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Here we go again. The URC is on the doorstep, Benetton open their season against the Dragons, and one question has been doing the rounds in Treviso for weeks: is this squad weaker than last year’s? I’ve been through the roster from the first name to the last, departures and arrivals, and my answer is yes. Slightly. But it isn’t a death sentence, and here’s why.
From MacRae to Pivac: a new idea of rugby
Start with the bench. Calum MacRae leaves Treviso with what I’d call mixed memories: a league season that never quite clicked, but a clear call to go after the Challenge Cup and a run that went all the way to the tie with Exeter, one that ended with a few refereeing arguments. In terms of style, MacRae tried to push Marco Bortolami’s work towards a looser, more continuous game built on offloads and on breaking defences through the middle. Less pragmatic, yes. Sometimes less effective, too.
Now comes Wayne Pivac, and the CV speaks for itself: the Pro12 title with the Scarlets, the 2021 Six Nations with Wales. His rugby has a very precise structure: the ball goes wide a lot, forwards in the pods move it quickly between them to create friction, and the kicking game always has a purpose rather than just buying breathing space. We already saw a glimpse of it in the friendly against the Black Lion, with Seb Negri stationed in the wide five-metre channel.
The staff is partly unchanged: Dewald Senekal stays on the lineout, Pete Wilkins moves to defence, and the new face is Rhys Patchell, the former Wales fly-half brought in by Pivac to run the attack. An attack that showed some interesting things in pre-season.
Who has left: a heavy loss of weight and experience
This is where it hurts. Everyone thinks first of Tommaso Menoncello, now at Toulouse. But don’t overlook Tomás Gallo: the Pumas loosehead has gone to Lyon, and we’re talking about one of the best props in the world. Treviso have cover there, but it’s still a big absence.
Then there are the retirements of Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Scott Scrafton, two players whose weight was not just in kilos but in presence and experience in the dressing room. Eli Snyman, another important figure in the group, has gone too. And so has Malakai Fekitoa: I haven’t always been kind about him over the years, but he played well at the end of his time in Treviso.
The problem is the sum. Add Ignacio Brex, who left the year before, and Tomás Albornoz, who moved to Toulon midway through last season, and Benetton go from a 10-12-13 axis with Albornoz at fly-half and Brex, Menoncello and Fekitoa as midfield options to a unit that is entirely unknown. If that means Leonardo Marin takes centre stage, great. But we can’t expect it all to click in year one.
Who has arrived
There are seven new signings, listed here by expected impact:
- Isaia Walker-Leawere, New Zealand lock and Super Rugby Pacific champion with the Hurricanes: the headline signing, but he picked up a muscle problem straight away and we’ll have to wait for him.
- Josh Flook, Australian centre from the Queensland Reds: also sidelined at the start of the season.
- François Mey, a full-back who can also play centre, as we saw in pre-season.
- Jean Smith, fly-half, an alternative to Jacob Umaga.
- Louis Werchon, scrum-half, back in Treviso: a good idea.
- Gonzalo Hughes and Matías Medrano, Argentine props, to add depth up front.
Plus a long list of permit players. Not the luckiest recruitment drive, either: two of the most anticipated signings start the season in the treatment room.
Out wide: more questions than answers
If the pack is the certainty (more on that in the piece on the forwards), the backline is the building site. At scrum-half there’s plenty of cover, with five names. At fly-half, though, let’s be honest: there is no player of Albornoz’s level. Umaga could end up carrying almost the whole season: a fine distributor, accurate off the tee and with the odd creative flash, but not a line-breaker. And in midfield, having lost Brex, Menoncello and Fekitoa in two years, it’s a restart with Marin, Tomás Medina, Filippo Drago, Federico Zanandrea, Paolo Odogwu and Flook once he’s fit.
On the wings the base is solid, with Onisi Ratave, Ignacio Mendy and Louis Lynagh, who also has a World Cup spot to chase. Among the permits is David Luisato, who did great things with Italy U20: we haven’t seen him in pre-season and I hope we do soon. At full-back, alongside Mey, there’s Rhyno Smith, for whom there were even whispers of an Italian naturalisation (in my view he’d deserve at least one Test), and Matt Gallagher, a player who swings between upper-average and lower-average. Let’s see if this is the year we find a different Gallagher.
Are Benetton weaker in 2026-27 than last season?
Yes, slightly. The departures of Gallo, Menoncello, Fekitoa, Scrafton, Snyman and Tetaz Chaparro weigh heavily, and neither Walker-Leawere nor Jean Smith nor Flook can make up for them on their own. But it’s a dip within a process: this team needs backing, and the real question is what Pivac can build.
Even the best chef doesn’t always turn out Michelin-star dishes, though. Pivac served up spectacular stuff with the Scarlets and, with a bit of luck, a title with Wales, but he then struggled with Wales. Who wouldn’t have, you’ll say. Exactly: it’s all still to be tested.
What I expect: calm, patience and a few highs
Treviso need calm. Bortolami’s last years were not lived calmly, between outside pressure and internal competition, and the handover to MacRae wasn’t as smooth as hoped. What’s needed is continuity and the time to build patiently. So this year, let’s give them that patience as fans too.
We shouldn’t picture a Benetton cruising into the play-offs or a Challenge Cup final. I see a mid-table side capable of surprising, and in my view it’s more likely to surprise on the upside. There are always a few highs: just think of the 29-26 win over Leinster in the final home league game at Monigo last April.
I can see Benetton having an average season with a few positive peaks.
Maybe I’ll have to eat my words. But a disastrous season? I don’t see it this year.
Read also: Benetton’s strength is up front: Pivac’s forward pack, unit by unit
Read also: Benetton: Pivac’s pecking order — five scrum-halves and an open duel at fly-half
Read also: Benetton’s number 9 has five candidates for the shirt
What kind of Benetton are you expecting? Tell me in the comments under the video on the DanPat Rugby YouTube channel. I’ve probably forgotten someone: remind me.
Danilo — DanPat Rugby