'Very disappointing' - Edinburgh Rugby crash to last-gasp defeat in URC opener at Zebre

Martin Roger Farias kicked a 79th penalty - which crept over via the inside of the post - to break Edinburgh hearts as he secured a 31-28 victory for the hosts at the Sergio Lanfranchi Stadium in Parma.

Early tries from hooker Tommaso di Bartolomeo and prop Juan Manuel Pitinari, both of which were converted by fly-half Giacomo da Re, gave the Italian side a commanding 14-0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes.

However, their progress was dented when number eight Giovanni Licata’s yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Ewan Ashman was upgraded to a 20-minute red and in his absence, flanker Liam McConnell and number eight Magnus Bradbury both crossed with stand-off Ben Healy adding both conversions to level it up.

However, the hosts went in 21-14 ahead at the break after winger Simone Gesi’s 34th-minute touchdown and another successful kick from Da Re.

Scrum-half Alessandro Fusco extended Zebre’s lead with Da Re on target once again, but opposite number Ben Vellacott followed suit with Healy also successful from the tee to maintain the gap at seven points with 30 minutes to play.

Pitinari’s 64th-minute yellow card left the home side under pressure, but it was not until four minutes from time when replacement hooker Paddy Harrison scored his side’s fourth try to allow Healy to level it at 28-28, only for Roger Farias to snatch victory at the death.

"It’s very disappointing to lose the first URC game," Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt told Premier Sports. "Credit to Zebre for putting us under pressure. We made some mistakes that we haven’t made over the last few weeks in our friendly games so that’s disappointing.

"At the end of the day, Zebre won the transitions battle and that's important in the modern game. Our guys’ discipline in the second half was much improved from the first half but unfortunately we just didn’t do enough to get over the line in the end."