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United Rugby Championship

Benetton send Sharks packing to claim first URC win of season

By PA
Andre Esterhuizen of the Sharks looks to offload the ball under pressure from Paolo Odogwu of Benetton during the United Rugby Championship match between Benetton and Hollywoodbets Sharks at Stadio Monigo on October 12, 2024 in Treviso, Italy. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)

Benetton got their United Rugby Championship season up and running with a convincing 38-10 bonus-point win over Sharks at Stadio Monigo.

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First-half tries from Paolo Odogwu, Rhyno Smith and Ignacio Mendy put the Italians in the box seat, with fly-half Jacob Umaga converting all three and adding a penalty.

Smith went over for the bonus-point score after 68 minutes, with Leonardo Marin also crossing, and Umaga converted both to take his personal haul to 13 points.

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Sharks head coach John Plumtree on challenge of integrating his Bok stars

SPOTLIGHT: Sharks head coach John Plumtree is eager to integrate more Springboks into his team over the next couple of weeks.

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Sharks head coach John Plumtree on challenge of integrating his Bok stars

SPOTLIGHT: Sharks head coach John Plumtree is eager to integrate more Springboks into his team over the next couple of weeks.

Ntuthuko Mchunu scored a late consolation try for the visitors.

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38 - 10
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Comments on RugbyPass

P
PMcD 14 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

I would say the Northern Hemisphere really focussed on defence from about 2015 to 2020 and then attack has really improved from 2020-2025, which has helped close the gap and why you have seen the European teams become more prominent during that period.

130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 19 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

How can the defence have been alright when you shipped so many Q3 (and overall H2) points this season?

They need improvement in both, better defence to hold the opposition back and more in attack.



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130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 25 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

I think that’s fair and the AB’s certainly missed him . . . . But I also think that SA scrum improved further, especially once they found the right balance with Du Toit starting and Wilco Louw finishing.

The scary prospect is that I think it will improve further once Steenekamp/Wessels/Louw settle down as the replacement front row. That looks even more scary than this year with all the selection upheaval.



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130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 28 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

I’m a bit more positive on Less Kiss as Head Coach and if you look at his London Irish team, they had a young pack that couldn’t compete with the best in the premiership, so he created a super exciting attack that moved the ball away from the forwards and would frequently go coast to coast, trying to wear them down.

I actually think this could be a really good fit for where Australia are at and will build on the foundations that Joe Schmidt has left.



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130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 32 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

I wonder if NZ contacted Graham Rowntree to see if he would be interested in being scrum coach? That would have been an awful lot of scrum IQ to add to the coaching team at a time they could have done with it but looks like the opportunity has passed.

130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 34 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

It’s interesting how NZ coaches (80’s & early 90’s), Australian coaches (late 90’s & early 2000’s), then NZ coaches (2010’s) and then SA coaches (since 2019) have dominated.

It’s interesting to see how the Pat Howard, John Eales, George Smith era of players were lost to Australian coaching from that dominant period, yet SA have turned out Rassie, Jacques Nienaber & Johan Van Graan, through their coaching systems, who have all risen to the top of the game.



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130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 48 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Kidwell did a fantastic job at Leicester last season. He turned them into a pretty tight unit (without a huge change in players) and they have fallen off a little bit since he left.

130 Go to comments
N
NC 49 minutes ago
Debuts from heaven and hell: All the newcomers to Test rugby in 2025

Why has Luke Northmore been omitted from England’s list ?

1 Go to comments
P
PMcD 51 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Your a fair and decent human being NB.

I think that would have killed off Christmas for most AB fans if you had published that one first. 🤣🤣🤣



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130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 53 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

The Wallabies retained him as a consultant, so whilst he is no longer a full time coach, he is still tied to them (probably to stop others).

130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 55 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

I would probably start by begging John Mitchell to sort out the defence first, that’s where they appear to be most at sea, quickly followed by the scrum this season, although that says it should be fixable given it’s mostly the same players as last season.

130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 59 minutes ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

AUS play an interesting style of attack, where they move the ball through the centres and tend to attack the outside channels, so I could easily see JAS & Mark Nawaqanitawase on the wings, with Tom Wright at fullback, whilst then looking for a strong solid midfield defender to pair with Ikitau in the centres.

It feels like Ikitau + Parese or Petaia would be a more solid defensive partnership, whilst leaving the pyrotechnics in the back 3.



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130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 1 hour ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

It also reminds you quite how good that French backline are once they find their mojo.

With DuPont looking like he’s never been away in his first few games, I think the real FRA will turn up this 6 N’s and have to be the favourites at this stage.



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130 Go to comments
M
Mzilikazi 1 hour ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

I did read about those OVS farm sessions, GVF. Great stuff.

130 Go to comments
P
PMcD 1 hour ago
Bomb Squad or Pom Squad? Rugby's best benches revealed

This is measuring tries scored from total opportunities and then comparing how many of those were scored by the bench.

It basically says NZ are still scoring tries but if you looked at points conceded in the 3rd & 4th Quarters, it would tell you their defence is a long way short of what is required, which ironically is where SA excel and ENG have improved.



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P
PMcD 1 hour ago
Bomb Squad or Pom Squad? Rugby's best benches revealed

Correct - The only true meaningful statistics are scoreboard and what that tells you is that over 80 mins, South Africa are the best team by some margin.

15 Go to comments
S
SB 1 hour ago
Bomb Squad or Pom Squad? Rugby's best benches revealed

Potentially yes. Although since the 6N this year, he didn’t go to it once - always a 6-2 in New Zealand or November.

I don’t think he regrets it, the South Africa game it was clear he was testing some things out. If it was a do or die World Cup semi final, I do not believe he leaves out Alldritt/Ollivon out of the 23 nor would Cramont be getting his debut for example.



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P
PMcD 1 hour ago
Bomb Squad or Pom Squad? Rugby's best benches revealed

I have a sneaky feeling we may see something similar vs ENG in the 6N’s this year . . . . and I also think Glathie may have regretted not doing the same against SA this Autumn.

FRA will learn from this, so will be interesting to see how strong they come back this 6N’s.



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15 Go to comments
P
PMcD 1 hour ago
Bomb Squad or Pom Squad? Rugby's best benches revealed

I wouldn’t take this too seriously, International Rugby is about controlling the game and throughout this year, SA and their bench have proven they are the best by some margin.

If you value dominating the scrum, challenging the opposition line out, closing out the opposition in defence and the ability to do it with 14 players if required, then SA wins the contest hands down.



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G
GrahamVF 2 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Let’s see what the AB’s do against the franchise packs next year.

130 Go to comments
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