| Benetton: (13) 33 |
| Tries: Padovani, Lucchesi, Mendy 2 Cons: Smith 2 Penalties: Smith 3 |
| Glasgow (6) 11 |
| Try: Z Fagerson Penalties: Horne 2 |
The United Rugby Championship season began with the Glasgow Warriors losing four tries to Benetton. Franco Smith was appointed head coach.
After a disappointing season last year under Danny Wilson, the South African took control of Scotstoun.
Smith was unable to overcome the early efforts of Gianmarco Luchesi and Edoardo Pagovani, who were the national head coaches.
Ignacio Mendy also added two more to Zander Fagerson’s response.
Smith made his competitive debut by giving a professional debut at fly half to Auckland-born Tom Jordan. Jordan was the stand-out player in the Super6 domestic competition with the Ayrshire bulls following injuries to Ross Thompson, Domingo Miotti, and Tom Jordan.
Sintu Manjezi and Lucio Sordoni also donned Glasgow jerseys, while Kyle Steyn was the new captain.
The writing was on the wall when Rhyno Smith kicked first points of URC season after just 13 minutes.
George Horne responded within three minutes. However, that did not settle the visitors. Giacomo da Re found Padovani and made a long pass wide for Padovani to touch down.
Lucchesi followed Benetton’s fronts to their line, pushing the visitors back too much towards their own line.
Warriors were only seven points behind at break, but a Horne penalty saw them remain that way. Mendy snuck through the static visiting defense immediately after the restart.
Glasgow was looking tired and disorganized after Smith added two penalties and the conversion.
Only a contentious decision by Benetton denied Benetton a bonus try. However, substitute prop Fagerson won the game after the visitors had played some passing play.
The bonus point was not delayed in the closing seconds, as Mendy intercepted Smith to make it clear for his second try. Smith then added the easy extras.
Franco Smith is the head coach for the Glasgow Warriors “Obviously we are undercooked. In the first half, there were many unforced mistakes and old habits.
“It’s unfortunate we didn’t play the first two warm up games. We are disappointed with the outcome. I believe we are a better team than that. They played well, Benetton is well-coach.
“We have plenty of work ahead. I am still getting into the characters of the players. It’s one thing for me to teach them new styles of rugby. But it’s quite another for me to get into their heads.
Benetton Treviso: Smith, Padovani, Brex, Riera, Mendy, Da Re, Duvenage, Nemer, Lucchesi, Ferrari, Scrafton, Ruzza, Pettinelli, Zuliani, L Cannone.
Replacements: Nicotera, Zani, Pasquali, N Cannone, Lamaro, Hidalgo-Clyne, Zanon, Bellini.
Glasgow Forbes, Cancelliere, Tuipulotu, McDowall, Steyn, Jordan, G Horne, Bhatti, F Brown, Sordoni, Bean, Gray, Manjezi, M Fagerson, Dempsey.
Replacements: Matthews, Kebble, Z Fagerson, Cummings, Darge, Gordon, Price, Weir.
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU).