Andrew Trimble's record-equalling 221st appearance for Ulster ended in bitter disappointment this afternoon in Parma, as his side slumped to their first defeat of the 2017-18 Guinness Pro14 campaign against a markedly improved Zebre team.
Ulster looked to be in control thanks to a first-half try from the winger, captaining the side today, but a fantastic recovery from the Italians with three scores inside 25 minutes meant the Ulstermen had to rely on Darren Cave’s last-minute try to secure the scant consolation of a losing bonus point.
Ulster came into the clash with four wins from four, two bonus points in the bag, and sitting third in Conference B, well within touching distance of leaders the Scarlets and Leinster, both of whom had landed narrow home victories on Friday evening.
Zebre meanwhile, back from a relatively successful stint in South Africa where a defeat to the Cheetahs and a victory over the Southern Kings yielded six points and 11 tries, kicked off in fifth place in Conference A, ahead of Welsh sides Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys.
Squad rotation was once again the name of the game for Ulster Director of Rugby Les Kiss, with full-back Charles Piutau, centre Cave and prop Rodney Ah You the only players retained from the starting XV which had put seven tries past the Dragons.
This meant seven new faces in the pack, with Callum Black and John Andrew lining up alongside Ah You in the front row, Pete Browne and Iain Henderson pairing up at lock, and an all-new back row of Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy and the rehabilitated Jean Deysel.
An experienced back line featured Trimble and Louis Ludik on the wings, with Luke Marshall partnering Cave in midfield, and the half-back tandem of Christian Lealiifano and John Cooney reinstated after a night’s rest against the Dragons.
Carlo Canna drew first blood for the Italians with an early penalty as Ulster failed to release quickly enough in the tackle for referee Mike Adamson’s liking, but the out-half missed a similar effort minutes later, and his side’s early dominance soon waned.
Four turnovers in quick succession gained Ulster valuable metres, and a late tackle on Cave won the penalty from which Piutau carved open the Zebre rearguard to offload to his skipper for the 18th-minute try.
Canna’s 50% kicking success rate continued as he first closed the gap to a single point then missed with a penalty from distance, before Ulster once again patiently made their way into the ‘22’, where a Zebre infringement handed Cooney an easy three points in front of the posts.
Low on real incident, the first half closed with an early engage from the Italians at the scrum presenting Cooney with yet another opportunity to kick for goal, once again embraced by the scrum-half to establish a seven-point lead.
Half-Time Score Zebre 6 Ulster 13
Zebre made a bright start to the second period, enjoying five minutes of fluent attacking until Piutau’s enormous clearance bought Ulster some breathing space. But a clash for a high ball which left Ludik prostrate invited Canna to kick into the gap towards the right-hand corner flag, where Giovanni Licata gratefully collected to ground the score.
Canna’s conversion levelled the scores, and as their confidence surged Zebre put together an electrifying move engineered by full-back Matteo Minozzi, who weaved Piutau-like through the Ulster defence and picked out winger Mattia Bellini, impressive throughout and fully deserving of his try.
The conversion, this time from scrum-half Marcello Violi, sailed between the posts leaving Ulster a converted try adrift, and a good 10 minutes of hard toil were required before Cooney proved his mettle with a high-pressure penalty from 35 metres.
It was his final contribution, however, as last week’s try-scorer David Shanahan came on in his place, and when Zebre were soon punished for a no-arms tackle, Lealiifano opted for touch. The decision at first seemed a good one, as Ulster mauled to the line, where replacement prop Wiehahn Herbst applied the finishing touch. However examination of the video replay footage by the TMO identified obstruction by changing of lanes in the maul as the Ulster forwards drove towards the line, and the try did not stand.
Ulster pushed on with another maul, but as they recycled with perhaps a little too much urgency, Number Eight Renato Giammarioli nipped in ahead of Iain Henderson to snatch Lealiifano’s pass, and sprinted the length of the pitch to seal the win.
Cave and replacement wing Rob Lyttle combined well to grab a late consolation, converted by the scorer Cave himself with 60 seconds to play, but the solitary bonus point was all Ulster could salvage to bring back to Belfast as Zebre gratefully cleared to touch on 80 minutes.
Ulster remain third, level on 19 points with Leinster but with an inferior score difference, and will look to get straight back to winning ways in their first interprovincial clash of the season, next Friday 6 October when Connacht are the visitors at the Kingspan Stadium.
Full-Time Score Zebre 27 Ulster 23
Zebre (15 – 9) Matteo Minozzi; Giulio Bisegni, Tommaso Boni, Tommaso Castello (c), Mattia Bellini; Carlo Canna, Marcello Violi
(1 – 8) Andrea Lovotti, Oliviero Fabiani, Dario Chistolini, David Sisi, George Biagi, Giovanni Licata, Johan Meyer, Renato Giammarioli
Replacements (16 – 23) Luhandre Luus, Sami Panico, Eduardo Bello, Leonard Krumov, Jacopo Sarto, Guglielmo Palazzani, Serafin Bordoli, Giovanbattista Venditti
Ulster (15 – 9) Charles Piutau; Andrew Trimble (c), Darren Cave, Luke Marshall, Louis Ludik; Christian Lealiifano, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Callum Black, John Andrew, Rodney Ah You, Pete Browne, Iain Henderson, Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy, Jean Deysel
Replacements: Adam McBurney, Andrew Warwick, Wiehahn Herbst, Kieran Treadwell, Nick Timoney, David Shanahan, Peter Nelson, Rob Lyttle.
