Benetton Rugby vs Leinster Rugby Preview
The URC continues as Leinster makes the journey to Italy to face Benetton Treviso at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo. Kick-off is at 5:15 pm on Saturday the 5th of October.
Benetton are two games into the new URC season and remain winless. They started with a 20-20 draw to the Scarlets on week one, a result they salvaged at the death. The Italians followed this up with a 42-10 defeat in Glasgow on the road.
The Irish side will want to maintain their unbeaten start to the season with a convincing away day display. The hosts know a result against Leinster would be the shock of the season so far.
Benetton Rugby vs Leinster Rugby Predictions
Match Prediction: Leinster 52-13 Benetton
Leinster is the current frontrunner and after a quick trip to Italy, we can’t imagine the Irish giants dropping any points. Our rugby prediction for this match is for Leinster to rest key personnel and still walk away winners with a final score of 52-13.
Leinster’s previous match against the Dragons was far closer than the scoreline indicates, at least for the first half. It took them over an hour to get going and head coach Leo Cullen changed seven players to secure a bonus point try. In the end, it was comfortable as the Dragons failed to score in the second half, but if they start slowly on Saturday, they won’t have the home crowd to carry them through.
Looking at Benetton’s last game, they lack the headspace to take advantage of a slow-starting Leinster. Saying the Italians have a discipline issue is an understatement as multiple players made horrific decisions throughout the game. Scot Scrafton received a straight red for a cynical block. Paolo Odogwu went to the sin bin for tackling a player in the air and Eli Snyman held up a player after a tap-and-go. That means Benetton went down to 12 in the last match.
We anticipate a high-scoring game of rugby even though Leinster is on the road. They have the quality and depth to punish a poor Italian outfit. If Benetton shows the same silly mistakes from last week, they could be in danger of a real humiliation. We are early in the season and teams are struggling to find form, but if you give this Leinster side a break, they will punish you. That is exactly what will happen on Saturday. It is not a case of who will win, but by how much.
Betting on rugby matches is always exciting, but this one will be difficult. That is because it seems obvious Leinster will win, so you will have to look at different markets to secure better returns. We recommend waiting until the head coaches reveal their starting 15 players to avoid poor bets. That is because there is no way of knowing whether they will rest Gibson-Park and Pendergast again ahead of the Munster clash in two weeks. We predict whichever scrum-half starts the match will score a try this weekend, which could be a profitable live bet on the day.
Benetton Rugby vs Leinster Rugby Betting Tips
Betting on the URC is a lot of fun at Novibet because we offer all players a variety of markets. Remember, we are very early in the season and each club has a long way to go.
Match Result
Unsurprisingly, backing Leinster (2/13) to win the match has the lowest returns at our online sports betting site. A straightforward €10 stake will return €1.50 in profit if the visitors secure a result. Betting on the home side to win is significantly more rewarding as Benetton has odds worth 9/2. Placing the same value bet on the Italians will return €55.
At 30/1, a draw is extremely unlikely. Even choosing the Draw No Bet market has little effect on your returns. Benetton at 9/2 is the same as the three-way option. Plus, betting on Leinster at 2/15 means you only stand to lose 20 cents from a successful wager.
Handicap
The handicap offers fantastic returns this week for anyone backing a whitewash against the Italians. Leinster -24.5 is 4/1 at Novibet. That means, if Leinster wins by 25 points or more, you can win four times your stake. You can still secure good returns if you choose a different handicap, such as Leinster -18.5 (19/10) or -12.5 at (22/25).
https://twitter.com/leinsterrugby/status/1840740134372712948
Betting on Benetton for the handicap market is also a good move if you think it will be a closer game than our prediction suggests. If you chose Benetton Treviso +12.5 (17/20) then all the Italians must do is finish within 12 points of Leinster for your bet to win. If the home side wins by any margin, your bet is also a winner. This wager would give you €8.50 in profit from a ten-euro stake.
Winning Margin
If choosing the handicap market feels like a step too far, you can increase your chances of winning by choosing the winning margin. Betting on Leinster to win by 15 points or more (9/10) will give you €9 profit from a €10 wager. It is a more forgiving option, as a 25-point margin does not occur every week in the URC.
You can increase your returns if you think it will be a tighter game. Choosing Leinster to win by 8 to 14 has odds worth 12/5. That would give you €34 from the same value stake. These markets are available now, but you can also wait until the game starts before deciding. You can place live bets on the final score throughout the game.
Benetton Rugby vs Leinster Rugby Key Stats and Head-To-Head
While our comments about Benetton Treviso have been a little harsh until this point, the statistics back up our assumptions. Since 2022, Leinster has faced off three times against Benetton, all in the United Rugby Championship. The last time the Italians hosted the Irish side, they lost 17-61.
Since then, the next two fixtures were in Ireland, and they finished with almost 30 points between the teams on both occasions. Looking at the most recent meeting in greater detail, it ended up as a whitewash. Last season, Benetton was a fantastic performer across the URC. They finished seventh in the league table picking up 11 wins across the campaign. However, they fell short of Leinster when the sides met on February 17th, 2024.
With less than two minutes of the clock, Benetton found an overload down the right-hand side. Ignacio Mendy skipped past the last man and marked a fast start for the visitors. Leinster responded with three tries before the Italians could muster a reply. The first half finished 21-18, and both sides looked dangerous with the ball in hand.
Unfortunately, it was all one-way traffic in the second half. All the promises from Benetton quickly faded away as Leinster scored three minutes into the restart. It took some time before they scored the fifth try, but it seemed game over after that. In the end, Leinster scored two more times and a late yellow card to Benetton had no impact on the scoreline. It finished 47-18 and it could have been worse.
This result is hard for Italian rugby fans to swallow. Benetton played some fantastic rugby last season, and they showed real backbone in the first half. However, to get a result against a team like Leinster is incredibly difficult, especially after a slow start to the campaign.
This time around, they will have the support of the home fans, which will help in the early exchanges. But, the most likely result is a Leinster win. If we were betting on the URC, we would back at least 15 points between the teams at full-time.
Benetton Rugby Team News
Last game was a complete disaster for Benetton. Not only did Scrafton pick up a straight red card, but Onisi Ratave left the game after 13 minutes. Paolo Odogwu stepped in to replace the injured Ratave, but he received a yellow card later in the game as well.
Manager Marco Bortolami will want to stop the poor performances by the Italian outfit, but this does not look like the week to do so. Expect to see some changes as they must find a better setup to avoid back-to-back humiliations.
Leinster Rugby Team News
Cian Healy broke the all-time Leinster Rugby appearance record last week, and he might get another appearance this weekend. Tommy O’Brien missed the last game because of an injury, whereas Michael Milne was fit enough to make the bench.
RG Snyman has stepped up his rehab and might make the team sheet later in the week. However, head coach Leo Cullen has ruled out Paddy McCarthy, John McKee, Jack Boyle, and Dan Sheehan this Saturday.
