©PA
Connacht 31-14 Benetton Treviso, The Sportsground
Scorecard
Paul Boyle celebrated his first game as captain with a hat-trick as Connacht trounced Benetton 31-14 in their rescheduled Pro14 game at the Sportsground.
This is fourth win for Connacht in six games as they are second in Conference B table while Benetton are at bottom after losing all their seven matches.
Boyle started the proceedings with a 14th minute try that Conor Fitzgerald converted to take them to a 7-0 lead which became 12-0 in the 24th minute after Peter Sullivan dotted down.
As the half-hour was approaching, Tommaso Benvenuti was sin-binned for the visitors but that came after Filippo Alongi went over the line that was improved by Ian Keatley. With the numerical advantage on their side, Connacht went on to claim the bonus point before the break with back to back tries from Alex Wootton (31′) and Boyle’s second.
Connacht started the second half with a 24-7 lead but Boyle’s third that came after his dive from close range in the 54th minute made the scoreline 31-7 before Dewaldt Duvenage’s converted try in the closing stage helped Benetton reduce their losing margin.
Team line-up:
Connacht: John Porch; Peter Sullivan, Sammy Arnold, Tom Daly, Alex Wootton; Conor Fitzgerald, Caolin Blade; Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Jack Aungier; Eoghan Masterson, Gavin Thornbury; Sean O’Brien, Conor Oliver, Paul Boyle.
Reserves: Jonny Murphy, Paddy McAllister, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Ultan Dillane, Jarrad Butler, Colm Reilly, Sean O’Brien, Matt Healy.
Benetton: Jayden Hayward; Ratuva Tavuyara, Tommaso Benvenuti, Ian Keatley, Tommaso Menoncello; Dewaldt Duvenage, Callum Braley; Nicola Quaglio, Tomas Baravalle, Filippo Alongi; Irne Herbst, Federico Ruzza; Giovanni Pettineilli, Marco Barbini, Toa Halafihi.
Reserves: Giacomo Nicotera, Ivan Nemer, Tiziano Pasquali, Riccardo Favretto, Alberto Sgarbi, Manuel Zuliani, Luca Petrozzi, Joaquin Riera.
