image source, Characteristics of Rex
- author, Sophie Harcombe
- role, BBC Sport England
Italian scrum-half Stephen Varney hopes he can be a “good force” for Gloucester when they face Benetton in Saturday's European Challenge Cup semi-final.
Varney, 22, has won 29 caps for the Azzurri since making his international debut in 2020 and will face many of his Azzurri team-mates at Kingsholm.
The winner will face South Africa's Sharks or France's Clermont in the final on Friday, May 24 in London.
“I've been training with them for a long time during the year, so I know how they play and I know their individual skill sets, so I think that's going to be a good asset on the weekend.” Bernie told BBC Points West.
“They are a physical group, very well-trained and very good in attack. They have good backs, good individual threats and they play similar to Italy. do.”
Benetton supplied 20 players to Italy's Six Nations squad this year, including captain Michele Lamaro, and the team enjoyed their best campaign in the competition's history. Head coach Marco Bortolami is a former Cherry and Whites captain.
Gloucester have defeated Benetton in the last three times they have met in the Challenge Cup, most recently winning 54-25 in the group stage in December 2021.
“I think they're a different team now,” said Varney, who was born in Wales and qualified for Italy through his mother.
“Maybe they’ll be into me because I told them a little story during camp. [I’m] I’m really looking forward to playing against them, it should be a cracker.”
Gloucester have won the Challenge Cup twice, their last title coming in 2015.
However, they won the Premiership Rugby Cup earlier this season, ending a nine-year wait for a new trophy.
Director of Rugby George Skivington said Bernie could provide different insight to the club's analysis.
“Steve has an insight into emotion and how important it is and how strong Italian rugby is getting and how important it is for them to do well in European competitions. I think so,” Skivington said.
“Steve obviously understands that better than anyone else.”
“The most important game of the season”
Skivington believes Saturday is the “most important game of the season” as Gloucester look to continue their cup success after struggling in the Premiership.
He said the club's chances of reaching another final were “huge” and they needed to take advantage of home advantage.
“I’m just thrilled to be in the semi-finals at Kingsholm. We’ve worked hard to get this far and we’ve worked hard to get through at home so it’s just exciting from that perspective. ” he added.
However, Gloucester will be without Argentina full-back Santiago Carreras, who has undergone appendectomy.
