A Daf Hughes first-half hat-trick propelled Cardiff Rugby to an important bonus-point win over Zebre Parma. 

The hooker rumbled over to touch down from three driving lineouts at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi. 

The Blue and Blacks, wearing their pink alternate strip, soaked up the pressure in the second-half, and Taine Basham crashed over for a bonus-point try with the final play.

Zebre dominated possession in the opening minutes and Martin Roger Farias had the opportunity to open the scoring early but fired his simple shot at goal wide. 

Cardiff worked their way into the game with Cam Winnett collecting a clever chip over the top before a pair of penalties was kicked to the corner. 

The Blue and Blacks failed to convert the opportunity but after Zebre spilt the ball from the ensuing scrum, they were back on the attack.

Tom Bowen squeezed in left hand cover but the effort was ruled out by the touch judge who saw the wing’s left foot graze the whitewash. Cardiff were however playing with the advantage and rumbled over for Hughes to score.

Ioan Lloyd failed to add the extras from wide but Van Zyl’s side held a 0-5 lead after 12 minutes. 

Minutes later, Zebre number eight Giovanni Licata was sent to the sin-bin, following multiple team infringements, and Cardiff quickly pressed their advantage. 

Again the try came through the collective muscle of the pack with a second driving lineout creeping over for Hughes to dot down. Lloyd added the extras to stretch Cardiff’s lead to 12. 

Zebre hit back as the half-hour mark approached as they kicked a penalty of their own to the corner and Licata made amends for his earlier indiscretion. Martin converted to make it 5-12.

All the momentum was now with the hosts with decisions and bounces of the ball going their way before it was brough to an abrupt halt by a James Botham turnover penalty. The flanker had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes, in his first appearance of the season following knee surgery. 

Now Cardiff were in the ascendancy and they finished the half in perfect fashion as Hughes completed a first-half hat-trick courtesy of a third driving lineout. Lloyd converted to bring the score to 7-19 at the interval.

Lloyd kept the scoreboard ticking with a penalty on 47 minutes, making it 7-22 and before the restart was taken Davide Ruggeri was shown yellow for one of two offences on Hughes, with a potentially worse head contact going unpunished. 

Cardiff almost added a fourth try when Harri Millard broke through midfield and combined with Steff Emanuel who embarked on an arcing run but Mason Grady was tackled into touch. Moments later another golden opportunity was missed as a scoring pass evaded the clutches of Bowen. 

Marco Zanon sliced through the Cardiff midfield on 71 minutes to give Zebre a glimmer of hope but it was quickly dashed as the TMO intervened to highlight a knock on in the build up. 

The Italians did however respond through Zanon, from close-range following a David Odiase break. Martin converted to set up a nervous finale but Cardiff came through unscathed.

And they rubbed salt into the wounds as Taine Basham powered over with the last play to wrap up a maximum point win, with Harri Wilde converting.