Sharks coach Everitt grateful for victory after all-mighty Zebre scare: 'We'll take this win'

Sharks head coach Sean Everitt was glad that his team took home the five points after Italian side Zebre Parma gave them a monumental scare at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Friday night.

Zebre came to within a disallowed Jacopo Trulla try three minutes from time from completing a dramatic comeback win at the death.

But the Italians were denied following foul play on Werner Kok in the build-up to the score and the match eventually ended 42-37 - a 10-try bonanza that painted the second United Rugby Championship (URC) in great light.

But the shave was way too close for comfort for Everitt, whose team took a 28-3 lead in less than 30 minutes.

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They scored four tries in those opening exchanges when Zebre were reduced to 13 men following poor discipline.

The tables turned when Zebre scored from a maul to close the first half 28-10 and wrested momentum, which they took into an enthralling second half.

"We are obviously very happy with the win. The guys did really well to get the five points away from home in the first fixture," Everitt said.

"The first 40 was really pleasing for us and we'll take a lot of positives out of it. There was some fantastic rugby played.

"Unfortunately, in the second half, knowing what happened to Leinster last week, we didn't learn the same lesson, so we went a little off plan in our execution, kicking game and defence.

"We conceded seven penalties in the second half, which is unacceptable. But they're all fixable and we're just happy that we got the tour off to a good start.

"We'll take this win but we know we have a lot to work on going into next week."

The Sharks lost Aphelele Fassi midway through the game, who