Connacht on guard for backlash from Zebre after Italians weekend annihilation

The Connacht head coach saw the game live on television, but he knew from the demoralised body language of the Zebre players that they had given up long before the final whistle.

The Italians conceded 12 tries in an embarrassing 82-12 loss to the English outfit, which was a Champions Cup record.

There was nothing to be gained by Lam parsing through video analysis. It was completely disregarded.

The New Zealand born Samoan knows full well that Connacht will face a very different animal – a dangerously wounded animal – when they take on Zebre in Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi this Sunday (4.15pm local time, 3.15pm Irish time).

Lam is also aware that Zebre, ever since the pool draw was made last Summer, has targeted this fixture as one they can spring a surprise in.

“I was at the launch of the Champions Cup and all the teams were asked, ‘what’s your goal?’ Ourselves and others said, ‘we want to get into the knock-out stages. Zebre made it very clear that their big goal is to win one game in the Champions Cup.

“Now, when you consider that their best chance is at home. And you’ve got Toulouse, Wasps and Connacht, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out which game they’re targeting. We are under no illusions that of all the visits we have made to Parma, this will be the biggest challenge that we have faced,” he said.

Lam recalled Connacht’s own experience of getting a roasting at the hands of Edinburgh in November 2013.

They lost 43-10 in the league but bounced back the following week and stunned Toulouse by recording a two-points win over the French giants at Stade Ernest Wallon. He’s certainly familiar with the ‘backlash’ psychology; and expects Zebre to throw everything at Connacht to rescue their reputations.

“We know they are taking a hammering this week from people outside saying ‘are they worthy to be in the Champions Cup?’ And they’ve been taking a hammering from their own supporters. As a rugby player, we’ve all been there, and yet there is only one way to respond, so we have no doubt they are going to come out firing.”

It is a banana-skin fixture. Connacht has improved markedly since thunder and lightning forced the abandonment of the league game against them in Italy earlier in the season. But Zebre ran in three tries against them, and were leading by 22-10 when the weather Gods intervened in mid-September.

The home team will take enormous confidence from that; and from their home displays against Glasgow and Cardiff, which they were unlucky not to win.

Lam acknowledged that Connacht will have to improve in defence, compared with their last two visits to Parma, if they are to avoid slipping up against the competition’s minnows.

The westerners are high on confidence having recorded a sweet victory over Toulouse at a rocking Sportsground on Saturday evening in what was another momentous night for the province in Europe.

John Muldoon and Co recovered from conceding nine early points, and they fought back from being 10 points down in the second half, to record a memorable 23-21 triumph.

That some supporters leaving College Road were bemoaning that the home team had scored one less try than the four needed for a bonus point against the four-times European Cup winners, just goes to show how far Lam has developed this squad.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.