Munster were hit with an almighty shock on Saturday afternoon, as Zebre mounted a sensational second-half charge to take their first-ever win over the Irish province.
Graham Rowntree's Munster side had the lead at half-time, though life had not been made easy for them by the hosts. They were soon to receive a rude awakening in the second period.
Zebre came out of the blocks flying, and four second-half tries saw them romp to victory by a massive 42-33 scoreline.
Full-time: Zebre 42-33 Munster
Geronimo Prisciantelli touched down the hosts' sixth try, which was enough to secure a first ever win over the Irish province. A super fightback from 13 points down at half-time
📺 Reaction on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer #URC pic.twitter.com/V0Lje4Yn9D— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 28, 2024
It was utter humiliation in Parma for Munster, who lost to the Italian side for the first time.
Couple Saturday's humbling defeat with their nervy victory over Connacht on the opening weekend, and things are looking ropey for Rowntree's Munster.
After Munster's shock defeat to Zebre, Donncha O'Callaghan was in no mood for holding back in his assessment of his former side.
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Donncha O'Callaghan pulls no punches in assessment of Munster
O'Callaghan was a pundit on RTÉ 2's coverage of Zebre v Munster and was stunned by the lack of grit shown by the Irish side in Parma.
The former Ireland second-row said that he saw the issue as a fundamental character issue, saying that Munster were "not losing on coachable things."
He delivered a brutal read of the Munstermen's limp second-half showing.
I can't imagine how frutstrated [Graham Rowntree] is as a coach. They're not losing on coachable things, which is very surprising, they're losing on character things. And that hurts as a coach.
He set them up and put them out, but we saw a bit of this last week...he's being nice when he says the third quarter. The whole second half they were miles off it.
That urgency, that want, the desirables. If you're beaten on those, no matter what team you play with, you lose every time in our game.
Rugby rewards desire. It rewards the teams that are willing to go and win that want battle. Zebre's want was miles ahead of Munster. And to be frank, it was quite sad to see.
It's hard to argue with O'Callaghan, and further questions of Munster's character are sure to be expected in the weeks to come.
For his part, Graham Rowntree made no excuses for his side's performance in his post-match interview.
"That wasn't good enough from us," said the Munster head coach, "We lost our way in the 3rd quarter, but I don't want to take anything away from a spirited brilliant performance from Zebre."
Last season saw Munster slip up in the European pool stages, causing an early exit from the Champions Cup, before letting a shot at a home URC final slip through their fingers in the semi-finals against Glasgow.
If they are to amend for last season's mistakes, they will have to do better than what was seen in Italy on Saturday.
