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Narrative voice: 1st person (Danilo). Auto-generated YouTube captions, names verified via OnRugby/Benetton Rugby/RugbyPass/PlanetRugby. Featured image: YouTube maxresdefault thumbnail (to set). Cross-link to the other 2 pieces from this video to be added after creation. Polylang translation of IT post 903.
A lot of you have asked me the same question this week: who’s going to be Benetton’s starting scrum-half this season? Let me answer straight away, because it’s really not obvious.
Five names for one shirt
Today in Tbilisi it was Andy Uren starting, but both Louis Werchon and Cristiano Tizzano came off the bench. And that’s not all: there’s obviously also Alessandro Garbisi, who in a World Cup year absolutely needs to be brought to peak condition for those dates. And then there’s young Mattia Andretti, carving out space among the senior squad. Five options for one jersey: tell me in the comments which one you rate most.
At fly-half, Jacob Umaga was a bit off with his kicking today – a detail that matters, because the boot is one of his main weapons and he needs confidence there early in the season.
The centres: a department being rebuilt from scratch
Behind the half-backs, things get even more interesting. Over two years Benetton have lost both Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello, on top of Malakai Fekitoa: three centres gone, a department that basically needs rebuilding. Today Francois Mey delivered with an opportunistic try off a restart, and Filippo Drago, off the bench, did the same off a kick charged down by Federico Zanandrea. Tomas Medina made a couple of early errors but that’s fine, we’re still in pre-season mode; Onisi Ratave produced the best individual moment of the match with a break stopped only by a desperate cover tackle, though it seemed to cost him some sharpness late on.
Has Benetton really lost all of their starting centres?
Yes: Ignacio Brex moved to Toulon back in 2025, while Tommaso Menoncello and Malakai Fekitoa left Treviso in summer 2026 (for Toulouse and Beziers respectively). Benetton’s centre department for the 2026-27 season is therefore being almost entirely rebuilt.
At full-back, Matt Gallagher put in a solid enough shift, with Rhyno Smith ready to come back into the mix when the time comes: another option for Pivac.
Benetton actually have five options at scrum-half. Tell me in the comments which one you like best.
Read also: Benetton beat Black Lion 36-14: the scrum makes the difference | Seb Negri comeback: 70 devastating minutes
Danilo — DanPat Rugby
– Werchon, Tizzano and Andretti all confirmed as scrum-halves (Benetton Rugby/OnRugby, July 2026).
– Alessandro Garbisi confirmed as Benetton and Italy scrum-half, capped in the 2026 Six Nations – source OnRugby/Federugby.
– Centre departures confirmed: Ignacio Brex to Toulon (2025, source OnRugby/TrevisoToday); Tommaso Menoncello to Toulouse and Malakai Fekitoa to Beziers (summer 2026, source PlanetRugby/OnRugby).
– Mey’s (39′) and Drago’s (49′) tries confirmed by the official OnRugby match report.
– Rhyno Smith, Benetton’s South African full-back, confirmed on the roster (All.Rugby/Wikipedia).
– Flagged, not changed: the video’s description of Ratave’s play as an “interception” does not match the official match report, which describes a line break stopped by a Tabutsadze tackle – the body uses the more careful term “break”.