Connacht finish disappointing season with win over Zebre
Zebre 12
Connacht 22
CONNACHT WRAPPED UP a disappointing season by winning their first URC game in six and they were good value for their victory at Stadio Lanfranchi.
The next few weeks will be a huge reset for them with coaching appointments top of the agenda but at least they head into the summer on the back of a win.
Fetuli Paea chases Shayne Bolton. Roberto Bregani / INPHO Roberto Bregani / INPHO / INPHO
It sees them finish 13th in the table, nine points off the qualification places with just six wins from 18 league games.
Connacht, having enjoyed 65% possession, led 12-7 at the break but should have been much further ahead after dominating large parts of the opening half in Parma.
It was obvious from the outside that while this was a dead rubber Connacht were fired-up to make an impression with skipper Cian Prendergast leading the charge.
It was appropriate then that it was the Kildare man who finally broke the deadlock after 17 minutes when he bumped through one tackle, slipped through another and fended off a try effort down the left to score after good work by David Hawkshaw and Finn Treacy.
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JJ Hanrahan added the extra points from the wing and with Connacht enjoying dominance in the scrum where Finlay Bealham was superb, they pushed forward from there.
A penalty advantage from a scrum gave them the platform for their second try and quick hands from Hanrahan after scrum-half Ben Murphy went wide close to the lines sent Shayne Bolton over in the right corner after 29 minutes to make it 12-0.
But Zebre got a foothold. Out-half Giovanni Montemauri hit the left post with a penalty from 35 metres two minutes later, but they began to build the phases and work their way into the game.
And they struck two minutes from the break, working the ball from deep before Argentine flanker Bautista Stavile finished in the right corner despite the best efforts of Treacy to prevent him grounding the ball. Montemauri landed a superb conversion from the touchline to leave five between them at the interval.
Connacht got on top again after the restart but despite some good probing runs from Ben Murphy, interval replacement Cathal Forde and winger Treacy, they were unable to increase their lead during the third quarter.
But the pressure eventually told and with penalty advantage after a lineout in the right corner Shamus Hurley-Langton found a gap to barge through and score, with Hanrahan adding the conversion to make it 19-7 after 62 minutes.
However, a yellow card to replacement scrum-half Matthew Devine for an offside infringement as Zebre went end to end through winger Simone Gesi and Stavile, was followed by a try from full-back Jacopo Trulla in the right corner with ten minutes remaining.
That ensured a nervous finish for Connacht but a penalty from Hanrahan, awarded the man of the match in his final game for Connacht before returning to Munster, two minutes from time ensured Connacht go into the summer on a winning note.
Scorers for Zebre: Tries: B Stavile, J Trulla. Con: G Montemauri (1 from 2)
Scorers for Connacht: Tries: C Prendergast, S Bolton, S Hurley-Langton. Cons: JJ Hanrahan (2 from 3). Pen: Hanrahan (1 from 1)
Zebre: Jacopo Trulla; Scott Gregory (Gonzalo Garcia 57), Fetuli Paea, Damiano Mazza (Enrico Lucchin 61), Simone Gesi; Giovanni Montemauri (Luca Morisi 76), Alessandro Fusco; Danilo Fischetti (c) (Paolo Buonfiglio 65), Luca Bigi (Tommaso Di Bartolomeo 48), Muhamed Hasa (Juan Pitinari 54); Matteo Canali (Guido Volpi 67), Leonard Krumov; Davide Ruggeri (Giacomo Ferrari 60), Bautista Stavile, Giovanni Licata.
Connacht: Santiago Cordero; Shayne Bolton, David Hawkshaw (Cathal Forde half-time), Bundee Aki, Finn Treacy (Piers O'Conor 61); JJ Hanrahan, Ben Murphy (Matthew Devine 64); Denis Buckley (Jordan Duggan 61), Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham (Jack Aungier 50); Josh Murphy, Joe Joyce (Darragh Murray 42); Cian Prendergast (c), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle (Sean Jansen 51).
Ref: Hollie Davidson (Scotland).
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