Poolman stars for Connacht
Danie Poolman scored a try on his home debut as Connacht recorded their third PRO12 victory of the season with an 18-3 win over Treviso in treacherous conditions at The Sportsground.
The 23-year-old South African crossed in the first half of a match played out in heavy rain, with Connacht's victory secured by replacement Gavin Duffy in the closing stages – their first league win in three matches.
Dan Parks finished the evening with a personal haul of eight points and pulled the strings in the first half as Connacht jumped above Treviso and Edinburgh into eighth in the standings.
It was a tight match until Duffy's late try – the weather contributing to a high error count for both sides, with try-scoring chances at a premium.
Treviso were limited to just a solitary Alberto Di Bernardo penalty in the second half – their seventh successive loss to an Irish side.
Parks opened the scoring five minutes in, splitting the posts with a well-struck penalty after some Treviso indiscipline at the breakdown.
He doubled his tally with another penalty ten minutes later, before playing a starring role in Connacht's opening try just before the half-hour mark.
A perfectly-weighted chip ahead from the former Scotland international was caught by Tiernan O'Halloran, who sprinted down the line before releasing centre Poolman to cross the whitewash. Park added the conversion to put Connacht 13-0 ahead.
The treacherous conditions showed no signs of letting up as the half continued – with the error count continuing through until half-time.
Scoring opportunities remained at a premium after the break – a Park break on 45 minutes coming to nothing as Connacht looked to strike a killer blow.
Connacht were trying to free up Fetu'u Vainikolo on the wing but the Tongan twice knocked on when given space to run.
Treviso got their first points on the board after an hour, Di Bernardo finding the target on the hour-mark as the Italians began to grow in confidence.
Trailing by ten points, it was Treviso who looked the better of the two sides as they enjoyed a sustained spell of error-free possession.
And they had a chance to move within a losing bonus point as Connacht collapsed a scrum – but Di Bernardo's kick 12 minutes from time struck the post.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Poolman, Duffy
Con: Parks
Pens: Parks 2
For Treviso:
Pens: di Bernardo
Yellow card: Toniolatti (Treviso)
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Danie Poolman, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Andrew Browne, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Nathan White (captain), 2 Jason Harris-Wright, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Rodney Ah You, 18 Ronan Loughney, 19 John Muldoon, 20 Mick Kearney, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Gavin Duffy.
Benetton Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Andrew Vilk, 13 Christian Loamanu, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Marco Filippucci, 7 Valerio Bernabò, 6 Manoa Vosawai, 5 Corniel Van Zyl (captain), 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Jacobus Roux, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Matteo Muccignat.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Giovanni Maistri, 20 Enrico Targa, 21 Giulio Toniolatti, 22 James Ambrosini, 23 Luca Morisi.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Paul Haycock, E Hogan-O’Connell (both Ireland)
Scarlets 22-13 Zebre
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Try: Phillips
Con: Thomas
Pens: Thomas 5
Yellow card: Owen
For Zebre:
Try: Pratichetti
Con: Halangahu
Pens: Halangahu 2
Yellow cards: Tebaldi; Ferrarini
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Morgan Stoddart, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Johnathan Edwards (captain), 6 Tomás Vallejos, 5 Johan Snyman, 4 George Earle, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Phil John
Replacements: 16 Craig Hawkins, 17 Shaun Hopkins, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Craig Price, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Nick Reynolds.
Zebre: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 David Odiete, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Daniel Halangahu, 11 Samuele Pace, 10 Paolo Buso, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Filippo Cristiano (captain), 6 Filippo Ferrarini, 5 Filippo Cazzola, 4 Josh Sole, 3 Luca Redolfini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Matias Aguero
Replacements: 16 Andrea De Marchi, 17 Luciano Leibson, 18 Carlo Fazzari, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Nicola Belardo, 21 Alberto Chiesa, 22 Leonardo Sarto, 23 Alberto Benettin.
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Greg Morgan, Alan Jenkins (both Wales)
TMO: Tony Rowlands (Wales)
