**Benetton have endured something of an up and down season in a hugely competitive Conference B but still found themselves well in the Guinness PRO14 Final Series hunt when the campaign was suspended.** A number of standout stars have emerged for the Italian side as they look to be built for future success with a team that can grow together. Experienced heads litter the side from Treviso and they combine effectively with a slew of talented young stars, like Niccolò Cannone. The towering lock should be a mainstay for club and country over the next decade, so it’s time to learn a little more about the 21-year-old with five things you might not have known about him. **Breaking the system** Italian rugby generally likes to ‘slow cook’ their players, with an established pathway from junior rugby, to domestic rugby to the Guinness PRO14 and then to the international level for those good enough. This often takes a few years but such is Cannone’s talent that the marauding second-rower has been fast-tracked through the set-up. He was still a teenager when appearing for Petrarca Padova Rugby in the top Italian domestic league, before making his Benetton debut aged just 20 against Ulster in November 2018. In fact, Cannone is technically still a Petrarca player and is only a permit player for Benetton but that didn’t stop him winning his first cap for Italy during this year’s Guinness Six Nations – against Wales at Principality Stadium – as a mere 21-year-old. That was no mean feat, with only 11 players appearing for the Azzurri aged 21 or younger since 2014.
