The Italian region named a strong experienced line-up and would come into the match lying in fourth position in the URC, unbeaten on their own patch.
In contrast Booth’s experimental youthful selection showcased what the future has to offer for the Welsh region with several home-grown youngsters featuring from the start. A selection based with one eye on the region’s opening EPCR Challenge Cup fixture against the same opposition next weekend in South Wales.
The Ospreys in large parts defended resolutely against their rivals in a physical opening period which disappointingly saw a premature end to Dan Edwards full debut. The fly-half was forced off the field with an injury midway through the first-half following a heavy challenge from former All Black Malakai Fekitoa.
In a close-fought contest, the home side held a minimal lead of 7-3 at the break through hooker Bautista Bernasconi’s solitary try.
The shell-shocked Italians would not be expecting what came next as the Ospreys came flying out of the traps with first Max Nagy bursting to score an excellent solo effort, before scrum-half Luke Davies squeezed in the corner following a chipped pass.
Nagy sadly departed with what looked like a nasty ankle injury as late pressure would start to tell from the home side.
Firstly, the boot of Jacob Umaga would level the scoreline punishing a brace of missed conversations from the returning Owen Williams, then in heartbreaking fashion replacement full-back Giacomo Da Re would sprint free into the corner late on to seal the victory for the Italians.
“I’m really proud. I think the boys were brilliant in terms of the effort, commitment and accuracy that they showed,” said Booth.
“We had them rattled. For a young group to be in that situation we talked about how to prepare for a game away from home.
“I thought we started the game very well and had large areas of control. We fought tooth and nail to score just after half-time.
“You saw a team that was engaged with a clear plan, then we lost because of a few key moments. If that had continued who knows.
“The way they [Benetton] celebrated shows how difficult a day they have had.
“We’re obviously bitterly disappointed, we’re not going to accept losing but we got a huge number of things to be proud of. That will bode well for a lot of players there for the future.
“We will freshen up someone of those boys [next week for the home EPCR Challenge Cup fixture against Benetton]. We have also lost Max Nagy to a bad injury which is disappointing, so there will be change.
“We’ll assess where we are, but everyone knows we enjoy Europe. We did last year in beating the French and English champions. We had a good time in a different competition.
“This match is first up and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
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