Connacht 33 Zebre 3
Such were the conditions that some 2,000 sold ticketholders stayed away from the Sportsground on Friday night, but it did not dent Connacht’s march towards their fourth successive Pro12 victory as they claimed a victory over Zebre.
Although the pitch had passed a ground inspection, this was the second time these two sides have been forced to trade punches in near unplayable conditions.
However, on this occasion the match was completed and Connacht were able to grind out a bonus-point win to complete a successful block of four before the break. 'Professional effort' " All in all a really good professional effort," said coach Pat Lam. "It was tough to get the win, but I was really happy with the type of rugby we played and the quality to get the bonus point in those conditions and keep a clean slate in our defence for weeks in a row."
Connacht opened with a try after seven minutes, capitalising on territorial control and possession before a solid scrum set up the scoring platform for Niyi Adeolokun to score in the corner with scrumhalf John Cooney adding the touchline conversion.
Given the constant rain on a soft ground, knock-ons were commonplace throughout the opening half, while Connacht abandoned their traditional counterattack from deep in preference for territory finders.
Lewis Stephenson and Andrew Browne put in big shifts in the pack to secure possession and centre Tom Farrell, looking more at home in the backline, set up another try scoring platform with a block down, but flanker Eoin McKeon was harshly penalised for having interfered with scrumhalf Guiglielmo Palazzani in the race for the ball.
Two minutes later, however, openside flanker Naulia Dawai produced some magic out wide, dancing through the cover to secure the second try.
Cooney’s conversion attempt hitting the upright, and as they Connacht spurned several late penalties, the Italians took heart, opening their account with a Palazzani penalty after the restart.
In a period of domination they missed a penalty attempt and were denied a try through knock-on before Connacht’s bench made an impact.
A super break from Kieran Marmion turned the tide in favour of the home side again as he slid within 20 metres of the line and, from a quick tap penalty, replacement John Muldoon hit the line to post a third try after 61 minutes.
Connacht grabbed the bonus-point try in the 65th minute after the returning Andrew Browne secured lineout ball and Connacht drove towards the line before referee Marius Mitreus awarded the penalty try.
Lewis Stephenson crowned a solid performance with a 74th-minute try, which replacement Craig Ronaldson converted for a comfortable victory.
CONNACHT: T O'Halloran; N Adeolokun, B Aki, T Farrell, S Ili; S Crosbie, J Cooney; R Loughney, T McCartney, D Robertson-McCoy, L Stephenson, A Browne, E McKeon, N Dawai, E Masterson.
Replacements: K Marmion for Cooney (half-time), D Buckley for Loughney and F Bealham for Robertson-McCoy (both 63 mins ), J Muldoon for Masterson (56 mins ), J Carty for Crosbie (63 mins ), Q Roux for Browne (68 mins), C Ronaldson for O’Halloran and D Heffernan for McCartney (both 70 mins).
ZEBRE: D Berryman; M Bellini, T Boni, T Castello, L Greeff; S Bordoli G Palazzani; B Postiglioni O Fabiani, D Chistolini, Q Geldenbuys, V Bernabo, M Cornelli, G Koegelenber.
Replacements: B Le Roux for Chistolini and J Furno for Bernabo (both 48 mins), A de Marchi for Postiglioni (56 mins), T D’Aspice for Fabiano and Pratichetti for Tommaso (both 58 mins), M Arcgetti for Geldenhuys (66 mins).
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
