CARDIFF RUGBY 33-20 LIONS · ZEBRE PARMA 22-20 LIONS

The campaign opened in Wales and ended in defeat. Cardiff, who would finish sixth, were the better side across eighty minutes. The first of three losses in nine days and the start of the worst opening the Lions have had in the URC era.

Two points, and the first time in the club's history that Zebre had beaten the Lions. Of all the results in this book, this is the one the players would most like back. It made the September tour a crisis rather than a stumble.