Connacht 43
Zebre Parma 12
Connacht have delivered an emphatic European win over fellow URC competitors Zebre at Dexcom Stadium in Galway.
Leading 17-5 at the break in this opening Challenge Cup fixture, Connacht continued to produced a dominant display, delivering seven tries against their Italian opponents.
“Important we got the points and asserted ourselves,” says head coach Pete Wilkins. “We had to hold our nerve into the wind, but pleased we accelerated in the second half.”
Despite the particularly strong wind at Dexcom, which Zebre enjoyed in the first half, Connacht went into the break 17-5 ahead. However, it had not looked as healthy when the hosts made their advantage count within seven minutes, profiting from a line-out kicked to touch. The result was a try to hooker Stavile Bravin, who darted over for the opening points after seven minutes, and in the strong wind, which affected both ends, the conversion and a subsequent penalty attempt from fullback Giovanni were wide.
However, it gave the visitors confidence as they continued to dominate possession, and with Connacht’s discipline found wanting, the home side needed to produce a huge defensive effort to stymie the Italian maul just yards from the try line.
Connacht not only did that, but within minutes delivered the ideal try to boost their challenge. From a scrum penalty, the excellent Paul Boyle and Caolin Blade, celebrating their 100th and 200th appearances respectively, combined down the right wing before Chay Mullins, on his Connacht debut, finished with a length of the field burst to claim his first try - the wind defeating the attempted conversion,
Thereafter Connacht took control. A 33rd minute penalty provided with another opportunity, and despite a subsequent penalty to Zebre, with Connacht just shy of the line, the home side subsequently made it count when Dylan Tierney Martin, supported by Forde and Blade, claimed the second try, the conversion wide in he wind.
Zebre, however, made one last assault, but were unable to reap the reward when Rusiate Nasove was carded for a neck roll with the line in his sight. It did not get any better for the Italians immediately after the restart as the wind continued to cause problems, and Wilkins’s side was quick to capitalise when Boyle celebrated his 100th appearance for the province with a fourth try and bonus point within three minutes, Carty adding the extras to stretch the lead to 24-5.
With Connacht’s stranglehold on the game and the wind at their backs, the puff went out of the visitors’ assault and Connacht were able to close out the game with a strong finish. Boyle was on hand to provide Chay Mullins for Connacht’s fifth try - providing the debutant and Irish Sevens’ player with a hat-trick - the fourth Connacht player to deliver three tries against Zebre - joining Matt Healy, Stacey Illi and Tierney-Martin - and winning the match of the match award.
Santiago Cordero added a well-deserved try, debutant Sean Naughton grabbed his first senior points with two conversions, and Paul Boyle celebrated his 100th game with second try on a solid European night for Wilkins’ men.
Scoring sequence: 6m Stavile Bravin try 0-5; 22m, Mullins try 28m 5-5, Mullins try, Carty con 12-5; 34m Tierney-Martin try 17-5; HT 17-5; 42m Boyle try, Carty con. Half-time 24-5; 62m Mullins try 29-5; 70m Cordero try, Naughton con 36-5; 76m da Rae try and con 36-12; 80m Boyle try, Nauhgton con 43-12.
CONNACHT RUGBY: S Jennings, C Mullins, D Hawkshaw, C Forde (co-cpt ), S Cordero, J Carty, C Blade, J Duggan, D Tierney-Martin ,J Aungier, D Murray, O Dowling, J Murphy, S Hurley-Langton, P Boyle (co-cpt ).
Replacements: E de Buitlear for Duggan, T Lasisi for Tierney-Martin and F Barrett for Aungier (60 ), M Devine for Blade, S Naughton for Carty, B Ralston for Hawkshaw.
ZEBRE PARMA: G Montemauri, F Bozzoni, F Drago, E Lucchin, S Gesi, G da Re, T Dominguez, P Buonfiglio, L Bigi (c ), M Hasa, M Canali, Leonardo Krumov, G Milano, B Stavile Bravin, G Ferrari
Replacements: G Ribaldi, L Rizzoli, M Nocera, R Nasove, L Andreani, A Fusco, J Bianchi, S Gregory for Montemauri (31m ).
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU ).
