Benetton behind rise of Italian rugby, says Jean de Villiers

Springbok legend Jean de Villiers believes it is no coincidence that the rise in Benetton Rugby’s performances in the United Rugby Championship (URC) should lead to Italy almost shocking France in the Six Nations last weekend. 

“That wasn’t just a bit of luck. We’ve seen in the URC that Benetton’s rise and being in the top four for a couple of months now is reaping the rewards,” De Villiers said of Italy’s thrilling 13-13 draw with France on Sunday. 

“To be able to be successful and to sustain that success you need a proper pipeline of players coming through. Benetton’s performance in the URC has established that they are certainly no pushover and can compete with the best.

“You can see the effect now of them being competitive week-in and week-out as the Italian national team pushed a French team that a couple of months ago were favourites to win the Rugby World Cup.” 

Reflecting on the weekend’s Six Nations action, De Villiers said Duhan van der Merwe’s outstanding performance in Scotland’s victory over England is another powerful message of how SA-born players have in the professional era — and even more so now with the dawn of the URC — embraced the greater opportunities in the game.

“We’ve seen in the professional era where players have made decisions to have the best career possible. The opportunity is there for South Africans to play in an international competition and gain so much more exposure that could even open up potential Test opportunities for them in other countries.

“It also remains a positive for a Springbok team that is open to international selection as well, such as was the case with Jean Kleyn, who added great value at the Rugby World Cup. More opportunities for our players is a great positive for the game.”