Benetton proved that they are far better on the field than off it as they produced an excellent display to overcome Zebre Parma 38-5 in the all-Italian clash.
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The club have been embroiled in a racism scandal after Cherif Traore called out one of his team-mates for giving him a rotten banana as a Secret Santa ‘gift.’
Benetton’s response to the incident was widely condemned before they finally took action to suspend the perpetrator pending an investigation.
They also, rather interestingly, had a message on the back of their jerseys which read “no racism.”
Traore, to his immense credit, put that to the back of his mind, showing all his quality to help the home side cross the whitewash six times in this Christmas Eve encounter.
They went 19-0 up at the break thanks to Tomas Albornoz, Niccolo Cannone and Lorenzo Cannone tries before Rhyno Smith completed the bonus-point in the second period.
Giacomo Nicotera then added to Zebre’s pain by going over before the visitors gained a semblance of consolation via Luca Bigi. However, Benetton had the final word through Riccardo Favretto.
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Zebre were gallant throughout but they lacked both the physicality and overall quality to match their Italian rivals, who secured their fifth victory of the season.
Ten defeats in a row tells a story for the visitors and their lack of confidence was evident in this clash, despite a bright start which saw them challenge Benetton’s defence.
Fabio Roselli’s men moved the ball nicely early, but they quite simply lack the punch of other teams in the competition.
Eventually and almost inevitably, the hosts got on top and, once they entered the opposition half, Marco Bortolami’s outfit caused them numerous problems.
Benetton duly opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a well-worked try as Albornoz broke through and weaved his way past the final defender to touch down.
Niccolo Cannone followed him, showing nice footwork to cross the whitewash, before his younger brother, Lorenzo, also went over for a dominant lead at the interval.
👀 Benetton put this message on their jerseys today. Hmm…🤔 pic.twitter.com/wPtiTJ0GJu
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) December 24, 2022
The pressure was relentless on Zebre, who struggled to handle the pure power of their opponents, and Smith rewarded the home team’s excellence with the bonus-point score.
Nicotera then became the fifth different scorer of the afternoon and, with still a quarter of the match remaining, Benetton perhaps sensed the opportunity of reaching the half-century.
To the visitors’ credit, they kept on battling and were rewarded when Bigi touched down, but it proved to be a tough afternoon for Roselli’s charges and it ended with Favretto going over for Benetton.