14-man Ulster slid to their first defeat of the 2014/15 campaign in sunny Parma as a combative Zebre capitalised on their numerical advantage and a disallowed Darren Cave try to avenge their recent 33-13 reversal in round 2.
A losing bonus point will be scant consolation for the province, who were 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 – and Ulster were left to rue some of the borderline decisions of referee Peter Fitzgibbon and television match official Carlo Damasco that went against them.
A series of well-directed positional kicks from Paddy 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 TMO saw no proof of provocation leading to Fitzpatrick’s misdemeanour, the prop left the pitch with blood streaming down his somewhat bemused face, as debutant flanker Clive Ross was sacrificed to provide front row cover in the form of Wiehahn Herbst.
Ulster belied their numerical disadvantage by putting together the sharpest attack of the match to date on 15 minutes, with the speed and trickery of Michael Allen (pictured below) carving a hollow through the centre of the Italian defence, and eventual recipient Stuart McCloskey showing remarkable strength to ward off several tackles before finally being brought down close to the try-line.
Zebre failed to offer much of attacking value as the first half wore on, with the Ulster backs much more enterprising ball in hand.
However, scoring opportunities were at such a premium that Jackson opted to kick for goal from halfway on the award of a 28th-minute penalty – an effort that 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.
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. Just moments later, Rob 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 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 replacement out-half to reduce the deficit to a single point.
As the game edged into the final quarter, both teams adopted a more cautious approach, with Humphreys and Guglielmo Palazzani matching each other’s territorial kicking, measure for measure.
However, the next points came from another Haimona penalty, dispatched in the 68th minute after Ulster had strayed offside at the scrum.
With Andrew Trimble thrown into the mix – and straight into the scrum position vacated by Ross – with 10 minutes remaining, Ulster immediately played their hand, with Darren Cave (pictured above) bursting over from a sublime blind pass from Craig Gilroy – only for the TMO to overrule the score for an obstruction by Tommy 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.
Try as the visitors 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.
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