Preview: Treviso v Edinburgh

Editor

Treviso head coach Umberto Casellato has named his side for their clash with Edinburgh at Stadio Monigo as they look to bounce back from last week.

Enrico Bacchin will be unavailable as he takes the place of Luca Morisi in Italy squad. Andrea Pratichetti subsequently moves from wing to centre.

Treviso lost their week one game to Munster 18-13.

Meanwhile, after last Friday's win over Leinster at Meggetland in the opening round of the PRO12, there are just three changes to Edinburgh's starting XV.

Greig Tonks moves up from the bench to full-back while Dougie Fife and last week's double try scorer, Damien Hoyland, retain their berths at right and left wing respectively.

Fully recovered after leaving the field following a head injury assessment last Friday, Chris Dean keeps the number 13 jersey with Sam Beard again at inside centre.

Meanwhile the half-back pairing sees Phil Burleigh remain at stand-off, this time partnered by Sean Kennedy, the scrum-half moving up from the bench.

Rory Sutherland, Neil Cochrane and John Andress again start at loosehead, hooker and tighthead respectively while Cornell Du Preez at blindside, captain Roddy Grant at openside and number eight Nasi Manu again form the back row.

The remaining change comes in the second-row with Fraser McKenzie moving up from the bench in place of Anton Bresler – currently recovering from a shoulder knock sustained last Friday – to partner Ben Toolis.

McKenzie's move sees Alex Toolis coming on to the bench, setting up the potential for Treviso to see double in the second-row, should he come on to partner his twin.

Form: Benetton Treviso have lost their last eight matches since defeating Cardiff Blues at Stadio Monigo on 20th February. The Italians have not beaten any Scottish opponent since Edinburgh visited Treviso in March 2014. Edinburgh defeated Leinster 16-9 at Meggetland on Friday and have not begun a PRO12 campaign with a pair of victories since season 2009/10. The Scotsmen have won their last three encounters with Italian opponents, but their overall record at Stadio Monigo is two wins and three defeats.

The teams:

Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Andrea Pratichetti, 11 Simone Ragusi, 10 Samuel Christie, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Dean Budd, 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Duncan Naude, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 1 Alberto De Marchi (c).
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Filippo Gerosa, 20 Jeff Montauriol, 21 Braam Steyn, 22 Alberto Lucchese, 23 James Ambrosini.

Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Sam Beard, 11 Damien Hoyland, 10 Phil Burleigh 9 Sean Kennedy 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Roddy Grant (c), 6 Cornell du Preez, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 John Andress, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Alex Toolis, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 James Johnstone, 23 Jack Cuthbert.

Date: Saturday, September 12
Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 17:10 local (15:10 GMT)
Referee: Gary Conway (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Giuseppe Vivarini (Italy), Claudio Blessano (Italy)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (Italy)