| Benetton (19) 36 |
| Attempt: Smith, Lucchesi, Uren, Latave, Jasizzi, Ramaro. Cons: Albornos 2, Umaga |
| Dragons (0) 19 |
| Attempt: Rosser, Blacker, Hope Cons: evans, reed |
Benetton scored six tries to solidify their hopes of making it to the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs with an easy win over the Dragons in Treviso.
Tries from Rhino Smith, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Andy Uhlen, Onisi Latabe, Edoardo Iacizzi and Michele Lamaro earned the Italian team a bonus point victory, moving them into fifth place.
The Dragons fought back with tries from Jared Rosser, Dane Blacker and Che Hope.
Dai Flanagan's side remain in 15th place in the table, with only Zebre below them.
The Dragons have not won away from home since defeating Pau in the Challenge Cup in January 2023, while URC's last away success came against the Scarlets in April 2022.
Flanker Dan Lydiate led the team as one of six substitutes from the team that beat Zebre in March, with Welsh hooker Elliot Dee rested.
Benetton entered the match in good form and advanced to the Challenge Cup semi-finals with back-to-back wins over the Lions and Connacht.
The hosts got off to a strong start with full-back Smith scoring an impressive early shot, feeding winger Leonardo Marin and having a try denied by a last-minute tackle from Kai Evans.
Benetton's duo then combined and Smith crossed for a stunning opening try. Benetton thwarted further chances in the first half, but hooker Lucchesi was brought down from the lineout.
The Dragons were punished as Aneurin Owen's speculative pass was intercepted by scrum-half Woolen, who then cantered over and scored.
Benetton led 19-0 at half-time, but Dragons winger Rosser intercepted a pass from Albornoz early in the second half to ensure the visitors were on the scoresheet.
For Albornoz, winger Latave took a cross kick that went past Evans and earned him a bonus point.
The Dragons, buoyed by the introduction of Wales No. 8 Aaron Wainwright, hit back with another long-range opportunity attack, with scrum-half Blacker sprinting 80 meters to score.
However, the Dragons' hopes of a second-half comeback were dashed when substitute Iacizzi pounced on Hope's kick and scored.
Italy captain Ramalo successfully scored for Benetton against a tired Dragons defence, before substitute scrum-half Hope scored a late goal after Rio Dier's break.
Benetton: Rhino Smith. Leonardo Marin, Ignacio Brex, Marco Zanon, Onisi Ratab. Tomas Albornoz, Andy Uren. Mirco Spagnuolo, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Giosue Girocchi, Scott Scrafton, Riccardo Favret, Sebastian Negri, Michele Ramaro (captain), Toa Harafihi.
Replacement: Bautista Bernasconi, Ivan Nemer, Tiziano Pasquali, Gideon Kegelenberg, Edoardo Iacizzi, Alessandro Izecole, Dewald Duvinage, Jacob Umaga.
Sin bin: Smith (80)
dragon: Kai Evans. Rio Dyer, Sio Tomkinson, Aneurin Owen, Jared Rosser. Will Reid, Dane Blacker. Rodrigo Martinez, James Benjamin, Luke Yendl, Ben Carter, George Knott, Dan Lydiate (Captain), Sean Lonsdale, Tain Basham.
Replacement: Brody Coghlan, Aki Seiuri, Dmitri Alhip, Harrison Keddy, Aaron Wainwright, Che Hope, Joe Westwood, Jordan Williams.
referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Assistant referee: Filipo Russo (FIR), Alex Frasson (FIR)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU).
