There were joyous scenes for the home side as Zebre recorded one of the biggest wins in their club’s history.
Munster have lost 42-33 to Zebre in Round 2 of the URC Championship marking their first loss on Italian soil since 2013.
It was a disappointing evening for the travelling Munster fans in Parma as Zebre went on a massive scoring run in the second half to stun the province and earn a fully deserved win.
Despite a strong attacking performance in the first half which saw Gavin Coombes cross over twice, mistakes in defence by Munster let Zebre stay in the game and the Italian side took full advantage in the second half.
Munster were dealt a blow just six minutes into the game as Shane Daly hit the ground hard after being tackled and came off with an apparent arm injury. He was replaced by Bryan Fitzgerald who was making his competitive debut.
Ten minutes in, Zebre outhalf Giovanni Montemauri split the posts with a penalty to draw first blood for the Italians. Shortly after, Gavin Coombes powered over on his 100th appearance for the club after Ruadhan Quinn was stopped just before the try line.
Just minutes later Munster were caught narrow in defence and Jacopo Trulla went over in the corner. Despite Thaakir Abrahams looking lively in the opening stages, he became the second Munster winger to go down with an injury and was replaced by Shay McCarthy.
In a half where they looked dangerous going forward, Munster looked equally susceptible in defence. After Oli Jager was caught napping at the side of a ruck, Alessandro Fusco made a break and powered over for Zebre’s second try with the conversion leaving it 15-7 to the Italians.
Munster replied on the half-hour mark through Coombes once again when the back rower picked the ball up from close range and powered over. Shortly after, a brilliant solo run by Ruadhan Quinn ended just before the line and allowed Craig Casey to find Mike Haley in wind-open space to touch down in the corner.
Another try in the corner just before half time – a debut try for Limerick’s Bryan Fitzgerald – secured the bonus point. The last action of the half saw Butler kick his fourth conversion and leave Munster 28-15 up at the break.
Though they were ahead, Munster had shown serious defensive fragilities and this showed even more in the second half as Zebre hit back within ninety seconds of the restart through an intercept try, Trulla scoring his second in the right corner. Ten minutes later Zebre had crossed over for their fourth try, with the conversion leaving it 28-27 and Munster to manage a fragile lead.
Things went from bad to worse when Zebre scrum-half Fusco once again caught the defence napping, spotting a gap and making a breakthrough the Munster line before touching down with Montemauri’s conversion making it 34-28. The horror show continued for Munster not long after with the electric Trulla once again showing his pace to put fullback Geronimo Prisciantelli through for a try to leave the score 39-28 and a mountain to climb for the away side.
Though Shay McCarthy scored late after great runs by Fitzgerald and Murray, a Zebre penalty from Giacomo Da Re put the game out of reach for Munster – the final score reading Zebre 42-33 Munster.
Speaking after the game, Munster head coach Graham Rowntree was visibly angry but gave full credit to the winning Zebre side:
“They didn’t stop playing, they took their opportunities, I thought they were great at the breakdown, credit to Zebre.”
When asked about what can be improved, Rowntree said: “I could be here till it gets dark talking about things we need to do better, that wasn’t good enough from us we lost our way in the third quarter.”
Next up for Munster is Ospreys at Virgin Media Park in Cork next Saturday evening at 7.35 pm.
Munster: Mike Haley, Calvin Nash, Shane Daly (Bryan Fitzgerald 6); Tom Farrell, Thaakir Abrahams (Shay McCarthy 26); Tony Butler (Conor Murray 71); Craig Casey; Josh Wycherley (Jeremy Loughman 47); Diarmuid Barron (c) (Niall Scannell 53); Oli Jager (John Ryan 47); Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley (Jack Daly 59, Fineen Wycherley 73); Ruadhan Quinn (Jack O’Donoghue 53); John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Tries: Gavin Coombes (2), Mike Haley, Bryan Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy.
Cons: Tony Butler 4/4, Conor Murray 0/1.
Zebre: Geronimo Prisciantelli; Jacopo Trulla, Scott Gregory, Luca Morisi, Simone Gesi, Giovanni Montemauri (Giacomo Da Re 62), Alessandro Fusco(Davide Ruggeri 62); Danilo Fischetti (c)(Luca Rizzoli 59), Tommaso Di Bartolomeo (Giampietro Ribaldi 59), Matteo Nocera (Juan Pitinari 35-40, 59, Matteo Canali, Leonard Krumov, Davide Ruggeri, Samuele Locatelli, Giovanni Licata(Giacomo Ferrari 53).
Tries: Jacopo Trulla (2), Alessandro Fusco (2), Giovanni Licata, Geronimo Prisciantelli.
Cons: Giovanni Montemauri 4/5, Giacomo Da Re 0/1
Pens: Giovanni Montemauri, Giacomo Da Re.
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU) Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (FIR), Alex Frasson (FIR) TMO: Neil Hennessy (WRU).