A losing bonus point will be scant consolation for the province, deprived of Declan Fitzpatrick’s services for a full 70 minutes after the prop was dismissed for throwing a punch in a collapsed maul. The Italians’ star man was centre Kelly Haimona, on target with a penalty, conversion and drop goal in the second half, but Ulster could have hoped to earn a draw from the encounter, had some of the borderline decisions of referee Peter Fitzgibbon and TMO Carlo Damasco gone in their favour.
A much-changed Ulster lineup featured ten personnel switches from the starting XV which faced the Cardiff Blues, with Franco van der Merwe and Nick Williams the only players to retain their places in the pack. An entirely new front row of Callum Black, Rob Herring and Fitzpatrick was supported by van der Merwe and Neil McComb at lock, while Roger Wilson captained from the blindside berth alongside debutant Clive Ross at openside, with Williams wearing number eight.
Among the backs, Paddy Jackson, Tommy Bowe and Darren Cave all kept their starting places, while Craig Gilroy started at full-back, Michael Allen lined up on the wing, and Stuart McCloskey and Michael Heaney made their first starts of the season at inside centre and scrum-half respectively. A strong bench included club captain Rory Best and in-form winger Andrew Trimble, keen to add to his good return of two tries from three matches to date – one of them coming in the five-try defeat of Zebre in Belfast earlier this month.
A series of well-directed positional kicks from Jackson was the highlight of a scrappy opening 10 minutes at the Stadio XXV Aprile, before a fractious reaction from Fitzpatrick at the bottom of a maul saw the tighthead shown a straight red card for a punch to the face of Andrea Manici. While the Television Match Official saw no proof of provocation leading to Fitzpatrick’s misdemeanour, the prop left the field with blood streaming down his somewhat bemused face, as Ross was sacrificed to provide front-row cover in the form of Wiehahn Herbst.
Ulster belied their numerical handicap by putting together the sharpest attack of the match to date on 15 minutes, with Allen’s speed and trickery carving a hollow through the centre of the Italian defence, and eventual ball recipient McCloskey showing remarkable strength to ward off several tackles before finally being brought down five metres from the line.
Zebre failed to offer much of attacking value as the half wore on, with the Ulster backs much more enterprising ball in hand, but scoring opportunities were at such a premium that Jackson opted to kick for goal from half-way on the award of a 28th-minute penalty - an effort which veered well wide of the posts.
Jackson’s opposite number Edoardo Padavani similarly missed his target five minutes later after indiscipline from the Ulster front row at scrum-time, bringing to an end a fragmented first period – Ulster’s first scoreless 40 minutes of the Pro12 campaign.
Half-Time Score Zebre 0 Ulster 0
The Italians started the second half in much sprightlier fashion, with winger Leonardo Sarto coming desperately close to scoring twice in the first three minutes. Sarto was firstly denied a 42nd-minute try on the call of the referee’s assistant as he just strayed into touch on the right wing while evading Allen’s diving tackle, before, in the very next minute, Herring did just enough to hold his man off the ground as he crashed over under a trio of tackles.
Zebre worked the ensuing five-metre scrum well, replacement Gonzalo Garcia flashing a try-making pass out wide to prop Dario Chistolini, who used all of his four-stone advantage over Paddy Jackson to brush aside the out-half’s challenge and ground in the corner. Feeling the full effects of the clash, Jackson made way for Ian Humphreys as Haimona neatly converted the score.
Ulster responded with urgency, as Herring and Cave carried well to earn Humphreys a penalty in front of the posts for Ulster’s first points of the encounter. Then further indiscipline from the Italians as Ulster threatened again on 53 minutes allowed the out-half to reduce the deficit to a single point.
As the game edged into its final quarter, both teams adopted a more cautious approach, with Humphreys and Guglielmo Palazzani matching each other’s territorial kicking measure for measure in the search for a game-changing defensive mistake. However the next points on the scoreboard came from another Haimona penalty, dispatched on 68 minutes after Ulster had strayed offside at the scrum.
With Trimble into the mix – and straight into the scrum position vacated by Ross – with 10 minutes remaining, Ulster immediately played their hand, with Cave bursting over from a sublime blind pass from Gilroy, only for the TMO to overrule the score for an obstruction by Bowe on Haimona in the build-up.
Ulster’s cause took a further dent three minutes later as the opportunistic Haimona kicked a drop-goal to extend the lead to seven points, and, try as Ulster might, Zebre bossed an 80th-minute scrum in front of their own posts and cleared into touch to secure their first points of the season.
Ulster now sit third in the table on 13 points, with Edinburgh the visitors to the Kingspan Stadium on Friday 3rd October (kick off 7.35pm).
Full-Time Score: Zebre 13 Ulster 6
Zebre (15 – 9): H Daniller; G Toniolatti, G Bisegni, K Haimona, L Sarto; E Padovano, G Palazzani (1 – 8): M Aguero, A Manici, D Chistolini, Q Geldenhuys (c), G F Biagi, M Bergamasco, F Cristiano, S Vunisa
Replacements (16 – 23): O Fabiani, A Lovotti, L Leibson, A Ferreira, V Bernabo, A Chillon, G Garcia, L Orquera
Ulster (15 – 9): C Gilroy; T Bowe, D Cave, S McCloskey, M Allen; P Jackson, M Heaney (1 – 8): C Black, R Herring, D Fitzpatrick, N McComb, F van der Merwe, R Wilson (c), C Ross, N Williams
Replacements (16 – 23): R Best, R Murphy, W Herbst, L Stevenson, M McComish, P Marshall, I Humphreys, A Trimble