Zebre Team Announcement for 1st May, a special rugby day hosting Ospreys

The white & black boys, after the weekend of rest due to the Heineken Cup semi-finals, will be back in action in the last but one round of the RaboDirect PRO12, the Celtic league which will still see the XV of the North-West of Italy taking part from next September 6 when the new season kicks off. After three games earning points for the Italians table - a draw with the Dragons, a defensive bonus point in Llanelli and a win over Edinburgh - Zebre want to continue their streak reiterating their competitiveness against Ospreys and the Warriors in Glasgow on May the 10th: two opponents high ranked in the fight for a place in the playoffs. After two days of intense training at the Rugby's Citadel of Parma the technical staff has decided their starting line-up that seeks to overcome the Swansea franchise and put on Zebre's board their third win over a Welsh opponent after wins against the Dragons and the Cardiff Blues.

In the first match at the end of November at the Liberty Stadium, Cavinato's side was defeated 30-20 in a match decided by Morgan penalties - 20 points with an excellent 7 of 8 success rate. In last season's away match Bortolami and his team mates seized the only point against the Welsh franchise in the 16-15 final loss. The tries account describes a substantial balance: in the previous three meetings 5 Italian tries and 6 for the Welsh, 4 times champions of the tournament.

Internationals Bergamasco, Bortolami and Perugini are back into the starting XV boosting with experience an Italian side in search of a win to mantain alive their hopes to take part in next season's main European Rugby Champions Cup. The Parma franchise is separated by 4 points from the other italian team of Treviso, with the white & green leading this dedicated race with only two games remaining on the regular season fixtures.

The Welsh coach Tandy and former Zebre scrum-half Tito Tebaldi head to Parma with the aim of hitting a key victory to keep play-off hopes alive and to continue their season entering as the fourth ranked of the table. The fixtures of Alu-Wyn Jones and fellows -a trip to Parma and the ome clash against Connacht - seems easier than Ulster one which will face two Irish derbies - the leaders of Leinster and tricky trip to Limerick against Munster- however, the Ulstermen precede the Welsh by 5 points when only 160 minutes are left until the end of the regular season.

The match will see a special afternoon of rugby in Parma with several youth rugby matches from 12 noon with many young athletes from clubs of the territory of the North-West of Italy: from Piemonte to Tuscany, from Lombardy to Liguria and Emilia-Romagna. A huge rugby day that will finish with a big third half time open to all the supporters in the square in front of the new north stand at the Stadio XXV Aprile which includes the new offices of the club with entertainment and dining.

Here's Zebre line-up for Thursday 1st May 2014 at Stadio XXV Aprile in Parma for the 21st round of the RaboDirect PRO12 against the Welsh side Ospreys. Kick off at 6.00 pm local time :

15 David ODIETE*
14 Dion BERRYMAN
13 Kameli RATUVOU
12 Gonzalo GARCIA
11 Giovanbattista VENDITTI*
10 Luciano ORQUERA
9 Brendon LEONARD

8 Samuela VUNISA
7 Andries VAN SCHALKWYK
6 Mauro BERGAMASCO
5 Marco BORTOLAMI (cap)
4 Quintin GELDENHUYS
3 Dario CHISTOLINI
2 Davide GIAZZON
1 Salvatore PERUGINI

Replacements:

16 Andrea MANICI*
17 Matias AGUERO
18 Dave RYAN
19 George BIAGI
20 Filippo FERRARINI*
21 Guglielmo PALAZZANI
22 Tommaso IANNONE*
23 Ruggero TREVISAN

Coach. Andrea CAVINATO

Not available for selection due to injury: Paolo BUSO, Nicola CATTINA, Matteo PRATICHETTI, Roberto QUARTAROLI*, Leonardo SARTO*, Giulio TONIOLATTI

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Irish Rugby Football Union) in his 56th competition game, 3rd straight home game with Zebre in the Rabodirect PRO12 this season after last home games against Dragons and Edinburgh, both positive results.

Assistant Referees: Elia Rizzo e Filippo Bertelli (Both Federazione Italiana Rugby)

TMO: Carlo Damasco (Federazione Italiana Rugby)

Live tv coverage in Italy on Mediaset Italia 2. Live score text coverage on www.rabodirectpro12.com/live.