Munster cough up six tries in first loss to Zebre
Munster’s Craig Casey and Shay McCarthy after the Zebre loss. Picture: INPHO/Luca Sighinolfi
On the 21st time of asking Zebre took the Munster scalp at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Saturday afternoon, as Munster shipped six tries in an embarrassing URC defeat.
An early injury to Shane Daly in the sixth minute saw Bryan Fitzgerald debut for Munster in the centre, and this was compounded when Zebre out-half Giovanni Montemauri split the posts in the 10th minute to give his side an early lead.
Munster got themselves into the Zebre 22 thanks to a 50-22 kick by Craig Casey, and they capitalised when the 100-cap man Gavin Coombes blasted over from close range in the 19th minute.
Zebre have a reputation for playing an attacking brand of rugby, and they displayed this in the 22nd minute when Montemauri put Trulla away along the right touchline, and the winger gleefully scored in the corner.
Two minutes later the Munster defence was carved open once more when scrum-half Alessandro Fusco sold Oli Jager a dummy and scored under the posts.
Munster needed quick points and Coombes, again, muscled his way over the line in the 30th minute. Five minutes later Munster crossed once more after a superb break by Ruadhán Quinn, which allowed Casey to find Mike Haley loitering on the right wing with a long looping pass to dot down.
With the last play of the half Munster grabbed a fourth as Haley put Fitzgerald away in the right corner, as Munster led 15-28 at the break.
The start of the second half did not go to plan as a loose Haley pass was plucked out of the air by Trulla, who raced home to score his second, and in the 52nd minute, number eight Giovanni Licata crashed over to make it 27-28.
Fusco had dummied Jager in the first half, and he repeated the trick in the 55th minute, with Jeremy Loughman this time being fooled, as he ran in the simplest of tries from the base of a ruck.
It was wave after wave of Zebre attacks now, with Geronimo Prisciantelli being the next to cross, as he walked in a try in the 63rd minute, for a 24th unanswered point for Zebre in the second half.
Munster got a lifeline when Shay McCarthy scored in the 76th minute after slick play from Haley, Fitzgerald and Conor Murray, but Zebre killed the game with a late penalty to ensure Munster could not even leave with a losing bonus point.
G Montemauri (1 pen, 3 cons), G Da Re (1 pen), J Trulla, A Fusco (2 tries each), S Locatelli, G Prisciantelli (1 try each).
T Butler (4 cons), G Coombes (2 tries), M Haley, B Fitzgerald, S McCarthy (1 try each).
G Prisciantelli; J Trulla, G Bertaccini, L Morisi, S Gesi; G Montemauri, A Fusco; D Fischetti (c), T Di Bartolomeo, M Nocera; M Canali, L Krumov; D Ruggeri, S Locatelli, G Licata.
J Pitinari for M Nocera (35), G Ferrari for G Licata (52), G Ribaldi, L Rizzoli, A Zambonin for D Fischetti, T Di Bartolomeo and L Krumov (59), B Gauna and G Da Re for A Fusco and G Montemauri (62).
M Haley; C Nash, S Daly, T Farrell, T Abrahams; T Butler, C Casey; J Wycherley, D Barron (c), O Jager; J Kleyn, F Wycherley; R Quinn, J Hodnett, G Coombes.
B Fitzgerald for S Daly (6), S McCarthy for T Abrahams (22), J Loughman and J Ryan for J Wycherley and O Jager (47), N Scannell and J O’Donoghue for D Barron and R Quinn (52), J Daly for F Wycherley (58), C Murray for T Butler (70), F Wycherley for J Daly (73).
Hollie Davidson (SRU).
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