Zebre rugby director Christian Gajan has announced his side that will face Heineken Cup champions Leinster at the RDS in Dublin on Saturday.
The Italian outfit's pack will see South African number eight Andries Van Schalkwyk given a week's rest from RaboDirect PRO12 action.
Matias Aguero, Carlo Festuccia and Irish prop David Ryan are set to start together while Italian international Quintin Geldenhuys is back in action after facing Tonga, the All Blacks and Wallabies in the November Tests. At his side will be Josh Sole while Nicola Cattina, Mauro Bergamasco and Filippo Cristiano form the back-row line-up.
Youngster Leonardo Sarto is on the wing while Samoan winger Sinoti Sinoti is on the other side. Matteo Pratichetti will pair up at centre with captain Gonzalo Garcia while in the halves Tito Tebaldi directs the offensive line with Daniel Halangahu.
Meanwhile, Leinster are set to welcome back a number of players from international duty including Gordon D'Arcy, who is set to make his 211th appearance for the province and will start at outside centre, while Eoin Reddan will partner Jonathan Sexton at half back.
Fergus McFadden is named in an exciting back three alongside Andrew Conway and Isa Nacewa.
Leo Cullen leads the team and partners Damian Browne at second row.
In addition there are home debuts for Ireland tighthead prop Michael Bent - who is named in the front row alongside returning internationals Sean Cronin and South Africa's Heinke van der Merwe - and centre Andrew Goodman, who has featured in the province's last two away league games.
The likes of Cian Healy, Mike Ross and Isaac Boss have been named on a strong replacements bench.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Gordon D'Arcy, 12 Andrew Goodman, 11 Fergus McFadden, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 Rhys Ruddock, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Damian Browne, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Michael Bent, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fionn Carr.
Zebre: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Gonzalo Garcia (capt), 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Filippo Cristiano, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Nicola Cattina, 5 Josh Sole, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 David Ryan, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Carlo Fazzari, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Nicola Belardo, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 David Odiete, 23 Paolo Buso.
Date: Saturday, December 1
Kick-off: 18:00
Venue: RDS, Dublin
Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Richard Kerr (Ireland)
Television match official: Alan Rogan (Ireland)
Assessor: M Carroll (Ireland)
Comments
Rosbif says...
You seem to have misunderstood my post mon ami? I am precisely pointing out that Clermont are indeed resting players. As a lifelong Toulouse man, we're happy to take the win today of course (although shame for us Picamoles had to play AGAIN - the bloke is knackered!). In a funny way, Clermont are helped by the schedule. Much better to have an away game at ST (which even in their wildest dreams is a losing bonus point type game) than say an away game at Montpol or Castres (i.e. winnable, but only with a real effort), or a home game vs Toulon or us.
That said, their schedule has been / is Toulon, Toulouse, Leinster x2, so that's a pretty tough 4 games in a row....
Meanwhile, the Irish internationals have played fortnightly since they skipped games vs Fiji and Zebre.
Anyhow, good luck next week. I expect Clermont to win, but you should take them back home at aviva :-)
Posted 17:21 01st December 2012
Rosbif says...
You seem to have misunderstood my post mon ami? I am precisely pointing out that Clermont are indeed resting players. As a lifelong Toulouse man, we're happy to take the win of course (although shame for us Picamoles had to play AGAIN!). In a funny way, Clermont are helped by the schedule. Much better to have an away game at ST (which even in their wildest dreams is a losing bonus point type game) than say an away game at Montpol or Castres (i.e. winnable, but only with a real effort).
Anyhow, good luck next week.
(P.S. I hope you don't think I'm trolling, just interested in the top European teams and how they shape up every year)
Posted 16:57 01st December 2012
leinster_goy says...
@RoastBeef
i'm confused by your last few posts on the upcoming Leinster-clermont matches. you've been banging your drum for a while now about the pro12 being too easy and little more than a training run, while the top 14 is apparently fiercely competitive where teams are under perpetual threat of relegation. fair enough, you're entitled to your opinion on that (even though all of those arguments have been ruthlessly dissected one by one and exposed as contradictory, self-serving and baseless, on this forum and elsewhere. but never mind)
but your recent posts seem to be implying that clermont will be fatigued going into the match next week, with Leinster in much better condition due to playing zebre at home. do you seriously believe that Leinster are going to win at stade marcel michelin? the place where clermont have not lost in some 40 games? you will be hard pressed to find a Leinster fan who thinks we have a chance of winning in clermont - in fact, most members of Blue Army (including Yours Truly) would be delighted if we escape from there with a losing bonus point. and the game at the aviva is far from a foregone conclusion
i'll finish by asking you this one question: if clermont beat Leinster comprehensively next week, which is certainly a possibility (given clermont's current form and Leinster's relative mediocrity and injury list so far this season), will you still be trolling about the dreadfully unfair advantage irish provinces have over their exhausted, over-worked french rivals? pensez-y bien, mec
Posted 11:21 01st December 2012
paddy91317 says...
Strong team considering tge players still to come back i wonder if that is the centre combo for the clermont game. O brien will be happy wit another game under the belt
Posted 18:44 30th November 2012
Rosbif says...
Good luck to SOB and Nacewa especially. Hope they make it through OK and are ready for Clermont the week after...
...who, by the way, are sending the following team over to face Toulouse this weekend.
Floch, Buttin, Rougerie, King, Nakaitaci, Skrela, Parra, Lapandry, Vermeulen, Cudmore, Hines, Jacquet, Kotze, Cabello, Chaume.
Bench: Kayser, Debaty, Bardy, Chouly, Radosavljevic, James, Stanley, Zirakashvili.
(wonder what byrne, sivivatu, nalaga, fofana, bonnaire, pierre, domingo, paulo, etc are up to?)
Posted 16:24 30th November 2012