Connacht upset Ulster, Scarlets too good for Zebre
FRIDAY WRAP: Connacht produced one of their best performances of the season to record a 26-19 win over Ulster in their URC Round 13 clash in Belfast on Friday.
The visitors outscored the home side by four tries to three, with wing Finn Treacy getting a brace.
Connacht No.8 Sean Jansen opened the scoring with a converted try before Nathan Doak levelled things with his own try and conversion.
However, the team from Galway raced into a 19-7 lead in the opening quarter of the second half with Finlay Bealham crashing over from close range before Treacy got the first of his two scores.
Ulster responded with Zac Ward sprinting down the touchline to score his team’s second try. However, Treacy made things a bit more comfortable for the visitors again with his second try a few minutes later.
Prop Angus Bell gave Ulster a fighting chance with a try in the 76th minute, but Connacht managed to hold on for a valuable win.
*At Parc y Scarlets, Jarrod Taylor scored a brace as Scarlets powered past Zebre Parma 36-17.
Sam Lousi, Macs Page, Ellis Mee, and Dan Davis were the other try-scorers for the hosts.
See below for Friday’s scores and scorers!
Scarlets 36-17 Zebre Parma
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: Taylor 2, Lousi, Page, Mee, Davis
Cons: Leggatt-Jones 3
For Zebre:
Tries: Gesi, Stavile, Odiase
Con: Da Re
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Macs Page, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Archie Hughes, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Jarrod Taylor, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Henry Thomas, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Jac Price, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Ioan Jones.
Zebre Parma: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Albert Eisten Batista, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 8 Giacomo Ferrari, 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Bautista Stavile, 5 Alessandro Ortombina, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Giampietro Ribaldi, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio (captain).
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Juan Manuel Pitinari, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Davide Ruggeri, 20 Davide Odiase, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Martin Roger Farias, 23 Giulio Bertaccini.
Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Max Clements (Wales)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Ulster 19-26 Connacht
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Doak, Z Ward, Bell
Cons: Doak, Murphy
For Connacht:
Tries: Jansen, Bealham, Treacy 2
Cons: Naughton 3
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jacob Stockdale, 12 Ben Carson, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 David McCann, 5 Joe Hopes, 4 Iain Henderson (captain), 3 Scott Wilson, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jonny Scott, 23 Ethan McIlroy.
Connacht: 15 Seán Naughton, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Colm Reilly, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Cian Prendergast (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Billy Bohan.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Victory, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 John Devine. `
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Max Weston (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Finlay Brown (Scotland)
