Ospreys stunned as Zebre climb off bottom of URC
United Rugby Championship
Zebre: (12) 22
Tries: Gesi 2, Trulla Cons: Da Re 2 Pen: Da Re
Ospreys: (10) 17
Tries: Kasende, Lloyd Cons: Williams 2 Pen: Williams
Zebre claimed a rare United Rugby Championship (URC) victory against out-of-sorts Ospreys in Parma.
The Italian side had not beaten a Welsh region since Dragons’ visit in April 2022, but were deserved winners at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.
Simone Gesi scored twice in the first half, while Daniel Kasende kept the visitors in touch.
Jacopo Trulla crossed to extend Zebre’s lead after the break, while a late Lewis Lloyd effort gave Ospreys hope in the dying minutes.
But Zebre held out to claim a second big scalp of the season, having also beaten Munster in round two.
They rise off the bottom of the URC, where they are replaced by Dragons who were beaten by Cardiff in the Welsh derby earlier in the day.
Ospreys are just a place above Zebre in 14th as their disappointing season continues.
Zebre got on the scoreboard after just six minutes and led from that point on.
They initially made inroads on the right wing before neat handling saw the ball shipped across field where Gesi was waiting to go over in the corner.
Ospreys looked rusty as they tried to respond, with the damp conditions proving testing for both sides, but they eventually got their breakthrough at the end of the first quarter.
The forwards showed great patience before Kasende was released to score on his wing.
The game, which lacked quality, roared back to life just before the half hour mark with flanker Bautista Staville Bravin making a clean break into Ospreys’ 22 to announce his first appearance of the campaign.
The defence did well to scramble, but a well-weighted grubber kick from Geronimo Prisciantelli was superbly plucked from the air one-handedly by Gesi, who finished well for his second of the night.
Ospreys began to string a few passes together as the half drew to a close, but with the try line begging, Harri Deaves knocked on as he attempted a pick and go.
Ospreys did salvage a penalty, which Owen Williams kicked, to reduce the deficit to two points as the teams headed down the tunnel.
Zebre continued to threaten after the break with an early driving line-out making good ground, and with the defence sucked in, Giacomo Da Re threw a long pass out to Trulla, who did well to shrug off Jack Walsh to score.
While conditions threatened to improve, Ospreys continued to struggle at the breakdown with their penalty count creeping up.
A turning point presented itself on 70 minutes. Zebre had a penalty overturned when Staville Bravin was marched back for celebrating a turnover in the face of his opposite number.
It gave back possession to the visitors and after a lengthy spell of attacking pressure they eventually set up a driving maul which saw replacement hooker Lloyd peel away to go over.
That set up a tense final five minutes with Ospreys only needing a try to clinch victory and while they threw everything at Zebre, Kasende was turned over in the final 10 seconds as the hosts and their fans celebrated a famous win.
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth told S4C: “I’m disappointed, we had plenty of opportunities at the right end of the pitch, [but we] couldn’t execute well enough and we got killed at the breakdown.
"It was very difficult, the referee penalised them strongly, we didn’t change behaviour, but we need to be better.
"Credit to Zebre for the result and the way they approached the match, they were everything we weren’t.
"They didn’t have the opportunities that we had, but they converted them on the scoreboard and that’s all that matters."
Zebre Parma: Prisciantelli (capt); Trulla, Bertaccini, Lucchin, Gesi; Da Re, Fusco; Luca Rizzoli, Di Bartolomeo, Neculai, Zambonin, Krumov, Nasove, Stavile, Ferrari
Replacements: Bigi, Hasa, Nocera, Canali, Licata, Garcia, Montemauri, Morisi
Ospreys: Walsh; Kasende, Watkin, K Williams, Giles; O Williams, Hardy; Phillips, Parry, Botha, Fender, Greatbanks, Deaves, Tipuric, Morris (capt)
Replacements: Lloyd, S Thomas, Warren, L Jones, T Davies, L Davies, Hopkins, Nagy
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant referees: Mike English & Amber Stamp-Dunstan (WRU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)
