Zebre 10 Connacht 19:MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Connacht's opening Heineken Cup fixture against Italian newcomers Zebre may have failed to whet the appetite of the locals with a small 2,000 crowd at Stadio XXV Aprile, but it did not detract from coach Eric Elwood's satisfaction in achieving their primary aim of a victory.
“We are very happy. An away win in the Heineken is great for us,” said Elwood.
A year since making their debut in the competition, Connacht are in a different place. The Italians may have lacked the same pedigree as Harlequins in last year’s corresponding fixture, but there was a huge sense of expectation in Parma. And although the win came without frills, it was, according to Elwood, an important victory to achieve
“We are chuffed, to take an away in the Heineken regardless of who you are playing, that is a good achievement for us,” he said. “We are in a good place and now everybody is looking forward to Harlequins’ visit.”
It will require a step up in performance, given Quins 40-13 dismissal of Biarritz at the Stoop, but after Connachts memorable 9-8 victory in the final pool fixture last season, the home side will be prepared.
“Yes, there is a lot of history, but the good thing for us is that we have done the job we had to do in Parma and now we are heading into the Harlequins match with confidence.”
Certainly Elwood says Connacht will need to be more clinical. Having fashioned a host of scoring chances against Zebre in the second half, they contrived to butcher most of them. Eventually flanker John Muldoon grabbed the initiative and from a quick tap cut through to post a decisive try midway through the second half.
“We just felt if could build the phases, build the pressure and keep our composure, the opportunity would come,” said Elwood.
“When you work that hard in defence and get a good turnover, just to see the urgency of four or five guys chasing down the kick – if you do that you will see the rewards, like we did when we got the try.”
It came after a scrappy opening half in which Connacht gained the ascendancy on the scoreboard through the boot of outhalf Dan Parks. While Connacht looked to move the ball wide, Zebre exerted their influence up front. Young fullback Robbie Henshaw, aided and abetted by wings Tiernan O’Halloran and Fetu Vainikolo, always looked threatening, while Zebre fashioned their best chances from an effective rolling maul, But it was Parks’ positional and goal kicking that made the difference. While he kicked three from three in the opening 40 minutes, Zebres fullback Daniel Halangahu failed with two.
“We knew it was going to be difficult coming here, having beaten them in the Rabo, and they were certainly up for it,” said Elwood. “However, Dan’s kick just before half time gave us a cushion. To be honest I was a bit disappointed we did not build on that lead in the second half. We had four or five chances to get a couple more scores so we were not living on the seat of our pants in the last five minutes.”
With Mauro Bergamasco in the bin for what was deemed a dangerous tackle on O’Halloran, Connacht should have pushed ahead, but instead spurned several opportunities. Eventually Parks kept the scoreboard ticking over with a 60th minute penalty. Four minutes later, however, Denis Buckley produced turnover ball and, from Kieron Marmion’s downfield kick, Mike McCarthy’s chase and tackle forced the penalty from Luciano Orquera. Muldoon reacted instantly, taking a quick tap and bursting through under the posts with Parks adding the conversion to give Connacht a 19-3 lead.
Although a frustrated Zebre capitalised on Connacht errors to score a try in the 73rd minute, they failed to get anything out of their first Heineken Cup fixture.
“In the first half we were not getting enough go forward direct rugby, and we wanted to be more direct and forceful in the second half. We learned and we coped and got through in the end,” said Elwood. “We have been trying to evolve our style of play over the last two and half years. Parks has given us another dimension, but it is a young exciting backline and we are creating opportunities. It is pleasing that we are creating them, but we will need to be more clinical next week against Harlequins.”
ZEBRE: D Halangahu; G Venditti, M Pratichetti, G Garcia, S Sinoti; L Orquera, T Tebaldi; S Perugini, D Giazzon, L Redolfini; Q Geldenhuys, J Sole; N Belardo, M Bergamasco, D van Schalkwyk. Replacements: C Fesstuccia for Giazzon, C Fazzari for Redolfini, M Van Vuren for Belardo (all 52 mins), F Ferrarini for Orquera (55 mins), M Aguero for Perugini (56 mins), l Sarto for Sinoti (64 mins), R Trevisan for Garcia (65 mins). Sin bin: Bergamasco (40 mins).
CONNACHT: R Henshaw; T OHalloran, E Griffin, D McSharry, F Vainikolo; D Parks, K Marmion; D Buckley, E Reynecke, N White (capt); M Swift, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, W Faloon, G Naoupu. Replacements: R Ah You for Buckley (50 mins), J O’Connor for Faloon (58 mins), D Gannon for Swift, M Fafita for McSharry, D Moore for Marmion (all 70 mins).
Referee: L Hodges (Wales).
