Irish Rugby

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Zebre (15) 42

Tries: Trulla 2, Fusco 2, Licata, Prisciantelli Cons: Montemauri 3 Pens: Montemauri, Da Re

Munster (28) 33

Tries: Coombes 2, Haley, Fitzgerald, McCarthy Cons: Butler 4

Zebre secured a stunning first-ever win over Munster as they recovered from a 13-point half-time deficit to cause a major upset by defeating the Irish province 42-33 in the United Rugby Championship match between the teams at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.

The Italian side ran in six tries to clinch a bonus point and end a 14-game losing streak in the competition since they drew 22-22 with Cardiff in November 2023.

Munster, narrow winners over Connacht in their season opener, had won all 20 of their previous meetings with Zebre and were unbeaten against Italian opposition in more than a decade before their loss in Parma.

The 2023 champions had a bonus point in the bag by the interval as tries from Gavin Coombes (2), Mike Haley and Bryan Fitzgerald helped their side lead 28-15.

Jacopo Trulla and Alessandro Fusco were the first-half try-scorers for the hosts.

Zebre put the next 24 points on the board as Trulla and Fusco registered their second tries and Giovanni Licata and Geronimo Prisciantelli also crossed for the home side.

Shay McCarthy's touchdown, followed by Tony Butler's fourth conversion, gave Munster hope of a recovery but a late Giacomo Da Re penalty eased any nerves for the home side and ensured that their opponents left empty-handed.

Giovanni Montemauri contributed a penalty and three conversions for the victors, who had lost 22-17 away to Cardiff on the opening weekend.

Zebre: Geronimo Prisciantelli, Jacopo Trulla, Giulio Bertaccini, Luca Morisi,Simone Gesi, Giovanni Montemauri, Alessandro Fusco, Danilo Fischetti (CAPT), Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Matteo Nocera, Matteo Canali, Leonard Krumov, Davide Ruggeri, Samuele Locatelli, Giovanni Licata

Replacements: Giampietro Ribaldi, Luca Rizzoli, Juan Pitinari, Andrea Zambonin, Giacomo Ferrari, Patricio Baronio, Scott Gregory, Giacomo Da Re

Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, Tom Farrell, Thaakir Abrahams; Tony Butler, Craig Casey; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Ruadhán Quinn, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes

Replacements: Niall Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Jack Daly, Jack O'Donoghue, Conor Murray, Bryan Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy.

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy says his squad are "learning all the time" after they went down 35-22 to the Lions in their United Rugby Championship game in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The hosts racked up five tries, with the Irish province scoring four to salvage a bonus point from the encounter.

"We have a lot of young guys out there for the first time in South Africa playing at this level so it’s been a good experience," said Murphy.

"Disappointed with the result but happy to go away with a bonus point. I thought maybe in that last play we might have been able to get back up and get a second bonus point [for being within seven points] but it wasn’t to be.

"Part of our strategy today was not to play too much at our end but our kicking game was a little bit loose and we weren’t getting into the contestable areas."

Murphy conceded that the South African side were deserving of their victory after dominating possession and territory for long spells, particularly in the first half.

"The Lions deserved their win. We started poorly and we couldn’t get into the game, with 75% territory against us. Our kicking game let us down a little bit, which normally is quite strong.

“A couple of decisions go against you early on and then you’re on the back foot so I thought the lads showed real good courage to come back in and get back into it in the second half, then we concede a couple of easy scores and the game gets away from you again.

“The few refereeing decisions which went against us early on I think have a big bearing on the game."

Ulster will next move to Pretoria where they will face the Bulls on 5 October.

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John Cooney and Stuart McCloskey are among those recalled to an Ulster team showing eight changes for Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against the Lions in Johannesburg (11:55 BST).

Cooney has recovered from a hamstring injury to replace Nathan Doak at scrum-half while McCloskey is back to partner Stewart Moore in midfield.

South African winger Werner Kok earns his first start after coming off the bench in last week's win over URC champions Glasgow in Belfast.

There are five changes in the pack. Andy Warwick and Tom O'Toole replace Eric O'Sullivan and Corrie Barrett as the props with Alan O'Connor captaining the team from the second row alongside Kieran Treadwell.

Matty Rea and Sean Reffell are recalled as the flankers. Head coach Richie Murphy - who is without Emerging Ireland players Cormac Izuchukwu, Jude Postlethwaite and Harry Sheridan - opts for a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench.

Ulster beat the Lions in Belfast last season but lost both of their matches in South Africa in March, losing to the Sharks and the Stormers.

After Saturday's game, Ulster travel to Pretoria to face the Bulls on 5 October.

