Zebre 10 Connacht 40
It has been a season like no others. With a record of 10 wins and currently leaders of the disciplinary table, Connacht will be fighting on the last day of the season for Champions Cup rugby.
Saturday’s victory at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi was all about keeping their seasonal ambitions intact, achieving another milestone and coping with the pressure of a must-win game. Contrast that with Zebre, whose officials, having always used Connacht to measure themselves, bemoaned their own lack of progress over the last three years. An emotional farewell for Italian icon Mauro Bergamasco, whose face fluttered on hundreds flags, failed to produce a victory that would have seen the Parma outfit overtake their rivals Treviso.
Pat Lam’s side now face the Ospreys on Saturday in what is a huge occasion for the province. “The boys did the job they needed to do in Parma, and now it’s important to have a good build-up for this massive occasion,” he said. “I am aware from everybody who has been here how big this is, to go to the last round of the Pro12 with so much riding on the result. Ospreys, who beat Glasgow, are coming, but we are now ahead of Edinburgh, while the Scarlets still have to win in Treviso, which is not easy.”
Shake off
Although Connacht were ahead at half time by 21-10, it took until the 56th minute when bagging the fourth-try bonus point before they could finally shake off the Italians.
Connacht's firepower revelled in the warm conditions, with any number looking likely to score. Left wing Matt Healy, whose scorching run supplied scrumhalf John Cooney for the first try, grabbed the second after a bone-cruncher from Robbie Henshaw turned over possession, and before the break Cooney had bagged his second from a rehearsed set-piece line-out, with outhalf Jack Carty adding all conversions.
Zebre did provide a warning signs with scrumhalf Brendan Leonard's try but their determination petered out after the break. Although it had taken a little longer than expected, openside Eoghan Masterson touched down from a forward drive on 56 minutes, and thereafter the result was a foregone conclusion, with Tiernan O'Halloran and Shane O'Leary getting the fifth and sixth tries. Both were converted by academy player Conor McKeon on his debut.
Pressure and trust
“The game was all about pressure and trust. I told the lads that good times don’t make character, it’s the challenges you face in life. We have had pressure on us from Scarlets and Edinburgh, pressure to win this game, pressure from Bergamasco’s last home game, but they could either embrace it and see it as a challenge to become stronger, or run from it. And every single player tried to play their best game.”
ZEBRE: D Berryman, G Venditti, M Pratichetti, G Garcia, M Visentin, L Orquera, B Leonard, M Agüero, A Manici, D Chistolini, Q Geldenhuys, V Bernabo, P Cristiano, M Bergamasco, A Van Schalkwyk. Replacements: M Bergamasco for Pratichetti (52 mins), L Redolfini for Chistolini (56 mins), G Palazzani for Berryman(59 mins), A de Marchi for Agüero (60 mins), J Sarto for Cristiano (66 mins), O Fabiano for Manici (72 mins), A Mahu for Chistolini (74 mins). Yellow card: L Redolfini (64 mins)
CONNACHT: T O'Halloran; D Poolman, R Henshaw, B Aki, M Healy; J Carty, J Cooney; D Buckley, T McCartney, R Ah You, U Dillane, A Muldowney, J Muldoon, E Masterson, E McKeon. Replacements: K Marmion for Cooney (48 mins), A Browne for Dillane (52 mins), G Naoupu for McKeon (56 mins), C McKeon for Carty and JP Cooney for Buckley (both 60 mins), F Bealham for Ah You (62 mins), S O'Leary for Aki (72 mins). Referee: I Davies (WRU).
