Zebre edge Sean Everitt's Edinburgh at the death
SATURDAY WRAP: Zebre Parma opened their United Rugby Championship campaign with a dramatic 31–28 win over Edinburgh at the Stadio Lanfranchi.
The hosts flew out of the blocks. After just three minutes hooker Tommaso Di Bartolomeo marked Zebre’s first attack with a powerful finish, Giacomo Da Re converting. By the 12th minute it was 14–0, Juan Pitinari crashing over from close range on his 50th appearance after good work from Alessandro Fusco and Giovanni Licata.
The captain’s afternoon turned sour soon after, however. Licata was sin-binned in the 15th minute and, following TMO review, the yellow was upgraded to red, leaving Zebre down to 14 for the rest of the match.
Edinburgh pounced immediately, Liam McConnell crossing in the 16th and Edinburgh skipper Magnus Bradbury adding another in the 22nd, both converted by Ben Healy to level the game.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Zebre struck again before the break. Bautista Stavile’s turnover and break sparked a counter finished off by Simone Gesi, Da Re’s third conversion restoring the lead at 21–14 at half-time.
Early in the second half vice-captain Fusco darted over for Zebre’s fourth try, Da Re adding the extras for a 28–14 cushion. Edinburgh hit back through Charlie Vellacott, and with Pitinari later shown a yellow card the Scots pressed hard. Replacement hooker Patrick Harrison powered over five minutes from time, Healy levelling at 28–28.
But the final word belonged to Zebre. With the clock in the red, replacement flyhalf Martin Roger Farias landed a long-range penalty off the post to seal a famous 31–28 victory.
“We are satisfied with the result, but above all with the team’s test of character,” said head coach Massimo Brunello.
“Winning at home, in front of your own crowd is satisfying. Doing it like this makes us earn respect in a competition where we will never give up and we will be uncomfortable.”
Licata added: “We deserved a result that is the result of hard work, which also says a lot about the bond that unites us and the positive atmosphere. We feel part of a project that wants to be a protagonist.”
*Clayton McMillan started life as Munster head coach with a 34-21 win at Scarlets, with Craig Casey among the try-scorers in Llanelli.
Having captained Ireland this summer, Casey has taken the armband on at his province in the absence of Tadhg Beirne and the scrumhalf opened the scoring early on following a line-out and driving maul.
Munster went in 13-0 ahead at the break after a couple of JJ Hanrahan penalties, having added the extras to Casey’s score, before Mike Haley’s converted try put the visitors in firm control.
They did not have it all their own way from then on as Blair Murray, Ellis Lee and Taine Plumtree all touched down for Scarlets, with Sam Costelow, twice, and Joe Hawkins, once, splitting the posts.
But Dan Kelly and Thomas Ahern went over to keep Munster’s noses in front as they claimed a bonus-point win, marking their eighth successive triumph over the Scarlets.
It gave New Zealander McMillan, who oversaw the Chiefs’ run to three Super Rugby finals in four years during his tenure, a winning start in Munster, having joined the club in July.
*In Saturday’s late game, Connacht started their season with a 26-15 win over Benetton at home.
See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!
Zebre 31-28 Edinburgh
The scorers:
For Zebre:
Tries: Di Bartolomeo, Pitinari, Gesi, Fusco
Cons: Da Re 4
Pen: Farias
For Edinburgh:
Tries: McConnell, Bradbury, Vellacott, Harrison
Cons: Healy 4
Teams:
Zebre: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Mikro Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata (captain), 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Davide Ruggeri, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa.
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Paolo Buonfiglio, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Alessandro Ortombina, 20 Guido Volpi, 21 Samuele Locatelli, 22 Thomas Dominguez, 23 Martin Farias.
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Harry Paterson, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 James Lang, 11 Jack Brown, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 James Whitcombe.
Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Findlay Thomson, 23 Duhan van der Merwe.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Alberto Favero (Italy), Lorenzo Pedezzi (Italy)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)
Scarlet 21-34 Munster
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: Murray, Mee, Plumtree
Cons: Costelow 2, Hawkins
For Munster:
Tries: Casey, Haley, Kelly, Ahern
Cons: Hanrahan, Crowley 3
Pens: Hanrahan 2
Teams
Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Tristan Davies, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Harry Thomas, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Max Douglas, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Johnny Williams, 23 Macs Page.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Craig Casey (captain), 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Conor Bartley, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Seán O’Brien.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Marcus Caudle (Wales)
TMO: Colin Brett (Scotland)
Connacht 26-15 Benetton
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Ioane, Naughton, Tierney-Martin, Jansen
Cons: Forde 3
For Benetton:
Tries: Lynagh, Garbisi
Con: Umaga
Pen: Umaga
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Sean Naughton, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 Byron Ralston, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Paul Boyle (captain), 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Sam Illo, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 David O’Connor, 20 Joe Joyce, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Cian Prendergast.
Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Louis Werchon, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Ivan Nemer.
Replacements: 16 Richie Asiata, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Lorenzo Cannone, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Giuliano Avaca, 23 Paolo Odogwu.
Referee: Chris Allison (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Tómas O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Griffin Colby (South Africa)
Source: PA & @RugbyPass
