Munster legend says team ‘should be embarrassed’ by performance in Zebre defeat

Graham Rowntree's side lost by nine points in Parma.

Former Munster second row Donncha O'Callaghan has said that Graham Rowntree and his players "should be embarrassed" by their display during their defeat to Zebre in the United Rugby Championship yesterday.

The province led by 13 points at half-time at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, but a collective collapse in the second-half ended up in a 42-33 loss.

While Zebre should be commended for their stellar and inspiring performance in the latter stages of the match, O'Callaghan branded his former team's performance as "unacceptable"

Speaking on RTÉ Sport, the 45-year-old from Cork said: "You don't want to take away from the fact that Zebre were full quality for it but it was totally unacceptable from Munster.

"Their performance, as individuals, as a team, to go on the road, we know what Zebre are. They were bottom of the league last year, of course they have shoots to come about.

"But Munster's performance there was completely unacceptable," he added.

"The amount of errors, the amount of poor performances, the amount of individual sloppy mistakes was just totally unacceptable.

"It is great for our league, it is brilliant to see Zebre coming on but Munster will look back on that and they should be embarrassed with that performance."

Ahead of the game in Italy yesterday, Munster head coach Rowntree gave credit to Zebre for their style of play and said his team needed to be "wary" going into the encounter.

"Zebre are playing very good rugby. They like to run the ball from everywhere. We've got to be smart about where we play the game" - Graham Rowntree wants his team to be wary as Munster travel to Italy
📺 Live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer now pic.twitter.com/IQ7lmHCabD

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 28, 2024

Elsewhere, Connacht overturned a 20-point half-time deficit to ensure their first home game of the BKT URC season ended with an incredible five-try victory over the Sharks at the Dexcom Stadium.

After losing a ten-try thriller last weekend to Munster, another defeat would have hit hard but the nature of the comeback will make the victory extra sweet.