Yet another day of woe for Connacht as their season flounders
A DISMAL Connacht display saw them lose at Stadio Lanfranchi in Parma for the second season in a row and Kieran Keane’s men could have few complaints about leaving Italy emptyhanded.
At least last weekend in Cardiff they finished well to garner two bonus points.
They never looked like doing enough to get anything from this poor encounter and will now look to revive their season in the Challenge Cup against Brive over the next two weekends.
And a big performance will be required as, on another day, Zebre might have got two or three more tries.
Former Connacht coach Michael Bradley has done great work with them this season and this win will be a big boost to a side who were pipped at the death by Edinburgh and the Cheetahs.
Connacht enjoyed a good chunk of possession in the opening half but rarely looked like getting through the home defence.
And while Tom Farrell pounced to hack the ball and race over five minutes after the restart, it was a rare bright note in attack.
Zebre, featuring seven who played for Italy against the Springboks last week, led 6-0 at the break, having edged in front
after 11 minutes when one of those internationals, Carlo Canna, converted a penalty in front of the posts, before he landed another on the stroke of half-time.
Steve Crosbie missed two penalties after Canna edged Zebre in front and when they went to the corner with another kick, they were unable to penetrate the home cover.
Canna and Jack Carty swapped penalties to leave Connacht ahead by a point 13 minutes from the end.
But it was Zebre who pushed for home with the impressive Johan Meyer chasing a kick to score.
Canna added the conversion and then after missing a penalty he put nine between them when he landed a drop goal four minutes from time.
Connacht’s day of woe was completed when former Italian winger Gio Venditti raced through a sloppy defence to score in the closing stages.
The performance leaves coach Keane and his management requiring a big improvement as they bid to maintain their winning run in the Challenge Cup.