Winger Gesi Simone's brace of tries helped Zebre Parma secure a 20-17 win against the Dragons RFC after trailing 08-12 at the halftime break.
The home side had been down 12-8 at half-time, with Dragons RFC fly-half Cai Evans more than happy to punish any Zebre Parma mistakes, kicking four first-half penalties.
But the Italian club scored the first period's only try via Gesi, and while Giovanni Montemauri missed the conversion he added three from the tee soon after to ensure there was hope for the hosts in the second period.
They led soon after the restart, with Jacopo Bianchi crossing to give them the lead, and Montemauri converting, and the hosts were not done there as Gesi finished well for his second try and Zebre Parma’s third.
Evans then missed a crucial penalty, but Dragons RFC were not done yet, Jared Rosser gathered a cross-field kick well to finish in the corner for an unconverted score and bring them back within three of their hosts, setting up an enthralling final 20 minutes.
But Zebre Parma held firm and Dragons RFC were unable to get the points they needed, the hosts holding on for a vital win in Pool 1.
Scorers:
Zebre Parma: Tries: Simone Gesi (2), Jacopo Bianchi. Conversion: Giovanni Montemauri. Penalty: Giovanni Montemauri.
Dragons RFC: Try: Jared Rosser. Penalties: Cai Evans (4).
Teams
Zebre Parma: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Luca Morisi (captain), 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giovanni Montemauri, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Davide Ruggeri, 7 Jacopo Bianchi, 6 Guido Volpi, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Leonardo Krumov, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Danilo Fischetti. Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Juan-Manuel Pitinari, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Giacomo Ferrari, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 23 Scott Gregory.
Dragons RFC: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Aneurin Owen, 12 Harri Ackermann, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams (captain), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 George Nott, 4 Sean Lonsdale, 3 Luke Yendle, 2 James Benjamin, 1 Rhodri Jones. Replacements: 16 Bradley Roberts, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Ollie Griffiths, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Steff Hughes, 23 Ewan Rosser.
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