Connacht finish above Ulster after win v Zebre
Connacht have finished 13th in the BKT United Rugby Championship, ending their season with a 22-12 win away to Zebre in Parma.
The province, still under interim head coach Cullie Tucker, halted their five-game losing run in the league, which sees them climb above Ulster in the end of season rankings.
Tries for Cian Prendergast, Shayne Bolton and Shamus Hurley Langton, as well as seven points from the boot of departing out-half JJ Hanrahan were enough for them to get by the Italian side in a poor game in Parma.
Connacht took the lead through Prendergast on 17 minutes, with the captain scoring a wonderful individual try from 40 metres out. Receiving an offload on the run from Bolton out on the left touchline, the flanker bounced through the tackle of full-back Jacopo Trulla, before fending off two more efforts to touch down and score, as Hanrahan converted to make it 7-0.
The province were dominant at the scrum in the opening half, and that gave them the platform to extent their lead on 27 minutes.
Kicking into the 22 following a penalty at the setpiece, Connacht's maul was stopped just short, but playing with penalty advantage they quickly moved the ball wide, where Hanrahan found Bolton in the right corner to score.
Hanrahan's conversion pulled left and wide, leaving it 12-0, and shortly after Zebre had the chance to reduce that gap, but Giovannni Montemauri's penalty from 30 metres out clipped the post and went wide.
The home side got back into the game just before half time when Bautista Stavile just managed to ground the ball in the right corner despite the best efforts of David Hawkshaw, although the try was made by Trulla's wonderful chip and chase kick in midfield, which set up the devastating counterattack.
Montemauri converted the try, cutting the gap to 12-7 at the break.
After a sloppy third quarter from both sides, Connacht reestablished their two-score lead when Hurley Langton drove his way over the line on 59 minutes, with some excellent work off the bench by Sean Jansen getting the province in a position to score.
Hanrahan converted to make it 19-7, but rather than kick on and claim a bonus-point Connacht continued to be frustrated in attack, as Zebre looked threatening off turnover ball.
With 11 minutes to go, some great work down the left wing from Stavile and Simone Gesi almost resulted in a Zebre try, and although Piers O'Conor recovered to make the tackle, Matthew Devine was yellow-carded for a cynical act at the ruck.
From the resulting penalty Zebre got in for a quick score when they worked thee ball wide to Trulla for a try, but the missed conversion left it at 19-12 heading down the stretch.
And Connacht saw out the final 10 minutes well in Devine's absence, with a Hanrahan penalty three minutes from the end sealing the win, ending a disappointing season on a minor high.
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