Ciaran Frawley scores twice on Connacht debut to seal 22-19 win over Benetton
Debutant Ciaran Frawley scored twice — the second a 77th-minute winner — as Connacht beat Benetton 22-19 in Treviso to bank their first United Rugby Championship win of the season.
The Ireland international, starting at out-half, crossed in each half of a match so loose that five tries arrived before the interval. It made for a debut the player is unlikely to forget in a hurry, and one that gave his new province the spark their season was waiting on.
Cian Prendergast put Connacht ahead after five minutes, latching onto a quick Sean Jansen pass out of a ruck for his first try of the season on his first start. Benetton answered almost immediately through front-rower Bautista Bernasconi from a maul, before Sean O'Brien finished a well-worked move 17 minutes in after smart build-up play from Francois van Wyk and Frawley.
After that head-spinning opening quarter the contest tightened into a physical arm-wrestle, with the Benetton forwards asking serious questions and the Connacht scrum holding up far better than it had in the first-round loss to the Stormers. It reignited just before the break, when Leonardo Marin and Frawley traded converted tries to leave the visitors 17-12 ahead at half-time.
Decided on the left wing
Bernasconi powered over for his second early in the second half after more relentless Italian forward pressure, nudging Benetton back in front. Then came the decisive moment: in the 77th minute Frawley found space down the left wing and crossed for the score that sealed both the result and the four-try bonus point.
The margins were tight throughout. Benetton's points came from tries by Bernasconi (two) and Marin, with Jacob Umaga landing two conversions, while a single Gilbert conversion and four Connacht tries — two of them Frawley's — proved just enough.
The late strike hands Wayne Pivac's side lift-off after their opening-weekend defeat, with the two-try debut from the new signing the headline from a match that never went quiet.