Connacht should have enough to topple much-changed Treviso

As the dust continues to settle from last weekend’s home draw with Cardiff, the focus within the Connacht camp is now very much on this Friday’s trip to eastern Italy for a clash with Benetton Treviso at the Strada Di Nascimben (7pm Irish time).

The Pro12 season is a long slog from September to May and the hunt for a top six spot and European qualification has a lot of twists and turns ahead, but three points slipped away at the weekend as the westerners went from searching for a bonus point fourth try to letting a 14 point lead slip in 12 minutes against the wily visitors from the Welsh capital.

A great antidote for healing such wounds is another game within a week, as the team will have had little time to dwell on the missed opportunities. Pat Lam’s side will be targeting another four points this weekend against a Treviso side that are a pale shadow of the team which won 10 games two seasons ago and seemed on the cusp of a real breakthrough.

The turnover of players in the Treviso camp has been remarkable during the off-season. No less than 19 players left with 21 players coming in as the club came to terms with a different financial climate and a mass reduction in their budgets.

Key men have left such as Robert Barbieri (Leicester), Matthew Berquist (Hawkes Bay) Tobias Botes (Southern Kings), Lorenzo Cittadini (Wasps), Albert D Marchi (Sale) Leonardo Ghiraldini (Leicester), Luke McClearn (Sale) and Manoa Vosawai (Cardiff).

It is hard to fathom how they can recover from such an exodus of key frontline talent and the start to the season has reflected as much as they’ve lost all five games by an average margin of 25 points per game, scoring six tries and conceding a jaw-dropping 24.

The population of Treviso is roughly similar to Galway and minority sports are prominent with basketball also hugely popular. It is very much a rugby stronghold in Italy and unlike Parma where Zebre (the country’s other professional franchise) are based, the people of the region have embraced professional rugby from day one.

However, right now crowds are low as this hastily-assembled and very much depleted squad attempts to find some sort of level footing to kick start what should be a difficult rebuilding phase. They have fallen well behind Zebre in the pecking order which leaves them a long way further adrift of the main pack.

The problem for Connacht is that this is round six and the signs of improvement are now emanating from home team. The league leaders Glasgow discovered this last weekend leading only 19-16 at the break before eventually pulling clear after half time for a 41-23 win. Outside centre Michael Campagnaro, who has nine caps for Italy, scored two tries, Australian full back Jayden Hayward was accurate with the boot.

The other strengths for Treviso hail in the pack where 20-cap Italian David Giazzon will be strong at hooker; lock Antonio Pavanello will disrupt the Connacht lineout; and 26 year old Italian international flanker Simon Favaro will be a key man in the back row. Scrum half Edoardo Gori has 34 caps for Italy and marshals the troops well.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.