In the wake of Zebre Parma’s surprising 42-33 URC win over Munster, head coach for Munster, Graham Rowntree, voiced his frustration at his team’s subpar performance. Historically, Munster had dominated Zebre in their past 20 encounters, making the loss a stark disappointment.
Rowntree admitted that there were multiple issues with his team’s display that needed addressing. Zebre’s victory was certainly noteworthy, marking a significant moment in the team’s history. The Italian squad exuberantly celebrated the win amidst Parma’s sunny weather, as if they had clinched the URC title, having trounced Munster by six tries to five in comparison to Munster’s showing against Connacht the prior week.
Rowntree commended Zebre on a game well-played while also expressing his exasperation with Munster’s poor execution. He implied that there was a substantial amount of work needed for Munster to perfect their gameplay.
Although it was a match filled with mistakes from Munster’s side, the team had moments worth commemorating. For instance, player Gavin Coombes celebrated his 100th appearance with a pair of tries. Bryan Fitzgerald, fulfilling a short-term role in the centre, marked his first game representing Munster by securing the bonus point in the right corner just before halftime. Despite these achievements, the overarching feeling was one of disappointment from a failure to continue the winning tradition against Zebre.
The game featured Tony Butler’s four conversions, including three from challenging angles, putting on a good show in his outhalf position. Rowntree would have been chuffed with a number of happenings during the interval, despite some obvious blunders. However, beneath those achievements lay a whole host of errors like clumsy handling, subpar defence, straight kicks, and issues with set-pieces, which Zebre took full advantage of to take a well-earned lead.
The Munster team’s difficulties were intensified by injuries to both their wingers, Shane Daly and Thaakir Abrahams, requiring much attention against an opponent who had lost 14 straight URC matches. Zebre was able to stabilize early with a penalty from outhalf, Giovanni Montemauri, while Jacopo Trulla, their winger, just missed a long-distance shot as the side from Parma aimed to set the pace.
Nonetheless, both teams were plagued by errors. Craig Casey was able to locate a phenomenal 50-22 in the left corner, only for Munster to bungle the lineout. Zebre then faced sanctions for dawdling at the base of the ruck, which Munster capitalized upon, allowing Coombes, true to form, to attack from short range after multiple phases.
Butler was forced to hurriedly conclude the conversion amid confusion over the shot clock, but he managed to get the kick. Zebre reacted by regaining possession after Butler had carried the ball back inside the 22 and failed the direct kick. The Italians then utilized it to create an overlap for Trulla to score on the right.
Nailing the additional points after 27 minutes, despite overshooting the shot clock, Montemauri helped the Italian scrumhalf, Alessandro Fusco, outwit Olli Jager to maintain his balance and evade Fitzgerald’s tackle to score, pushing the lead to 15-7.
Despite the setback, Munster rallied with Coombes achieving an impressive total of 44 tries in his hundred appearances, scoring again from short range after an extended build-up. An outstanding break by Ruadhán Quinn orchestrated Munster’s third try, as Casey’s arced pass allowed Mike Haley to score in the right corner in the final six minutes of the first half.
During Fitzgerald’s memorable highlight, Haley, at the age of 25, managed to score at Butler’s right corner. This was extremely crucial for Butler, who had admirably executed two vital conversions in the victorious match against Connacht. He managed to maintain his impressive streak off the tee, ending 28-15 in the lead at half-time. However, most other elements of his performance were subpar.
A mere two minutes after the game’s resumption, Trulla intercepted Haley’s long pass, effectively shrinking the deficit to eight as he streaked down the right side. The deserved bonus point was collected and the point difference was minimised to 28-27 after 52 minutes of play when they eventually wore down Munster’s defences, allowing number eight Giovanni Licati to squeeze past.
Munster seemed incapable of a proper rebuttal as Zebre boosted their pace, persistently aiming to fight their way out of tackles and widen their scope. This effort was not in vain as they were compensated with exceptional scores.
Radiating deserved pride, Zebre took lead an hour in when Fusco reprised his decoy act, stepping inside to replace loosehead Jeremy Loughman and blitz 30 metres home, with the successful exchange bolstering their lead to 34-28.
Their superior playing continued when, three minutes later, Trulla assisted fullback Giovanni Prisciantelli, who sped down the right, landing their sixth try considering the eager anticipation of a historical victory from the home supporters.
Haley, Fitzgerald, and Conor Murray, who replaced Butler as the outhalf, worked in unity to assist Shay McCarthy in securing a last-minute try in the left corner for Munster. The kicking responsibilities were handed over to Murray, who missed a challenging conversion from the left edge, leaving the team in need of a converted try for the rescue.
However, Zebre were relentless, smoothly pulling off another brilliant turnover in the final stage of the game. This was followed by replacement outhalf Giacomo Da Re stepping up to successfully nail a 30-metre penalty kick, triggering ecstatic celebrations from the Italian team and their fans.
The triumphant penalty denied Munster a second bonus point but they couldn’t dispute the outcome and a difficult reassessment is scheduled for the coming Monday morning.
During a game with Zebre, Munster had scorers such as Coombes who managed 2 tries, along with Haley, Fitzgerald, and McCarthy who each secured a try. Butler also contributed 4 conversions. Zebre saw Trulla and Fusco (who managed 2 tries) score, while Licati and Prisciantelli also scored tries. Montemauri contributed with a penalty and 3 conversions, and Da Re also with a penalty.
The Zebre Parma lineup included G Prisciantelli, J Trulla, S Gregory, L Morisi, and S Gesi. G Montemauri and A Fusco were also part of the team. D Fischetti led the team, partnering with T Di Bartolomeo, M Nocera, M Canali, L Krumov, D Ruggeri, S Locatelli and G Licata. The team replacement list consisted of J Pitinari for Nocera, G Ferrari for Licati, F Paea for Morisi, G Ribaldi for Di Bartolomeo, A Zamboni for Krumov, D Ruggeri for Fusco and G Da Re for Montemauri.
Munster’s team comprised of M Haley, C Nash, S Daly, T Farrell, T Abrahams, T Butler, C Casey, J Wycherley, D Barron, O Jager, J Kleyn, F Wycherley, R Quinn, J Hodnett and G Coombes. Replacements included B Fitzgerald for Daly, S McCarthy for Abrahams, J Loughman for J Wycherley, J Ryan for Jager, N Scannell for Barron, J O’Donoghue for R Quinn, J Daly for F Wycherley and C Murray for Butler. Hollie Davidson from Scotland was the referee.