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G. Licata (43'), A. Ortombina (63'), G. Montemauri (72')
Tries
H. Walker (12', 28'), J. Stockdale (20'), D. McCann (47'), M. Lowry (70'), M. Moloney (77')
G. Re (44'), G. Montemauri (63', 73')
Conversions
N. Doak (13', 29', 48'), J. Benson (71', 78')
If there was any hangover from last season’s Montpellier mauling, Ulster didn’t show it in Parma. They were cold-eyed when it mattered, turning clean platforms into points and building a 19-0 cushion that dictated everything after. Against a Zebre side that actually beat more defenders and pinched more turnovers, the difference was simple: the visitors finished their chances, the hosts didn’t.
Ulster’s 100% returns on both scrum and lineout gave them unruffled launch ball and the field position to squeeze. Two first-half strikes from Henry Walker and a sharp finish by Jacob Stockdale were less about sparkle than about accuracy: win the set piece, win the gain line, take the points. That left Zebre chasing the game from a long way out, and while they found punches after the break, they never got close enough to make Ulster panic for long.
This was not a domination across the park. Zebre’s engine room and loose trio carried hard, and their defence held up well in space. But where Zebre’s approach play fizzed, Ulster were more clinical near the chalk — six tries to three, from fewer breaks, tells you who made better decisions in the red zone.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAKS
TACKLE
TACKLES MISSED
TURNOVERS WON
PENALTIES CONCEDED
YELLOW CARDS
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
The game’s axis sat in that 12–28-minute burst. Once Walker had his first and Stockdale cut through, Ulster stopped playing in their own half. The visitors trusted their set piece to re-apply pressure and were rewarded when Walker doubled up off another tidy launch. It wasn’t flashy — it didn’t need to be. With scoreboard pressure set at 19-0, Zebre were forced into lower-percentage plays and chase kicks rather than the territorial discipline they’d have preferred.
Credit to Zebre for changing the temperature straight after the interval. Giovanni Licata hit a smart line for 19-7 and the crowd woke up. The contact work was there all afternoon — 11 turnovers won is real disruption — and they carried that into Ulster’s danger zone. The problem was that Ulster’s reply arrived at exactly the right moment: Dave McCann punching through on 47 minutes to restore a three-score buffer and puncture the hosts’ lift.
The only stretch where Ulster lost their handle came with the bin. Jack Murphy was carded just past the hour and Zebre immediately cashed in through Alessandro Ortombina for 26-14. Parma sensed a live contest again because Ulster’s tackle accuracy had dipped and the visitors were slow to fold in the tramlines. That 78% completion rate — paired with 25 defenders beaten — is the big red flag Ulster will carry into the next rounds.
Then came the moment that decided whether we’d have a tight finish or not. With momentum, Zebre coughed up the lifeline; Patricio Baronio saw yellow on 68 minutes and Ulster’s bench struck immediately. Michael Lowry, just on at full-back, read the fractured edge perfectly to score on 70 and reset the gap to three scores again. From there, the game was only going one way. Zebre hit back via Giovanni Montemauri, but Ulster closed with interest, Martin Moloney finishing off late pressure and Jamie Benson nailing his kicks to land the final punch at 40-21.
Individually, Ulster had match-winners at key beats rather than a single star turn. Walker’s brace built the whole narrative. McCann’s timing blunted Zebre’s best passage. Lowry brought the ruthlessness off the bench, and Benson’s 2/2 off the tee underlined calm game management after Nathan Doak had set the tone at 3/4. Less headline-grabbing but equally important, Juarno Augustus’s 26 carries gave Ulster steady go-forward whenever their shape frayed, and Cormac Izuchukwu’s busy shift kept Zebre honest at the rucks.
Zebre didn’t fold; they were most dangerous when the pace lifted and their carriers worked short, sharp seams around the corner. Licata, Ortombina and Montemauri provided genuine thrust, and their backfield looked lively when given turnover ball. But discipline at the key moment killed their shot. An 88% lineout is serviceable, yet against Ulster’s perfection it meant too few uncontested launches in the right parts of the field. Add the yellow card at 68 minutes and the margin grew from competitive to comfortable in two phases.
Does 40-21 flatter Ulster? A touch. Zebre’s mid-second-half surge, the turnover count and their tackle percentage argue for a closer look. But when set-piece certainty meets clinical finishing, the board reflects it. Ulster didn’t need to dominate possession or the collision to win by three scores; they needed to be clear-headed where it counts. They were.
What now? For Ulster, this is the European blueprint they needed after last year’s final: a reliable set piece, decisive red-zone options, and a bench that changes the temperature. The work-ons are obvious — tackle accuracy and composure during momentum swings — but five points away to start Pool 1 puts them where they want to be. For Zebre, there’s real bite in their contact work and enough strike to stress good teams, yet they leave with the familiar frustration: a few shaky lineouts, a soft card, and insufficient conversion of breaks. Fix those and Parma becomes a far trickier stop in this pool.