Ulster: Ethan McIlroy; Werner Kok, Stewart Moore, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Aidan Morgan, John Cooney; Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Tom O’Toole; Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor (capt); Matty Rea, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.

Replacements: James McCormick, Eric O’Sullivan, Corrie Barrett, Iain Henderson, James McNabney, Nathan Doak, Mike Lowry, David McCann.

Listen to Lions v Ulster on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Foyle & BBC Sport website from 11:45 BST on Saturday.

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Scrum-half John Cooney has been included in Ulster's 30-man travelling squad for their upcoming United Rugby Championship double-header in South Africa while Tadgh McElroy has joined the club.

Cooney missed last weekend's opening URC win over Glasgow because of injury but has returned to full training this week.

Ulster have also confirmed that former Connacht and Leinster hooker McElroy has joined the club on a "short-term injury cover basis".

The 27-year-old former Ireland U20 international joins at a time when Ulster hookers Rob Herring and Tom Stewart are sidelined through injury.

Ireland centre Stuart McCloskey is also included in the squad after missing the Glasgow game.

Ulster face the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday (11:55 BST) before taking on the Bulls in Pretoria on 5 October (15:00 BST).

Backs: John Cooney, Nathan Doak, Dave Shanahan, Aidan Morgan, James Humphreys, Jacob Stockdale, Mike Lowry, Ben Moxham, Werner Kok, Stuart McCloskey, Stewart Moore, Ben Carson, Ethan McIlroy

Forwards: Andy Warwick, Eric O’Sullivan, Callum Reid, John Andrew, James McCormick, Tadgh McElroy, Tom O’Toole, Corrie Barrett, Iain Henderson (capt), Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell, Charlie Irvine, James McNabney, Matty Rea, Sean Reffell, David McCann, Nick Timoney.

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Ireland have returned to the top of the World Rugby rankings after South Africa's defeat by Argentina at the weekend.

The Springboks were beaten 29-28 by the Pumas in the penultimate round of the Rugby Championship on Saturday.

The loss in Santiago cost the back-to-back world champions 1.81 ranking points and they now trail Andy Farrell's men by 0.35 points.

The Springboks had been top since overtaking Ireland 11 months ago when the Six Nations champions lost at the quarter-final stage of last year's World Cup in France.

The sides split a two-Test series in July.

Elsewhere in the rankings, Fiji have taken ninth place from Australia after their win over Japan in the Pacific Nations Cup.

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Ulster's David Shanahan says having to wait so long for his opportunities makes moments like Saturday night's winning try against Glasgow Warriors all the sweeter.

The 31-year-old made his debut for the province over 11 years ago but has spent the majority of his professional career as their third choice nine.

With John Cooney starting the season nursing an injury, the Dublin native was named on the bench against the URC champions and capped off a lengthy cameo in the dramatic 20-19 win with the all-important try four minutes into additional time.

"It does, yeah," he said when asked if the game-clinching score in the season's first game feels like a case of perseverance rewarded.

"I try to stay pretty consistent with how I think. It's up to the coaches to pick the best player and who the best two nines are.

"The way I look at it is, when I get a chance, play my very best. That's all I can do. I was happy I was able to make a decent impact, anyway."

Shanahan admitted he did not know why his score was checked by the TMO, with the delay giving the province's players and supporters a nervy wait.

Ulster's celebrations were put on ice as, while Aidan Morgan was lining up the conversion attempt with the game seemingly won, the try was reviewed by the match officials before being confirmed.

"Maybe it was illegal but the scoreline's there now and it can't be changed.

"Regardless of who you're playing it's always good to win your first game of the season.

"We're away to South Africa [to play the Lions and Bulls] so it'll be a tough couple of weeks, but hopefully we can kick on from that result and maybe get a couple of results over there, too."

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Ulster assistant coach Dan Soper says the last-gasp 20-19 victory over Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship opener was "good entertainment".

The Belfast hosts trailed the champions four minutes into the red when Dave Shanahan touched down to give Ulster a dramatic winning start to the campaign.

"This group of guys have character, they're not going to go away and they'll stay in the fight," said Soper.

"It was good entertainment - it was a bit nervy. We could be a lot more efficient, scoring a bit quicker but Dave Shanahan did the job at the death so it's a great way to start the year."

Glasgow dominated for much of the game and led 12-10 at the break but Ulster finished strongly with two tries in the final eight minutes.

"We weren't brilliant, we are all aware of that, but we did enough in the first half, we were under a lot of pressure to stay in the game and then in the second half it was much of the same.

"We did just enough to get our noses in front at the death."

Ulster now travel to South Africa to face the Lions next Saturday before a meeting with the Bulls.

"We're pretty pleased to get this result but we have a tough couple of weeks coming up so we'll need to get better."