Treviso trample mediocre Munster
Treviso caused a stunning Pro12 upset as they romped to a 34-10 win over Munster at Stadio di Monigo on Sunday.
There was almost another turn up for the books on Sunday but Steffan Jones broke Zebre hearts with a late penalty to snatch victory for Newport Gwent Dragons.
We look at Sunday’s action!
Treviso 34-10 Munster
Giulio Toniolatti's late score put an exclamation mark on a misery-filled Munster trip to Italy as Treviso ran in five tries to win 34-10 at Stadio di Monigo.
Munster headed to Italy looking to get their Pro12 charge back on track after losing 18-10 to Scarlets last time out.
But while they could only manage a penalty try, a conversion and a penalty from the boot of Ian Keatley, their hosts had no trouble in crossing the whitewash.
Ludovico Nitoglia set the tone as the wing touched down after just three minutes and he was joined on the scoresheet by Filippo Giusti, Doppies la Grange, Fabio Semenzato and Toniolatti as Treviso ran riot.
Defeat leaves Munster sixth in the Pro12 table, six points off Ospreys in fourth while Treviso are now just nine points further back in eighth.
While Ireland's international stars were failing to get by Scotland in the Six Nations, Munster were having a far worse time of things in Italy as they got off to a disastrous start.
After just three minutes wing Nitoglia raced in under the posts to give Alberto di Bernardo the easiest of conversions for a 7-0 lead.
Keatley had the chance to get Munster on the board five minutes later as the Irish province's scrum earned a penalty but the flyhalf sent his effort left of the posts.
Di Bernardo spared his blushes as he too was wayward with a three-pointer but on 19 minutes it mattered little as Giusti crossed for the home side.
It had been coming as Munster could have found themselves further behind but for a great try-saving tackle on Toniolatti by Johne Murphy.
Di Barnardo missed the conversion and five minutes later Keatley finally got the visitors on the board with a penalty.
But Munster's respite was short lived as la Grange was the next to go over for Treviso, di Bernardo adding the conversion and a penalty for a 22-3 half-time lead.
Things looked like improving for Munster after the break as Treviso hooker Giovanni Maistri was yellow carded on 48 minutes and the Irish side were awarded a penalty try a minute later, Keatley converting.
But that was to be it for the scoring as far as Munster were concerned, but not Treviso who stretched their lead again just after the hour as scrumhalf Semenzato dotted down for the bonus point.
And to rub salt in the wounds Toniolatti crossed with just two minutes left to ensure a long journey home for Munster.
The scorers:
For Treviso:
Tries: Nitoglia, Giusti, la Grange, Semenzato, Toniolatti
Cons: di Bernardo 3
Pens: di Bernardo 2
For Munster:
Try: Penalty try
Con: Keatley
Pen: Keatley
Yellow cards: Giovanni Maistri (Treviso, 48), Tommy O'Donnell (Munster, 59)
Teams:
Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Andrea Pratichetti, 12 Gideon La Grange, 11 Giulio Toniolatti, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Christian Loamanu, 7 Filippo Giusti, 6 Dean Budd, 5 Corniel Van Zyl (captain), 4 Valerio Bernabò, 3 Jacobus Roux, 2 Giovanni Maistri, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Marco Filippucci, 21 James Ambrosini, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Tommaso Iannone.
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Denis Hurley, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Iain Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan. 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Paddy Butler, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Ian Nagle, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Mike Sherry (captain) 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 John Ryan, 18 BJ Botha, 19 D Foley, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Ivan Dineen.
Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU)
Assistant referees: Stefano Traversi, Stefano Marrama (both FIR)
TMO: Mauro Dordolo (FIR)
Zebre 13-14 Newport Gwent Dragons
A Steffan Jones penalty rescued Newport Gwent Dragons and sealed a 14-13 win over Zebre to deny the Italian outfit a first ever Pro12 victory.
Jones' penalty, 14 minutes from time, saw the Dragons squeeze home in Italy, having trailed 10-3 at the half-time interval.
It was just a second win in seven matches for the Dragons, who were humbled 60-3 last time out by Glasgow Warriors, and it was a first away win in the Pro12 since March 2012.
For Zebre it was another case of close but no cigar, having also come agonisingly near to defeating four of the Pro12 sides.
A cagey opening 20 minutes saw Jones miss his first effort from the tee on six minutes before Zebre scrumhalf Alberto Chillon followed suit for the home side on 18 minutes.
Chillon did draw first blood however for Zebre, booting his side into a 3-0 lead on 21 minutes but just after the half hour mark, he was punished for another wayward kick.
Just a minute later, Dragons flyhalf Jones levelled things up but in a topsy turvy first half, Dragons prop Nathan Buck was then sent to the sin bin.
And Zebre took full advantage with centre Matteo Pratichetti forcing his way over for the first try of the match with just a minute left of the first half.
Chillon converted to give Zebre a healthy seven-point lead at half-time and the hosts moved even further in front early in the second half.
No sooner had Buck returned from the sin bin that Phil Price followed him for a ten-minute spell on the sidelines and Chillon was on target with another penalty for the home side.
Zebre were unable to capitalise further on their numerical advantage however and when Price returned, it was the home side's turn to play ten minutes with 14 men after fullback Alberto Benettin was shown a yellow card.
From the resulting penalty, Jones kicked his side back to within seven points and the margin was just two on 61 minutes when Dragons second row Jevon Groves dotted down.
With the wind in their sails, the Dragons smelt a victory and Jones made no mistake from the tee on 66 minutes to hand his side the lead for the first time in the match.
Zebre rallied, desperate to secure victory over the side just one place above them in the table, but try as they might, they could not find a way through and the Dragons clung on for a hard-earned win.
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Try: Pratichetti
Con: Chillon
Pens: Chillon 2
For Dragons:
Try: Groves
Pens: S Jones 3
Yellow cards: Nathan Buck (Dragons, 33) Phil Price (Dragons, 43), Alberto Benettin (Zebre, 55)
Teams:
Zebre: 15 Alberto Benettin, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Samuele Pace, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Sinoti Sinoti 10 Alberto Chiesa, 9 Alberto Chillon, 8 Andries van Schlakwyk, 7 Josh Sole, 6 Filippo Ferrarini, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Michael van Vuren, 3 Luca Redolfini, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Andrea de Marchi, 18 Carlo Fazzari, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Filippo Cristiano, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Paolo Buso, 23 Andrea Bacchetti.
Dragons: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Pat Leach, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Steffan Jones, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Phil Price, 7 Hugh Gustafson, 6 Nathan Buck, 5 Ian Nimmo, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Lewis Evans (captain), 2 Nic Cudd, 1 Ieuan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Dan Way, 19 Rob Sidoli, 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Tom Prydie, 23 Jack Dixon.
Referee: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrea Spadoni (Italy), Simone Boaretto (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)
