Important points are up for grabs in the encounter that will be televised live on Nuvolari TV in Italy: despite the excellent performance of last weekend put in place by coach Solomons side which gained access to the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup, the pass for the next Champions Cup qualification for the Scots goes through the final ranking of the Guinness PRO12 table regardless of the result of the cup final on May 1 in London against Gloucester. Coman and his companions are in full fight for sixth place - the last place for direct qualification to the most prestigious European cup - Edinburgh are trailing Connacht and Scarlets by one point with only three rounds remaining. Zebre Rugby are in the hunt for a Champions Cup spot between the other Italian side of Treviso now leading the race by three points in the current standings.
The coaching staff has announced the starting line-up that will embrace the return of international props Matias Aguero and captain Marco Bortolami but must face the Scots without several players unavailable through injury. The XV of the Italian Northwest will try to capture their first away win of the season in the competition, losing narrowly last season at Murrayfield in the 25-23 final score. The Scots are coming from two straight home defeats in the Guinness PRO12 against top of table teams Ulster and Munster.
Here's Zebre line-up for Friday 24th April match at the Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh (Scotland) for the 20th round of the Guinness PRO12 against Edinburgh. Kick off at 7.35 pm local time:
15 Hendrik Daniller
14 Giulio Toniolatti
13 Mirco Bergamasco
12 Gonzalo Garcia
11 David Odiete*
10 Luciano Orquera
9 Guglielmo Palazzani
8 Samuela Vunisa
7 Andries Van Schalkwyk
6 Filippo Cristiano
5 Marco Bortolami (cap)
4 Valerio Bernabò
3 Dario Chistolini
2 Andrea Manici*
1 Matias Aguero
Replacements :
16 Oliviero Fabiani
17 Andrea Lovotti*
18 Luca Redolfini
19 Andrei Mahu
20 Filippo Ferrarini*
21 Alberto Chillon*
22 Matteo Pratichetti
23 Brendon Leonard
Coach. Victor Jimenez
Not available for selection due to injury: Mauro Bergamasco, Dion Berryman, George Biagi, Giulio Bisegni, Tommaso D'Apice*, Quintin Geldenhuys, Kelly Haimona, Tommaso Iannone*, Edoardo Padovani*, Lorenzo Romano, Jacopo Sarto, Leonardo Sarto*, Giovambattista Venditti*, Michele Visentin*
*Former member of the Italian Rugby Union academy "Ivan Francescato" of Tirrenia.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (WRU, 50th competition game) fouth with Zebre directed in the same fixture of last season.
Assistant Referees: Mike Adamson & Stephen Hart (both SRU)
TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU)
Live TV coverage in Italy on Nuvolari TV and live text coverage on www.pro12rugby.com
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