The former South African international Ruan Pienaar kicked four penalties and three conversions, tallying 18 points, as the Bloemfontein-based side routed their Italian counterparts 33-15.
The 39-year-old converted tries from wing Cohen Jasper, inside centre Reinhardt Fortuin and replacement front row Louis van der Westhuizen as the South Africans dominated the contest against their United Rugby Championship rivals.
Zebre Parma fly-half Tiff Eden notched a lone first-half penalty on a tough afternoon for the hosts before late tries from Alessandro Fusco and Simone Gesi brought some respectability to the scoreboard.
The opening 40 minutes were controlled by the visitors – with the boot of Pienaar contributing 11 points. In addition to scoring a trio of penalties, the Toyota Cheetahs star converted a Jasper try – the wing intercepting an errant Eden pass on halfway to gallop over under the posts.
Further tries followed in the second half as Fortuin and Van der Westhuizen cruised over the whitewash for the visiting side.
Consolation scores from Zebre Parma’s Fusco and Gesi allowed the Italian crowd to find some solace in the final stages.
Toyota Cheetahs have an All-South African meeting with HollywoodBets Sharks next Sunday in Round 2, while Zebre Parma hosts Oyonnax Rugby on Saturday.
Scorers:
Zebre Parma: Tries: Alessandro Fusco, Simone Gesi. Conversion: Geronimo Prisciantelli. Penalty: Tiff Eden.
Toyota Cheetahs: Tries: Cohen Jasper, Reinhardt Fortuin, Louis van der Westhuizen. Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (3). Penalties: Ruan Pienaar (4).
Teams:
Zebre Parma: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Franco Smith, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Jacopo Bianchi, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dave Sisi, 3 Juan-Manuel Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Danilo Fischetti. Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Guido Volpi, 20 Taina Fox-Matamua, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Fetuli Paea, 23 Jake Polledri
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Siba Xamlashe, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Reinhardt Fortuin, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 George Lourens, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jeandrè Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Laurence Victor, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sibabalo Qoma, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Ali Mgijima.