CONNACHT GOT LIFE under Pat Lam off to a winning start at the Sportsground today with a 25 – 16 RaboDirect Pro12 win over Zebre.
An early Nathan White try gave the westerners a solid early platform. The tight-head got his hands on a poor short Italian line-out after just four minutes and trundles the entire 25 metres to the try-line.
On a difficult day for Dan Parks, the number 10 struck the upright with the subsequent conversion and he would go on to miss two further penalties in the first half.
The western province held just a 5-3 lead coming up to the 30-minute mark. However, after Parks drove play into the attacking third with a penalty, Connacht were able to work a fluid which ended in Matt Healy one-on-one with his man on the left wing. He took full advantage, beating the defender and grounding a score in the corner which Parks would convert.
The maximum score settled the hosts and Parks began turning Zebre on their heels and that paid dividends, a third successful kick for Parks would bring the score to 15 -3 at the break.
If the first quarter from the hosts was scrappy, the third was even more disappointing as Zebre took to the field with renewed purpose.
For all the belief, that period of territorial and contact dominance managed to yield just six points through two Luciano Orquera penalties.
With the score 15-9 on the hour, Connacht escaped their half for the second time in the half, but almost instantly forced a penalty as the visitors failed to roll away in time. Parks, after a shaky opening, made no mistake.
Former New Zealand under 20 star Jake Heenan made his debut for the province and impressed with some hard-fought turnovers at crucial times.
Lock Aly Muldowney, ex-Munster man Sean Henry and Ulster Bank League player of the year Criag Ronaldson also won their first Connacht cap, but it was Heenan who caught the eye after replacing George Naoupu and injecting life into the westerners again.
Lam’s men attacked from deep with 10 minutes remaining, Robbie Henshaw taking a pass from Tiernan O’Halloran and breaking into the 22 before coughing the ball up in the tackle just shy of the five-metre line.
A flag from the touch-judge give Parks a chance to extend the lead. He missed his fourth kick of the day, but Matteo Pratichetti’s yellow card soon opened up space for Paul O’Donohoe to exploit and his offload sent Carr in for a score on his return to the Sportsground.
Connacht, suddenly, could start thinking about bonus points, but the remaining four minutes brought no big finish. Instead, Luca Redolfini crossed over for Zebre’s opening try of the new season.
Connacht: R Henshaw; F Carr, D Poolman, E Griffin, M Healy; D Parks, K Marmion; B Wilkinson, J Harris-Wright, N White; M Swift (c), A Browne; J Muldoon, W Faloon, G Naoupu.Replacements: S Henry, R Ah You, R Loughney, A Muldowney, J Heenan, F Murphy, C Ronaldson, T O’Halloran.
