Riding high Connacht send Zebre Parma packing, Sharks chomp Cardiff

Connacht ran in eight tries in a high-scoring clash with URC basement dwellers Zebre.

The 48-27 victory was Connacht’s second of the season but Zebre earned their first point by virtue of scoring five tries themselves.

It took only five minutes for Giacomo Ferrari to cross for the first Zebre try but Finlay Bealham quickly responded and Sean Jansen added a second for Connacht 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 notched his fourth conversion when Cian Prendergast went over for Connacht’s five try in just over half an hour, and another one back for Mirko Belloni made it 33-17 at the break.

The returning Dave Heffernan and Harry West added further tries after half-time before Zebre managed a late flurry to earn a bonus point, Giampietro Ribaldi and Bautista Stavile Bravin crossing. Heffernan then had the final word of a breathless encounter with his second.

Elsewhere, Sharks returned to winning ways in the United Rugby Championship with a 36-21 victory over Cardiff.

It took just two minutes for Sharks to hit the front when Ethan Hooker dotted down but Cardiff replied within minutes when Josh Adams to finished in the corner and they took a two-point lead when Jarrod Evan converted.

Sharks thought they had retaken the lead when Zekhethelo Siyaya sidestepped a couple of Cardiff defenders to score but the TMO ruled the try out due to a knock-on from Nick Hatton in the lead-up.

But they were not to be denied on the half-hour mark when Matt Romao went over the whitewash, and second-row Jason Jenkins powered over on the stroke of half-time to give the Sharks a 10-point lead heading into the break.

Cardiff managed to turn the game on its head within 18 minutes of the second half courtesy of a couple of tries from James Botham.

But Sharks scored three unanswered tries to make sure the points went back to South Africa when Thomas du Toit powered over as well as an effort from Ethan Bester and Romao’s second of the night to finish the scoring and hand them a third win.