Benetton upset Ulster as Irish side's mid-season wobble worsens
A late penalty from Rhyno Smith saw Benetton move into the top five of the United Rugby Championship following a 31-29 victory over Ulster at the Stadio Monigo.
After back-to-back wins against Zebre Parma over the festive period, the Italians secured their fourth triumph in a row to climb above Munster.
Tomas Albornoz, Onisi Ratave and Ignacio Brex crossed for Benetton, with Ulster responding through Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Mike Lowry and a penalty try.
Ulster enjoyed the bulk of the play during the opening stages and they were rewarded with O’Sullivan’s second try for the province.
A penalty into touch gave Ulster a lineout 15 metres out and quick ball through the backs saw number eight Nick Timoney break through three tackles before he was stopped.
The ball was recycled back inside and O’Sullivan strolled through a gap in the Benetton backline.
Benetton responded and were level within four minutes off the back of a big forward drive.
Their pack pushed Ulster back to within five metres of the line and the ball was quickly shifted to fly-half Albornoz to dance over the line and convert himself to make it 7-7.
Just short of the midway point of the first half they were ahead with a superb try.
Albornoz was again at the heart of it as he broke through a series of tackles before a superbly-weighted kick from centre Brex was plucked out of the air on the left touchline by Ratave to run in under the posts.
Albornoz put a straightforward penalty over shortly before the break after James Hume was penalised for offside and John Cooney’s penalty on the stroke of half-time made it 17-10 to the Italians at the interval.
The Benetton fly-half restored the 10-point advantage with a drop-goal two minutes after the restart.
Ulster made it a five-point game after 55 minutes through hooker Herring’s third try of the season.
The Irish side were knocking on the door from the set piece and from a maul close to the line, Herring went low around the side to touch down.
Benetton, though, immediately moved beyond a converted score ahead with a monstrous penalty from just inside the Ulster half from Smith.
Another fine move saw the Italians further stretch their advantage.
Following a turnover by Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, the ball quickly moved through hands for Smith to play the final ball out to Brex on the left wing to crash over in the corner.
Ulster hit straight back after being camped on the Benetton line and took advantage of their territory with full-back Lowry burrowing over and Cooney converting.
With just five minutes left on the clock, Ulster edged themselves ahead when another penalty to the corner produced a clean lineout win before Giovanni Pettinelli was yellow-carded for pulling down the driving maul and referee Ben Whitehouse went under the posts for a penalty try.
But Ulster’s discipline again let them down to give Smith a shot at goal with two minutes remaining and he converted via the post to secure a thrilling victory.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments