Zebre won for the first time ever on Irish soil as Michael Bradley masterminded a 19-11 GUINNESS PRO14 victory over his former side Connacht at the Sportsground.
The Italians had lost on all 24 previous visits to Irish provinces in all competitions – including eight in Galway – but they deservedly won this Conference A duel, completing a season’s double over the error-prone westerners in the process.
Connacht trailed 7-6 at half-time, Craig Ronaldson’s second successful penalty closing the gap after Zebre number 8 Renato Giammarioli had gobbled up an 18th minute try.
Having been denied an earlier score due to a forward pass, Gabriele di Giulio touched down in the 46th minute, and with Connacht putting in their worst performance for some time, Andrea di Marchi’s 64th-minute try from a charge-down sealed the province’s fate.
Kieran Keane’s men were let down by a malfunctioning lineout time and again – they lost eight of their own throws – and Darragh Leader’s 72nd-minute try, with Ronaldson missing the conversion, mattered little in the end, despite Zebre ending the game with Maxime Mbanda and Rory Parata in the sin-bin.
A lengthy injury stoppage saw Zebre’s former Connacht full-back Ciaran Gaffney stretchered off just six minutes in. When the westerners settled down, they blew a maul opportunity in Zebre’s 22 and Tom McCartney’s second lineout throw was then stolen.
Tom Farrell knocked on after Zebre, who were 33-5 losers at Munster last Saturday, had managed to defend a third Connacht maul effort, and while a central penalty from Ronaldson opened the scoring, the visitors soon nipped in front.
Winger di Giulio sliced through on an angled run, via Serafin Bordoli’s inviting inside pass, and Giammarioili was up in support to finish off to the left of the posts. Canna converted for a 7-3 scoreline.
Zebre’s zippy defence continued to force mistakes from their opponents, and some excellent build-up play almost netted the visitors a second try by the half hour mark – but Canna’s initial pass was adjudged forward by TMO Andrew McMenemy.
Caolin Blade was Connacht’s bright spark with ball in hand and his half-back partner Ronaldson, having missed a long-range penalty, was back on target with the last kick of the opening half.
Zebre were beginning to leak more penalties, particularly in the scrum where tighthead Finlay Bealham impressed on his 100th appearance for Connacht. However, it was Michael Bradley’s charges who struck first on the restart.
Following up on Giulio Bisegni’s initial break from deep, Zebre threatened from a maul before the influential Bordoli handed off Matt Healy and passed for di Giulio to dive over in the right corner.
Canna was unable to convert, and Connacht’s woeful night was summed up when Healy’s lightning 50th-minute break ended in a frustrating knock-on. Entering the final quarter, captain George Biagi, a key figure up front for Zebre and the eventual man-of-the-match, blocked Kieran Marmion’s attempted box-kick and fed replacement prop di Marchi to cover the final metres to the try-line.
Even when Connacht had a glimmer of hope with full-back Leader crossing via passes from Marmion and Pita Ahki, Ronaldson missed the left-sided conversion on the near side. Former Connacht player Parata joined Mbanda in the bin in the dying seconds, but another missed lineout from Connacht left them empty-handed and primed for a tongue-lashing from head coach Keane.
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