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Here we go, and it starts at Monigo. On Friday 25 September at 20:45, Benetton open the 2026-27 United Rugby Championship against the Dragons: the first game with points on the table of the Wayne Pivac era, after two friendlies that left good feelings and plenty of questions. In the latest episode of Divagazioni di Rugby, Danilo and Cristian Lovisetto (Anonima Piloni) sized up the fixture: the opposition, the history, the team sheet and the unit that worries Treviso most.
Who are Filo Tiatia’s Dragons?
For years the Dragons were the least-equipped of the Welsh regions. According to Lovisetto, that label no longer fits: since Filo Tiatia, the former Samoa international now in his second season at Newport, took charge, the side has grown. Last season’s run backs it up, ending in a Challenge Cup semi-final lost to eventual champions Montpellier. In the URC, though, it was another 15th-place finish, with three wins and four draws.
The market took and gave. Aaron Wainwright, the Wales back-rower, has left for Leicester Tigers, and Ewan Rosser has gone too, the wing who tried more than once to stop Onisi Ratave in the Challenge Cup, with little luck. In come Samoan Ere Enari from the Hurricanes, Terrell Peita from the Blues and wing Anzelo Tuitavuki from Pro D2 side Colomiers, who makes his debut on Friday. Not big names, but solid ones: for Lovisetto, Tiatia knows exactly where to go shopping, a bit like Kieran Crowley when he first arrived in Treviso.
The friendlies tell us little: 81-12 against Hartpury and 80-14 against the Scarlets. Scores to be taken with a pinch of salt.
The history: 74-21 and a draw in Newport
The two sides met twice last season, in two games that could not have been more different. On 10 January, in the Challenge Cup, Benetton ran riot, winning 74-21 with eleven tries. On 28 February, in the URC at Rodney Parade, it finished 15-15: two tries for Ratave and one for Gallagher, three missed conversions from Umaga, and a Dragons equaliser from Fine Inisi after the clock had gone red, with the winning conversion sailing wide.
And there is one precedent some in Treviso will remember out of superstition: on 21 September 2024, a home opener under the lights against a Welsh side that looked like a formality ended 20-20 against the Scarlets. Welsh teams, Lovisetto reminds us, never die.
What team has Pivac picked for the Dragons?
Pivac has named a XV with two debutants and Sebastian Negri as captain. Up front Medrano (debut), Bernasconi and Ferrari; Midena and Ruzza in the second row; Marini, Zuliani and Negri in the back row. Uren and Umaga at half-back, Odogwu and Mey (debut) in the centres, with Ratave, Mendy and Gallagher in the back three.
Three possible debuts on the bench: Gritti, Miranda and Jean Smith. Missing, among others, are Fa’aso’o, Hughes, Izekor, Medina, Rhyno Smith, Spagnolo, Walker-Leawere and Zilocchi. In the studio the expectation was a gradual management of the internationals: the strongest line-up, according to Lovisetto, will be seen in two or three weeks.
The centre conundrum
This is the most debated unit. Over the summer Benetton lost Brex, Menoncello and Fekitoa, and now have none of the three. Walker-Leawere is sidelined and, as far as DanPat understands, should return around round three or four. In the studio, the François Mey seen in the friendlies went down well, above all in defence but also for a couple of line breaks, while Tomas Medina looked like “a real bull” in defence.
For Danilo, though, the key is elsewhere: someone has to run that unit, and the only one who can is Leonardo Marin, with an eye on the Italy shirt too.
Marin has to take the helm of the centres.
Both, finally, would not rule out the club going back to the market for a quality centre if the injury crisis drags on.
Favourites, but watch the discipline
Lovisetto no longer makes predictions, and Danilo sticks to the odds: Treviso start as favourites. Against Black Lion, Benetton showed signs of a new game, but it remains to be seen how much that performance owed to the level of the opposition. On Friday the points are real, the game is at home, and the dynamics change: discipline will be vital, because the Dragons give nothing away until the final second. February’s 15-15 proves it.
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How will Benetton’s opener go? Tell us in the comments under the episode on the DanPat Rugby YouTube channel, and subscribe so you don’t miss Divagazioni di Rugby.
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