Ulster looked to be in control thanks to a first-half try from the winger, captaining the side today, but a fantastic recovery from the Italians with three scores inside 25 minutes meant the Ulstermen had to rely on Darren Cave’s last-minute try to secure the scant consolation of a losing bonus point.
Ulster came into the clash with four wins from four, two bonus points in the bag, and sitting third in Conference B, well within touching distance of leaders the Scarlets and Leinster, both of whom had landed narrow home victories on Friday evening.
Zebre meanwhile, back from a relatively successful stint in South Africa where a defeat to the Cheetahs and a victory over the Southern Kings yielded six points and 11 tries, kicked off in fifth place in Conference A, ahead of Welsh sides Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys.
Squad rotation was once again the name of the game for Ulster Director of Rugby Les Kiss, with full-back Charles Piutau, centre Cave and prop Rodney Ah You the only players retained from the starting XV which had put seven tries past the Dragons.
This meant seven new faces in the pack, with Callum Black and John Andrew lining up alongside Ah You in the front row, Pete Browne and Iain Henderson pairing up at lock, and an all-new back row of Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy and the rehabilitated Jean Deysel.
An experienced back line featured Trimble and Louis Ludik on the wings, with Luke Marshall partnering Cave in midfield, and the half-back tandem of Christian Lealiifano and John Cooney reinstated after a night’s rest against the Dragons.
Carlo Canna drew first blood for the Italians with an early penalty as Ulster failed to release quickly enough in the tackle for referee Mike Adamson’s liking, but the out-half missed a similar effort minutes later, and his side’s early dominance soon waned.
Four turnovers in quick succession gained Ulster valuable metres, and a late tackle on Cave won the penalty from which Piutau carved open the Zebre rearguard to offload to his skipper for the 18th-minute try.
Canna’s 50% kicking success rate continued as he first closed the gap to a single point then missed with a penalty from distance, before Ulster once again patiently made their way into the ‘22’, where a Zebre infringement handed Cooney an easy three points in front of the posts.
Low on real incident, the first half closed with an early engage from the Italians at the scrum presenting Cooney with yet another opportunity to kick for goal, once again embraced by the scrum-half to establish a seven-point lead.
Half-Time Score Zebre 6 Ulster 13
Zebre made a bright start to the second period, enjoying five minutes of fluent attacking until Piutau’s enormous clearance bought Ulster some breathing space. But a clash for a high ball which left Ludik prostrate invited Canna to kick into the gap towards the right-hand corner flag, where Giovanni Licata gratefully collected to ground the score.
Canna’s conversion levelled the scores, and as their confidence surged Zebre put together an electrifying move engineered by full-back Matteo Minozzi, who weaved Piutau-like through the Ulster defence and picked out winger Mattia Bellini, impressive throughout and fully deserving of his try.
The conversion, this time from scrum-half Marcello Violi, sailed between the posts leaving Ulster a converted try adrift, and a good 10 minutes of hard toil were required before Cooney proved his mettle with a high-pressure penalty from 35 metres.
It was his final contribution, however, as last week’s try-scorer David Shanahan came on in his place, and when Zebre were soon punished for a no-arms tackle, Lealiifano opted for touch. The decision at first seemed a good one, as Ulster mauled to the line, where replacement prop Wiehahn Herbst applied the finishing touch. However examination of the video replay footage by the TMO identified obstruction by changing of lanes in the maul as the Ulster forwards drove towards the line, and the try did not stand.
Ulster pushed on with another maul, but as they recycled with perhaps a little too much urgency, Number Eight Renato Giammarioli nipped in ahead of Iain Henderson to snatch Lealiifano’s pass, and sprinted the length of the pitch to seal the win.
Cave and replacement wing Rob Lyttle combined well to grab a late consolation, converted by the scorer Cave himself with 60 seconds to play, but the solitary bonus point was all Ulster could salvage to bring back to Belfast as Zebre gratefully cleared to touch on 80 minutes.
Ulster remain third, level on 19 points with Leinster but with an inferior score difference, and will look to get straight back to winning ways in their first interprovincial clash of the season, next Friday 6 October when Connacht are the visitors at the Kingspan Stadium.
Full-Time Score Zebre 27 Ulster 23
Zebre (15 – 9) Matteo Minozzi; Giulio Bisegni, Tommaso Boni, Tommaso Castello (c), Mattia Bellini; Carlo Canna, Marcello Violi
(1 – 8) Andrea Lovotti, Oliviero Fabiani, Dario Chistolini, David Sisi, George Biagi, Giovanni Licata, Johan Meyer, Renato Giammarioli
Replacements (16 – 23) Luhandre Luus, Sami Panico, Eduardo Bello, Leonard Krumov, Jacopo Sarto, Guglielmo Palazzani, Serafin Bordoli, Giovanbattista Venditti
Ulster (15 – 9) Charles Piutau; Andrew Trimble (c), Darren Cave, Luke Marshall, Louis Ludik; Christian Lealiifano, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Callum Black, John Andrew, Rodney Ah You, Pete Browne, Iain Henderson, Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy, Jean Deysel
Replacements: Adam McBurney, Andrew Warwick, Wiehahn Herbst, Kieran Treadwell, Nick Timoney, David Shanahan, Peter Nelson, Rob Lyttle.