Former Sharks and Cheetahs playmaker Rhyno Smith says Italian teams Benetton and Zebre are determined to shed their underdogs tag in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
Benetton Treviso opened their URC account in round one with a 33-11 win over Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors and it isn’t surprising that the Italian side are now eyeing a bigger scalp this weekend at the RDS Stadium in Dublin when they face Leinster in round two.
Leinster were almost shocked by the other Italian club Zebre, eventually winning 33-29 after a late fightback by the Italians, underlining the progress the Italian teams have made in the off-season as they try to be more competitive.
Smith makes it clear, Benetton are no longer the whipping boys of the competition, they are here to play.
“It’s better to start with a win than a loss, it’s as simple as that. But then again you have to bear in mind that championships aren’t won in the first week,” Smith said on the opening performance.
“You just have to keep in mind that it was only one game – nice to win and put in such a dominant performance against a team that likes to hold the ball. We showed our defence took a step up, a big step up from last year.
“We are very happy with that but we are aware of getting aware of ourselves in terms of what it means in the greater scheme of things.”
The biggest change that came with shocking the Vodacom Bulls in the Rainbow Cup two years ago was that Benetton stopped seeing themselves as making up the numbers in the competition and with the help of some system changes, now want to shed their “imposter syndrome”.
“I think we’ve stopped viewing ourselves as visitors. My wife and I have been talking recently about imposter syndrome and I think Benetton is slowly getting rid of that imposter syndrome where they view themselves as visitors, or less than capable when they play against some of the teams.
“I think the amount of times we arrive at the game and we are there to take part is definitely less and less – I have friends who have been here for a long time, I’ve only been here for one year but I see it more and more when we arrive for games against high-calibre international opposition, with lots of internationals.
“Our boys are ready to win, our boys are ready to fight. We are not there anymore to just take part. It is a process, it doesn’t happen overnight. Winning one game doesn’t change that significantly in itself. Benetton are here to compete, not to take part anymore. Hopefully, we will be proving that week in and out.”
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
