Connacht too strong for Zebre Parma

MATCH REPORT: Connacht scored seven tries on their way to an impressive 43-12 win over Zebre Parma in their Challenge Cup opener on Saturday.

The Italian side hit the ground running in Ireland through a try from Bautista Stavile Bravin before the hosts hit back.

Once they’d warmed into the tie, Chay Mullins showed how effective he can be with his double. Having been set on their way, Connacht added a third through Dylan Tierney-Martin shortly after.

It was 17-5 at the break.

It was more of the same for hosts Connacht after both sides reappeared from half-time with Paul Boyle getting the first of the second-half tries within two minutes.

More Irish dominance followed, with Chay Mullins completing his hat-trick on 62 minutes before Santiago Cordero got involved with the festivities 10 minutes from time.

Boyle made sure to get his double at the death to cancel out Zebre Parma’s consolation try from Alessandro Fusco.

Next up for the Irish side is a trip to Perpignan to take on USAP while Zebre Parma return home to take on Lyon Olympique Univeristaire.

The scorers:

For Connacht:
Tries: Mullins 3, Tierney-Martin, Boyle 2, Cordero
Cons: Carty 2, Naughton 2

For Zebre:
Tries: Bravin, Fusco
Con: Da Re

Yellow card: Rusiate Nasove (Zebre Parma)

Teams

Connacht: 15 Shane Jennings, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle (captain), 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Oisin Dowling, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Jordan Duggan.
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitlear, 17 Temi Lasisi, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 David O’Connor, 20 Oisin McCormack, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Byron Ralston.

Zebre: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Filippo Bozzoni, 13 Filippo Drago, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo da Re, 9 Thomas Dominguez, 8 Giacomo Ferrari, 7 Bautista Stavile Bravin, 6 Giacomo Milano, 5 Leonardo Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Muhamed Hasa, 2 Luca Bigi (captain), 1 Paolo Buonfiglio.
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Rusiate Nasove, 20 Luca Andreani, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Jacopo Bianchi, 23 Scott Gregory.

Referee: Adam Jones
Assistant referees: Gareth Newman, Amber Stamp
TMO: Neil Henessy

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