mens
United-rugby-championship
Connacht ran in eight tries in a high-scoring clash with URC basement dwellers Zebras.
The 48-27 win was Connacht’s second of the season, but Zebras earned their first point thanks to scoring five tries themselves.
It took just five minutes for Giacomo Ferrari to score Zebre’s first try, but Finlay Bealham responded quickly and Sean Jansen added Connacht’s second with just 14 minutes on the clock.
The Irish side were relentless in attack and there were further tries for Cathal Forde and Sam Gilbert before Jacopo Botturi grabbed Zebre’s second.
Ciaran Frawley scored his fourth conversion as Cian Prendergast made it five Connacht tries in just over half an hour and another back for Mirko Belloni made it 33-17 at the break.
Returning Dave Heffernan and Harry West added further tries after half-time before Zebre struck late on to earn the bonus point, Giampietro Ribaldi and Bautista Stavile Bravin crossing. Heffernan then had the last word on the breathless encounter with his secondary.
elsewhere, Sharks returned to winning ways in United Rugby Championship with a 36-21 win over Cardiff.
It took just two minutes for the Sharks to hit the front when Ethan Hooker scored, but Cardiff responded within minutes when Josh Adams finished in a corner and they went two points ahead when Jarrod Evan converted.
The Sharks thought they had retaken the lead when Zekhethelo Siyaya rounded several Cardiff defenders to score, but the TMO disallowed the attempt due to Nick Hatton’s knockdown in the lead.
But they were not to be denied on the half-hour mark when Matt Romao crossed the white paint and second-row Jason Jenkins crossed on the stroke of half-time to give the Sharks a 10-point lead at the break.
Cardiff managed to turn the game around within 18 minutes of the second half thanks to a couple of tries from James Botham.
But the Sharks scored three unanswered tries to make sure the points came back to South Africa when Thomas du Toit powered over, as did Ethan Bester and Romao’s effort in the second leg to complete the scoring and hand them their third win.