Benetton v Connacht: Can Lancaster’s Side Bounce Back in Treviso?

Connacht travel to Treviso already looking for an important response after opening their United Rugby Championship campaign with a 29-15 home defeat to the Stormers.

Benetton are also searching for their first victory after being held at home by the Dragons, but this is a considerably more difficult assignment for Connacht than that opening result might suggest.

Benetton are welcoming back Italian internationals, while Stadio Monigo has become a particularly difficult venue for Connacht. The Westerners haven’t won there since April 2022.

The handicap has moved from Connacht +3 to +2, suggesting relatively little separates the teams in the early market.

But the biggest question surrounding Connacht isn’t simply whether they can win in Italy. It is whether they can fix the problems that saw a competitive performance against the Stormers unravel during the final half-hour.

The 29-15 final score doesn’t completely explain how Connacht’s opening game unfolded.

They recovered from 10-0 down to lead 12-10 at half-time. Mack Hansen scored on his first Connacht appearance in 11 months before Josh Ioane crossed with the clock in the red.

Sam Gilbert’s penalty then extended Connacht’s advantage to 15-10 after 52 minutes.

At that stage Lancaster’s side were not merely hanging on. They were in position to win the match.

What followed is the major concern heading into Treviso.

The Stormers scored 19 unanswered points as Connacht became increasingly starved of possession and territory.

Connacht finished with only 39% possession. More significantly, they were forced to make 243 tackles as the Stormers repeatedly asked them to defend.

The difference in attacking output was equally stark. Connacht made just two clean breaks, compared with seven from the visitors.

There were positives. Connacht’s lineout operated at 100%, while their defensive commitment cannot be questioned.

But making 243 tackles isn’t a statistic Connacht will want to reproduce. It is evidence of a team spending far too much time without the ball.

Lancaster’s post-match analysis was particularly revealing.

Connacht’s mistakes didn’t simply surrender possession. Against a side with a powerful scrum, lineout and maul, those errors repeatedly handed the Stormers exactly the type of platform they wanted.

John Muldoon made much the same point this week, highlighting Connacht’s turnover count and how those mistakes allowed the Stormers to create scrums, field position and maul opportunities.

That is one of the clearest areas for improvement against Benetton: Connacht simply have to look after the ball better.

Connacht’s replacements entered a game in which the starting side had already absorbed an enormous defensive workload, so it would be far too simplistic to blame the defeat entirely on the bench.

But there is a legitimate question about whether the replacements changed the direction of the contest.

The key front-row changes were made around the 56-minute mark, almost immediately after the Stormers had moved back in front.

Yet the territorial pattern remained largely unchanged.

More significantly, the Stormers got tangible impact from their own replacements. Replacement prop Sazi Sandi scored their second try, Vernon Paulo added another late on and replacement scrum-half Ezekiel Ngobeni scored the bonus-point try with the final play.

This is where Connacht should look considerably stronger.

Five forwards who were involved with Ireland during the summer are in contention to make their first Connacht appearances of the season in Treviso.

Muldoon has indicated that some of the returning players could start and others could be used from the bench.

That potentially gives Lancaster a very different final 30-minute hand to play.

There is, however, an important qualification. The returning internationals are short of match minutes, so Connacht have to balance the quality they bring with their readiness to immediately play significant minutes.

That quote gets to the heart of why this shouldn’t be viewed as a routine opportunity for Connacht to put four points on the board.

Benetton’s international contingent gives them a level of quality that their league position last season doesn’t fully capture, particularly when they are close to full strength at home.

And Connacht’s recent record at Stadio Monigo offers another warning.

The recent pattern in this fixture has heavily favoured home advantage, making Friday a much more difficult assignment than simply comparing last season’s final standings.

Across the entire 2025/26 campaign, Connacht finished 21 league points ahead of Benetton.

They won four more matches, scored 115 more points and finished with a vastly superior points difference.

But there is another number from last season that matters much more to Lancaster this week.

Connacht lost seven of their opening nine URC matches last season and collected only 16 league points during that half of the campaign.

Then everything changed.

They collected 38 points from a possible 45 across their final nine regular-season games, winning eight of them and recovering sufficiently to finish eighth and qualify for the Champions Cup.

It is only Round 2. Nobody should be describing a game in early October as a must-win.

But Connacht’s upcoming schedule explains why there is considerably more value in getting points on the board now than spending another autumn playing catch-up.

If Connacht don’t win in Treviso and can’t produce a result in Glasgow, they then switch competitions for the Champions Cup meeting with Saracens.

That would leave Zebre at home on 23 October as their next URC fixture – and potentially their next major opportunity to put a league victory on the board.

Lancaster knows better than anyone how damaging that kind of slow start can be after spending the second half of last season trying to repair the first.

The early line has moved from Connacht +3 to +2.

There are legitimate reasons for Connacht supporters to be more optimistic than the 29-15 Stormers scoreline might suggest.

Connacht led 15-10 after 52 minutes, their lineout operated perfectly, Hansen made an encouraging return and the arrival of the Ireland contingent should produce a considerably stronger matchday 23.

But winning at Stadio Monigo remains a serious challenge.

Benetton will also be strengthened by returning internationals, Connacht haven’t won at the venue since 2022 and some of Lancaster’s own returning players have yet to play a minute of competitive club rugby this season.