Callum Sheedy picked up the BKT Player of the Match award on his competitive debut for Cardiff but he cut a frustrated figure despite a bonus-point win.
The Cardiff-born fly-half looked like he had never been away as he created tries for Cam Winnett and Iwan Stephens with a pair deft kicks to the corner inside the first quarter.
The Blue & Blacks built a 17-3 lead but were unable to kick on in the second-half as Zebre Parma frustrated their hosts.
Sheedy admits his side’s accuracy was lacking at times but nonetheless it was a maximum points win and the perfect result to get the season underway.
He said: “It was sloppy at times and our skill execution let us down a little bit but at the end of the day it’s five points and we knew it was going to take a little bit of time until we’re firing.
“So the main thing tonight was that we got the four tries, we got the win and we did that so we’re pleased.
“It’s always nice and as a 10 you want to get into the game as early as you can. Rey made a great break and then it was pretty easy. I just had to put the ball into Cam.
“But I just think, the first 20 minutes of that second-half we let them into the game too much and made it hard for ourselves, our penalty count was high again, se we’re a little bit disappointed with that but it’s five points, we’re pleased with that and move onto next week.”
Cardiff travel to take on Scarlets next weekend and Sheedy is relishing the prospect of his first Welsh derby since Under-16 level.
He added: “When you come back to Wales you want to play in those regional derbies. I’ve watched them on TV over the years and hopefully I get the chance to play in it next week and I’m pretty excited about that.”