Connacht picked up their second win in six days, as they swept aside Italian side Zebre Parma 48-27 in Dexcom Stadium on Friday night.
An eight-try win secured the western province’s second win in their opening four URC games, having also squeezed past Benetton a fortnight ago.
“Delighted to get the win,” head coach Stuart Lancaster told RTÉ Sport afterwards. “If you’d said to me at the start of the day, you would get close to 50 points, I’d have taken it.
“We were disappointed to lose against Stormers here and not get a bonus point out of it. Then to come close at Glasgow as well.
“We’ve won two, lost two in the league. I know from last season you’ve got to be winning 10, 11 of your games out of the 18 to get in the top eight. So we’ve got some work to do.”
Lancaster handed debuts to new signings Jerry Cahir and Will Connors in Galway, as Dave Heffernan and Harry West lined out for the first time this season, while Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham returned having been rested last week.
Yet it was the visitors who got off to the faster start, albeit not for long. Flanker Giacomo Ferrari had Zebre in front for all of four minutes with an early try before the green wave of momentum was kickstarted by the returning Bealham, who got Connacht on the board.
Three tries in ten minutes meant the home side secured the bonus point before the half-hour mark. First Sean Jansen powered over before Cathal Forde and Sam Gilbert got in on the action, with out-half Ciarán Frawley kicking three conversions.
Tries from Jacopo Botturi and Mirko Belloni either side of Cian Prendergast’s third in his last two games closed the gap to 15 points at the break.
The third quarter was cagey as Connacht looked to their bench. However, they got the first score of the second half when Dave Heffernan opened his account shortly before the hour mark. Fellow returnee Harry West also dotted down moments later.
Quick scores, first from Giampietro Ribaldi and then Bautista Staville, helped the visitors leave with a try bonus point before Heffernan rounded off proceedings from the back of a maul.
The win sees Connacht move up to sixth in the table for the time being, with five more games taking place on Saturday.
Scorers:
Connacht: Tries: Heffernan (2), Bealham, Jansen, Forde, Gilbert, Prendergast, West
Cons: Frawley (4)
Zebre: Tries: Ferrari, Botturi, Belloni, Ribaldi, Staville
Cons: Montemauri
Connacht: Sam Gilbert; Finn Treacy, Harry West, Cathal Forde, Mack Hansen; Ciarán Frawley, Colm Reilly; Jerry Cahir, Eoin de Buitléar, Finlay Bealham; Niall Murray, Darragh Murray; Cian Prendergast (capt), Paul Boyle, Sean Jansen
Replacements: Dave Heffernan (for de Buitléar, 51), Jordan Duggan (for Cahir, 51), Sam Illo (for Bealham, 51), David O’Connor (for D. Murray, 62), Will Connors (for Jansen, 53), Caolin Blade (for Reilly, 68), Sean Naughton (for Frawley, 56), Daniel Ryan (for Hansen, 53).
Zebre Parma: Mirko Belloni; Tobias Wade, Marco Zanon, Riccardo Casarin, Simone Gesi; Giovanni Montemauri, Alessandro Fusco (capt); Sergio Pelliccioli, Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Muhamed Hasa; Francesco Ruffolo, Alessandro Ortombina; Giacomo Ferrari, Jacopo Botturi, Davide Ruggeri
Replacements: Giampietro Ribaldi (for, Di Bartolomeo, 51), Federico Pisani (for Hasa, 56), Juan Ignacio Castellano (for Hasa, 31-44), Matteo Canali (for Botturi, 56), Bautista Stavile (for Ferrari, 44), Thomas Dominguez (for Fusco, 58), Giacomo Da Re (for Montemauri, 62), Leonardo Sodo (for Wade, 62).
Referee: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)
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