Benetton 33-7 Glasgow Warriors

Glasgow Warriors endured a tough evening in Treviso in their penultimate clash of the BKT United Rugby Championship regular season, suffering a 33-7 defeat at the hands of Benetton.

Huw Jones was the lone try-scorer for the men in black, as the home side ran in five tries to keep their own pursuit of a playoff berth alive.

On a perfect evening in northern Italy, both sides signalled their intent to play from the opening kick-off. It was the home side who would strike first with five minutes on the clock, as Tommaso Menoncello’s wide ball allowed Paolo Odogwu to out-sprint the cover defence and dive over in the corner. Jacob Umaga converted, and Benetton held a 7-0 lead.

It would get better for the hosts just three minutes, as Siua Maile bundled his way over from an attacking maul, just about having enough momentum to ride the tackle and ground the ball. Umaga added the extras once more, giving the hosts a 14-0 advantage.

A stop-start opening half-hour prevented either side from gaining any true momentum with ball in hand, yet with the lion’s share of possession, Benetton eventually made it pay for their third score of the evening. Sustained pressure in the Glasgow 22 allowed Umaga to chip in behind, Odogwu just getting to the ball ahead of Kyle Steyn for the grounding. The conversion was pulled wide, but the home crowd were in no mood to complain.

Glasgow knew the next score was crucial, and with their first real foray into Benetton territory Franco Smith’s side thought they had opened their account with five minutes to play in the opening stanza when Gregor Hiddleston steered a maul over the whitewash, only for the referee to deem the ball to have been held up. After a lengthy delay in which the officials conferred, it was also deemed that no illegal Benetton intervention had prevented the score, to the chagrin of the Warrior Nation in attendance.

An off-target Umaga penalty attempt meant that the scoreline remained unchanged until the interval, yet whilst Rory Darge’s break almost set George Horne free moments into the second half, the home side would also strike first after the restart. Ignacio Mendy’s hack downfield saw the winger win the foot race, before sending Menoncello over for the score. Umaga converted, handing his team a 26-0 lead.

The home side was buoyant, adding a fifth try with 26 minutes remaining. Rhyno Smith was the man to make the incision, drawing the final defender to send Umaga under the posts for a try that gave him the simplest of conversions to make it 33-0 to the men from Treviso.

Franco Smith’s squad eventually found a breakthrough with 17 minutes to play; phase upon phase of hammering at the Benetton defensive line eventually yielded a penalty, with Horne’s quick tap and wide pass sending Jones over in the corner. Horne’s conversion from the touchline found its target, narrowing the deficit further.

Still the Warriors came forward, Jones’s line break and pass inches away from finding Kyle Rowe with the clock in the red exemplifying the spirit within the Glasgow squad. It was the home side’s evening though, as Smith’s men look to pick themselves up and reset ahead of next weekend’s final clash of the regular season.