Preview: Treviso v Cardiff Blues
The Blues travel to Treviso on Friday to face the Italian holders in what will be the first time they meet an Italian side in the Magners League.
The Blues travel to Treviso on Friday to tackle the Italian champions for the first time – and their first game against Italians in the Magners League.
Cardiff coach David Young has named his squad for the game, which includes Gareth Cooper on the bench having recovered from a double groin operation. Cooper's last game was the LV= Cup semi-final against Gloucester in March.
Also amongst the replacements are forwards Kristian Dacey, from the Blues Academy, and summer recruit Tom Davies.
There are six changes to the starting XV, one positional, from the line-up against the Dragons. Lloyd Williams, a late call-up to the team last week, keeps his place in the side as Richie Rees was not considered after suffering a minor calf strain.
Chris Czekaj and Bradley Davies are both rested having played in the first three league games, while Xavier Rush is out with a minor knee injury and Casey Lualala also sits out the match.
Up front, Maama Molitika moves across the side of the scrum to number eight and Faao Filise returns to partner Gethin Jenkins in the front row, along with this season's current Blues top try-scorer (3 tries in 3 games), T Rhys Thomas.
Meanwhile, after their famous win over Leinster last week, Benetton Treviso return to Stadio Comunale Di Monigo.
Coach Franco Smith has decided to make some changes to the squad that beat Leinster 29-13 last Saturday.
Flanker Marco Filippucci and hooker Franco Sbaraglini will make their Magners League debut while props Pedro Di Santo and Augusto Allori as well as captain Antonio Pavanello all return to face the Blues.
Form: Benetton Treviso continue to be formidable at home gaining a seventh straight win in all competitions against Leinster last Saturday. Treviso's overall record at home against Welsh teams is won 3, lost 3. Cardiff Blues' only defeat in their last eleven encounters in all competitions was 23-34 away to Leinster in the Magners League on September 11. The Blues have visited Italy on three previous occasions and won all three. The two teams have never met before.
The teams:
Benetton Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Joseph Maddock, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Marco Filippucci, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (c), 3 Pedro Di Santo, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Augusto Allori
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Enrico Pavanello, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Paul Derbyshire, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Simon Picone.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Maama Molitika, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Faao Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Tom Davies, 18 John Yapp, 19 Andries Pretorius, 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Gareth Cooper, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Gavin Evans.
Date: Friday, 24 September
Venue: Stadio Comunale Di Monigo
Kick-off:19:05 BST
Referee: Andrew McMenemy
Assistant Referees: Mauro Dordolo, Francesco Lento
TMO: Stefano Marrama