Connacht Falter As Zebre Swoop In For Famous Win

Connacht’s Champions Cup qualification ambitions were dealt another blow after they were beaten 25-22 by the GUINNESS PRO12’s bottom side Zebre in today’s rescheduled fixture at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.

It was a first ever victory for Zebre over the province and the Italian club ran out deserving winners, halting Connacht’s recent run of good from that had seen them win four of their last five matches.

Coming on the back of last weekend’s defeat in Glasgow, it has been a frustrating few days for Pat Lam’s men who are seventh in the PRO12 table – 11 points behind the sixth-placed Warriors and a full 20 behind provincial rivals Ulster.

With four rounds remaining, they are still on course to reach the Champions Cup qualification play-offs which will include the seventh ranked club in the Aviva Premiership, the seventh-ranked club from the Top 14 and the eighth and ninth-ranked PRO12 teams (most likely the seventh and eighth-placed sides which are currently Connacht and Cardiff Blues).

The play-offs will work as follows:

May 19-21 – Play-Off 1: Aviva Premiership (seventh-ranked team) (home advantage) v GUINNESS PRO12 (ninth-ranked team); Play-Off 2: Top 14 (seventh-ranked team) (home advantage) v GUINNESS PRO12 (eighth-ranked team)

May 26-28 – Play-Off Final: The winners of Play-Off 1 will have home advantage against the Play-Off 2 winners

On a warm day in Parma, captain John Muldoon won the coin toss and chose for Connacht to play with the sun at their backs in the opening half. That tactic paid immediate dividends as they ran the ball from their own 22 in the opening minute with full-back Josh Rowland, making his first start, broke the defensive line and offloaded for winger Stacey Ili to score the first try.

Ulster-bound scrum half John Cooney missed the tricky conversion and Zebre were soon off the mark thanks to a Carlo Canna penalty with seven minutes on the clock

The injured Ili was forced off on the quarter hour with replacement Craig Ronaldson making an immediate impact as he combined with Danie Poolman to cross the whitewash with his very first touch. Cooney’s conversion was good and Connacht’s bright start had them leading 12-3.

A third try very nearly followed moments later as Connacht went for the corner off a penalty with experienced second row Andrew Browne held up over the line.

A Connacht knock-on and subsequent high tackle allowed Zebre relieve the pressure and they took advantage of more indiscipline to kick themselves deep into Connacht territory. The Italians then mauled their way over the line with flanker Derick Minnie credited with the 24th minute try and Canna added the conversion.

A second Canna three-pointer after a scrum penalty gave Zebre the lead for the first time and despite massive Connacht pressure before the break, the hosts defended manfully to maintain their 15-10 lead.

The wind was really in Zebre sails when they touched down within a minute of the restart. Winger Kayle van Zyl did superbly well to field a high kick and it was centre Tommaso Boni who eventually touched down in the left corner.

Canna missed the conversion and Connacht responded immediately as Cooney knocked over his one and only penalty of the afternoon, cutting the gap to 18-15 with little over 30 minutes remaining.

Lam’s charges looked primed to snatch the win when Zebre gave away a number of penalties and try scorer Minnie was sin-binned as a result. However, Victor Jimenez’s hard-working home side, who had a man-of-the-match performance from number 8 Federico Ruzza, struck the killer blow in the 66th minute.

They stole a Connacht lineout deep in their own half and stunned the westerners with a length-of-the-field try finished off by replacement Edoardo Padovani. Marcello Violi’s conversion was good and Connacht were suddenly 25-15 in arrears.

Zebre went down to 14 men again when replacement Matteo Pratichetti was yellow carded in the 73rd minute as Connacht threw everything at the hosts. The visitors were finally rewarded when Rowland scored his first Connacht try in the corner with two minutes remaining and Ronaldson converted brilliantly from the touchline. It was too little, too late however, as the Italians held on for a deserved three-point triumph.

The result sparked joyous celebrations on the pitch and in the stands as Zebre claimed the scalp of Connacht at the 16th time of asking. The original match on September 17 was abandoned at half-time by referee Ian Davies due to thunderstorms, with Connacht trailing 22-10 at that stage.