A change in competitions didn’t bring about a change in fortunes for Newcastle Falcons as Benetton scored eight tries on their way to a comfortable 18 – 57 victory and consigned the hosts to a 14th consecutive defeat this season.
By Rob Rush
The Falcons started brightly, a nice inside ball setting Elliott Obatoyinbo away before leading to a yellow card for Ignacio Mendy for a deliberate knock on, Brett Connon kicked the resulting penalty to open the scoring.
Benetton struggled down to 14 players as Newcastle looked to utilise their pacy backs in space. Another lineout in the 22 led to the first try of the encounter, a well worked strike move leading to Adam Brocklebank being stopped just short and Eduardo Bello crashing over the line to complete the job.
However, the hosts gave away two quick penalties straight from kickoff to give the Italian side easy territory and momentum, and they capitalised with Tomas Albornoz breaking through soft tacking to race through and answer.
That spurred Benetton into life as a penalty advantage turned into their second score, a lovely flowing move from their own half complete with offloads led to Mendy setting Onisi Ratave away to dot down, raising more concerns about Falcons’ defence.
They re-set well and turned possession into points, the visitors pinged for not rolling away and Connon slotted his second penalty. However, the visitors hit straight back with their third try, another patient move from a penalty until they broke the defensive line and Tommaso Menoncello crossed the whitewash.
That score seemed to spark Falcons into life as Callum Chick broke from his own half and they set up camp in the 22, patiently creeping their way towards the line before the visitors drew another breakdown penalty. Rhyno Smith then drew a offside penalty following a stunning line break, and Albornoz slotted his first penalty to extend the lead to nine at half- time.
Benetton wrapped up the try bonus point shortly after the break, a dummy drive and inside ball setting Ratave away and he stepped Josh Barton to score his second as Newcastle’s defence was left wanting again.
Ignacio Brex’s physical run up the middle narrowed the defence once more and the visitors worked it through the hands to find the space, Albornoz throwing a beautiful pass to Mendy to walk in as the confidence drained from the hosts.
Newcastle then started to find themselves on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle, costing them territory as they desperately tried to find a spark in the final 30 minutes.
Brex turned provider again for Benetton’s sixth try, breaking through a tackle before feeding Menoncello who also burst through attempted tackles to score his second as the gulf in quality between the sides started to show.
A rare mistake from the Italians allowed great field position for Newcastle, Murray McCallum benefitting from the great patience shown after multiple phases on the try line to power over.
On rare occasions the Falcons got the ball to Adam Radwan in space he flashed glimpses of attacking threat, but Benetton’s stifling defence forced too many errors from the hosts and starved him of any meaningful territory.
Constant infringements from Newcastle allowed Benetton to peg their hosts back in the 22, and Alessandro Izekor picked and scored after a great driving maul to further compound the woes on the hosts.
Radwan knocked on in clear space in a play that summed up the evening for the hosts at Kingston Park before Ratave intercepted and set Jacob Umaga away to complete the rout.
Speaking to Viaplay after the game, player of the match Tommaso Menoncello said, “I’m very happy, it’s my first 80 minutes (back from injury), I’m very proud of my game.
“I’m confident with Ignacio (Brex), I played with him all of last year so I’m very confident with him (as a centre partner).
“It’s very good to leave here with five points, we can now work next week on Montpellier, which will be a tough game.”
Benetton Head Coach Marco Bortalami: “We’re very happy with all aspects of our game tonight. It was a tough start, we expected that, difficult conditions as well; it’s a tough place to come and win. We created the first three tries by running through their defensive line, and then the game opened up.
“The impact of the bench is crucial in big games, in the past we’ve been guilty of not keeping our foot on the throttle and finishing games with the same intensity, but today the bench was outstanding.
“We believe (we’re good enough to beat Montpellier). We’ve probably got to play our best game to beat them – they are on a good run and they are a different animal.”
Newcastle Falcons Head Coach Alex Codling: “The first 20 minutes were where I wanted us to be as a team. We moved the point of contact and got close to the line on numerous occasions. It’s the story of our season though, we just make too many errors.
“This game is about momentum. We started with lots of it, we showed ambition, moved the ball around and looked dangerous but every time we got close to the line we coughed it up. This game is unforgiving, you make mistakes and you get punished.
“I’m hugely disappointed for the supporters. That’s not what we’re about, it’s not acceptable and we have to put it right.
“It’s not an experience I’ve ever had before as a coach (13 losses in a row before tonight). It’s not enjoyable for anyone at the club: players, coaches, support staff, supporters. We don’t want to be in the position we are. Invariably players feel a bit more under pressure, make a pass they wouldn’t normally make, drop a pass they wouldn’t normally drop. You look at the amount of errors we make in the second half, you just shouldn’t make them at this level.
“I want to pay a massive credit to Benetton tonight, I thought they were outstanding They’re second in the URC for a reason. Everytime we made a mistake they punished us and hence the scoreline finished the way it did.”
Newcastle Falcons
TRIES: 2 (Bello 13’, McCallum 63’)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (Connon 13’)
PENALTIES: 2 (Connon 4’,24)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0
15. Elliott Obatoyinbo 14. Adam Radwan 13. George Wacokecoke 12. Cameron Hutchison 11. Iwan Stephens 10. Brett Connon 9. Josh Barton 1. Adam Brocklebank 2. Jamie Blamire 3. Eduardo Bello 4. John Hawkins 5. Sebastian De Chaves 6. Pedro Rubiolo 7. Guy Pepper 8. Callum Chick ©
Replacements: 16. Bryan Byrne 17. Phil Brantingham 18. Murray McCallum 19. Freddie Lockwood 20. Sam Cross 21. Hugh O’Sullivan 22. Louie Johnson 23. Tom Penny
Benetton Rugby
TRIES: 8 (Albornoz 17’, Ratave 20’,44, Menoncello 28’, 57’, Mendy 50’, Izekor 74’, Umaga 80’)
CONVERSIONS: 7 (Albornoz 20’,28’, 44’, 50’, Umaga 57’ 74’,80’)
PENALTIES: 1 (Albornoz 35’)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Mendy 4’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Rhyno Smith 14. Ignacio Mendy 13. Tommaso Menoncello 12. Ignacio Brex 11.Onisi Ratave 10. Tomas Albornoz 9. Andy Uren 1. Thomas Gallo 2. Gianmarco Lucchesi 3. Giosué Zilocchi 4. Niccolò Cannone 5. Eli Snyman © 6. Sebastian Negri 7.Manuel Zuliani 8. Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements: 16. Bautista Bernasconi 17. Federico Zani 18. Tiziano Pasquali 19. Gideon Koegelenberg 20. Federico Ruzza 21. Alessandro Izekor 22. Alessandro Garbisi 23. Jacob Umaga