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John Muldoon insists Connacht will not be under-estimating Zebre when they look to make it two wins from two in the European Rugby Champions Cup. - 19/10/2016 18:12
John Muldoon insists Connacht will not be under-estimating Zebre when they look to make it two wins from two in the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The Irish province claimed a superb comeback victory over four-time winners Toulouse in their Pool 2 opener at the Sportsground in Galway.
After a slow start to the season Pat Lam’s men have found their feet in recent weeks and are now turning in performances reminiscent of those that helped them win the Guinness PRO12 title in style last season.
Having seen off the French giants, they now make the trip to Italy to face a Zebre side reeling from their heavy defeat at the hands of Wasps.
The Aviva Premiership team beat their previous best European marks for points scored, tries scored and margin of victory as they romped to 82-14 victory at the Ricoh Arena.
Few would bet against Connacht picking up a full five-point haul given the respective results from the opening weekend, but flanker Muldoon is having none of it and insists the visitors already have their feet back on the ground and are fully focused and respectful of the task at hand.
“Everyone is disrespecting Zebre after the result they had against Wasps but we are not going to be disrespecting them,” said the Ireland international.
But there is a huge belief around this side and everyone fits in. There would have been times in the past when lads would have jumping up to the ceiling at beating a side who maybe did not have the tradition and heritage of Toulouse but that is not the case with this side.
“I think we have come a long way and we know that we are making a lot of mistakes still and we know that we can still improve our game in a few areas.
“We have left multiple opportunities out there in games this season but we are starting to find a way to make the most of them. We know we will need a good professional performance if we are to get the outcome we want against Zebre and that has been the focus.”
Match Facts
- This will be the fifth meeting between the clubs in Europe with Connacht winning each of the previous four.
- Zebre have been restricted to 14 points or fewer in each of their six home games in the Champions Cup, losing each of those matches.
- Connacht won two of their three away games the last time they were in the Champions Cup, beating Zebre and Toulouse in 2013/14.
- Zebre missed 45 tackles during the defeat by Wasps in Round 1, managing a tackle completion rate of just 75%.
- Connacht’s tally of 18 clean breaks against Toulouse was the most in Round 1.
Stacey Ili scored a hat-trick as Connacht romped to their biggest win in the European Rugby Champions Cup with an eight-try demolition of 14-man Zebre. - 23/10/2016 18:17
Stacey Ili scored a hat-trick as Connacht romped to their biggest win in the European Rugby Champions Cup with an eight-try demolition of 14-man Zebre.
Wing Ili crossed three times in an eventful clash at Stadio Lanfranchi that also saw two yellow cards and a red, in the first half, for Zebre hooker Oliviero Fabiani.
Connacht full-back Cian Kelleher also crossed twice in the second half as the Guinness Pro12 champions smashed their previous record score – also against Zebre – in this tournament.
It was a world away from Connacht’s visit to Parma last month when they trailed the home side at half-time when a torrential downpour saw the game abandoned. This time Pat Lam’s side made their intentions clear from the opening exchanges though were helped by Italian mistakes.
Zebre saw centre Tommaso Boni withdraw before kick-off and it was a mistake in midfield under their own posts that put Connacht on the front foot. Craig Ronaldson thought he was over but the video official ruled a double movement.
Pressure told in the tenth minute when Ili raced onto Jack Carty’s kick to touch down in the corner and Ronaldson converted. Carty then scored himself but it was courtesy of Peter Robb’s bone-crunching tackle on Carlo Canna that dislodged the ball and the fly-half galloped in from the half-way line.
Sean O’Brien was binned for knocking the ball out of Marcello Violi’s hands on 29 minutes but worse was to come for Zebre just seconds later when hooker Fabiani was dismissed by French referee Mathieu Raynal for biting Connacht lock Quinn Roux.
Ili grabbed his second try just a minute into the second half and Zebre were down to 13 men when centre Tommy Castello was ruled to have deliberately infringed at a ruck.
Ili saw a third try ruled out for a forward pass but Connacht still made their advantage count with three tries in a remarkable six-minute blitz. The forwards applied enough pressure to earn a penalty try, Kelleher skipped over for this first and prop Conor Carey touched down between 51 and 55 minutes.
Zebre at least avoided a whitewash when Tommason D’Apice dived over from a yard out only for Kelleher and Ili to complete the rout.
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