Ewan Ashman tries and the reliable boot of Ross Thompson, but were undone in the dying minutes when a series of errors – Tuipulotu's high shot the major one – let the Italians back in and sent Edinburgh back to square one in their search for back-to-back away wins.
"It's a game of small margins. Against quality opposition you've got to make sure you're clinical for the 80 minutes," said Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt.
"I'm really proud of the effort the guys put in, the resilience they showed in sticking to the plan. Unfortunately, it came down to the last five minutes and to concede that try, I'm really gutted for the boys.
"We prepared really well, we took a lot of heart out of the Munster game going into this game. Unfortunately, sport can be cruel, and we will have to suck this one up."
Five wins from 13 games by the end of March does not make for particularly encouraging reading for those of an Edinburgh persuasion.
Nor do the league standings, which now show them outside the play-off spots and only four points above second-bottom Zebre – who defeated the capital club in their last home game on Valentine's Day.
But Everitt remains upbeat about what his team is showing ahead of a run-in that will see them scrap for a URC play-off spot while facing the Lions in the EPCR Challenge Cup last 16.
"I'm positive about the growth we've shown," Everitt said. "If you take it back to Scarlets (a 30-24 defeat on 24 January) and the result and compare it to the team we are now, we're certainly a better team. I think the guys as a group have become closer.
"Today it's about rugby in really difficult conditions. I've got to be proud of how they executed the plan, but we need to be more clinical.
"Every game now is like a knockout game, so we've got to learn from this and it's a good learning today. We've got the last 16 and hopefully a quarter final as well coming up in the EPCR. We'll take the positives out of this, the good fight we showed in this game away from home, and work on our accuracy."
If the travelling Edinburgh supporters had envisaged an afternoon of sipping sparkling spritzes in the spring sunshine, they were soon left disappointed as a dark grey cloud enveloped the city in damp drizzle.
The conditions were far from ideal for free-flowing rugby, either, as a greasy ball and heavy pitch tempted the two sides to the boot. Jacob Umaga's penalty was the deserved reward for early Benetton pressure, but the hosts were denied more by some ferocious defence, Hamish Watson winning a decisive turnover just metres from his own line.
The home crowd were left somewhat stunned when Edinburgh's first meaningful attack resulted in a superbly-executed try. Two Rosses combined as Thompson's perfectly-weighted cross-field kick dropped into the arms of McCann for a simple score in the corner.
It was somewhat against the run of play, however, and Edinburgh soon found themselves up against it again when Ben Muncaster was sent to the sin-bin for head-on-head contact while tackling Rhyno Smith. But rather than fold, the Scots seized the initiative as they forced a penalty in kickable distance to extend their lead while the flanker sat out his punishment.
With Benetton showing some sloppy ball handling and Thompson starting to orchestrate things nicely with some well-placed kicks, it felt that the momentum might be turning, only for Umaga to knock over a penalty before Benetton's backs came to life as they sent the ball wide for Ignacio Mendy to score and put the Italians in front for the first time.
Umaga couldn't convert, however, and Edinburgh then finished the half with a big morale-booster as they won a scrum penalty that Thompson sent through the sticks to send them into the sheds with a two-point lead.
As the light dimmed and the benches began to empty, both sides began to find more holes in the opposing defences, with Ben Vellacott dancing through a gap to take Edinburgh into the 22 in a spell that ultimately led to their second try.
The decision to kick to the corner from a subsequent penalty didn't look too clever when a messy gather left Edinburgh scrambling, but they soon won another, made the same decision, and this time it paid off as a maul rumbled over the line with Ashman dotting down.
Thompson could not add the extras on this occasion, but Edinburgh were soon pushing for their third try when a slaloming McCann was stopped inches short of the line before Edinburgh's attack was thwarted by a Menoncello turnover.
The quality of Benetton's blockbuster bench, featuring the likes of Italy captain Michele Lamaro, Federico Ruzza, Mirco Spagnolo and Tomas Albornoz, started to show in the final quarter as the hosts began to get the better of the scrum and the penalty count, and they reduced the gap to just two points when Albornoz span out of a tackle and teed up Paolo Odogwu for a score in the corner.
With chants of 'Leoni' ringing around the Stadio Monigo, Edinburgh had to dig deep, teenage prodigy Freddy Douglas earning slaps on the back when he secured a 76th-minute turnover to relieve pressure just inside the Edinburgh half.
But just as confidence of the away side hanging on was growing, the TMO came into action once again as Tuipulotu was shown a red-card for a dangerous tackle on Juan Ignacio Brex.
"The law is quite clear. You can't make head contact," Everitt reflected after the game.
"I thought maybe Ben Muncaster was a bit unlucky but it's the right call, it's a yellow-card, you can't have shoulder to head. Those individuals need to look at themselves and we will see what we can do to improve. It was certainly not malicious or intentional, it's just the way the law is, and we've got to respect that."
Umaga's penalty attempt from halfway dropped just wide, setting up a grandstand finale as the 14-man visitors looked to hang on. Douglas was seemingly more determined than anyone to finish the job, as the flanker got over the ball once more to win a penalty.
However, Edinburgh's resulting line-out was messy again and soon their territory gain had vanished. When the ball went wide to Odogwu on halfway, the wing put on the afterburners to fly through a gap before teeing up Izekor, who had the pace to fly down the line and touch down the winning try.
Teams –
Benetton: R Smith (T Albornoz 51); I Mendy, T Menoncello, I Brex, P Odogwu; J Umaga, A Uren (A Garbisi 66); T Gallo (M Spagnolo 56), B Bernasconi (A Creevy 67), S Ferrari (G Zilocchi 44), S Scrafton (F Ruzza 44), E Snyman ( R Favretto 56), A Izekor, M Zuliani, T Halafihi (M Lamaro 56).
Edinburgh: W Goosen; M Currie, J Lang, M Tuipulotu, R McCann; R Thompson, B Vellacott (A Price 64); B Venter (R Hislop 76), E Ashman (P Harrison 50), P Hill (D Rae 40), M Sykes, S Skinner, B Muncaster (G Young 40), H Watson (F Douglas 64), M Bradbury.
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Scorers –
Benetton: Tries: Mendy, Odogwu, Izekor; Pen: Umaga 2.
Edinburgh: Tries: McCann, Ashman; Con: Thompson 1. Pen: Thompson 2.
Scoring sequence (Benetton first): 3-0; 3-5; 3-7; 3-10; 6-10; 11-10 (h-t) 11-13; 11-18; 16-18; 21-18.
Yellow card –
Edinburgh: Muncaster (21 mins)
Red card –
Edinburgh: Tuipulotu (75 mins)
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