Rugby-Els haunts Bulls as Benetton claim Rainbow Cup final win

(Reuters) - Benetton hooker Corniel Els came back to haunt his former Bulls side as he scored one try and had a hand in another during a comprehensive 35-8 victory over the South Africans in the final of the Rainbow Cup in Treviso on Saturday.

The home side scored five tries to one as they overwhelmed the depleted Bulls, who were without their Springbok players preparing for the British & Irish Lions series that starts next month.

Els, who left the Bulls to join Benetton in January, scored one try from a botched line-out close to the visitors' line, and then forced a penalty try when he was tackled high as he went to dot the ball down.

Benetton also managed scores through wings Monty Ioane and Edoardo Padovani and flanker Michele Lamaro as they led 20-8 at the break.

They pounced on numerous unforced errors from the visitors, who battled to gain any ascendancy against their fired-up opponents and scored a solitary try via wing Madosh Tambwe.

The match was the last in charge for Benetton coach Kieran Crowley, who will now take the reins of Italy's national team.

The Rainbow Cup featured teams from South Africa, Italy, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

It is the forerunner to the newly-unveiled 16-team United Rugby Championship, which is a rebranding of the PRO14 that will kick-off in September.

(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)