Two changes in the Zebre starting line up for the Italian derby in Treviso

Stadio Monigo in Treviso will host the 11th and last round of the first half of the Guinness PRO12 calendar for the two Italian sides. One week on from the first leg played in Parma, Biagi and his team mates will once again face Benetton Treviso. The first challenge of 2016 will be the eighth official match between the two Italian teams, with Treviso leading the score having five victories in the previous meetings; the Italian Northwest side with two wins, the last one coming in the last encounter with Zebre who won just during injury time at the Stadio Lanfranchi by 28 to 25. After two consecutive wins against the French side of La Rochelle and against Treviso, Zebre are looking for their third straight win of the season that could be the first away win after having obtained five wins so far all in front of the home crowd. On the other side Benetton is still without a win this season but have been able to capture seven defensive bonus points in the previous ten rounds of the Guinness PRO12; in the standings therefore six points separate the two teams with Zebre Rugby leading at 13.

Zebre Rugby team manager Andrea De Rossi on Sunday's game: "We come to this game with a great mental strength, demonstrated in the last minutes of the game in Parma. We have not given up and we believed in the win until the end supported by a large audience: an important element that we hope will always repeat itself. We are confident but we know that it will be a tough challenge against a wounded Treviso team. When you approach this kind of game you need to have a mental strength that goes beyond the technical aspects. For next Sunday's game we have made a few changes -as it was normal - and I am very happy with the return of Cook who will give depth to a back row already at the highest level . We have analyzed in detail the first leg and I am convinced that we will improve the aspects in which we were lacking. Thanks to our last two wins we enjoyed very good holidays while the working week was like the others, there was the usual level of concentration: everyone knows the importance of this game and how high the stakes."

Here's Zebre line-up for Sunday January 2rd match at Stadio Monigo in Treviso for the 11st round of the Guinness PRO12 against Benetton Treviso. Kick off at 2.30 pm local time:

15 Guglielmo Palazzani
14 Dion Berryman
13 Ulrich Beyers
12 Gonzalo Garcia
11 Kayle Van Zyl
10 Carlo Canna
9 Luke Burgess

8 Andries Van Schalkwyk
7 Johan Meyer
6 Jacopo Sarto
5 George Biagi (cap)
4 Marco Bortolami
3 Dario Chistolini
2 Tommaso D'Apice*
1 Andrea Lovotti*

Replacements:
16 Oliviero Fabiani
17 Andrea De Marchi
18 Guillermo Roan
19 Valerio Bernabò
20 Jean Cook
21 Giulio Toniolatti
22 Matteo Pratichetti
23 Edoardo Padovani*

Coach. Gianluca Guidi

*Former member of the Italian Rugby Union academy "Ivan Francescato" of Tirrenia.

Not available for selection due to injury: Giulio Bisegni, Paul Derbyshire, Quintin Geldenhuys, Andrea Manici*, Bruno Postiglioni, Leonardo Sarto*, Marcello Violi*

Referee: Nigel Owens (Welsh Rugby Union)
Assistant Referees: Marius Mitrea ed Elia Rizzo (both Federazione Italiana Rugby)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (Federazione Italiana Rugby)

Live tv coverage in Italy on Rai Sport 2. Live text coverage of the game on www.pro12rugby.com

The Italian derby previous encounters between Zebre Rugby and Benetton Treviso:
22-Dec-2012 Zebre Rugby v Treviso 3-10 (1-4)
29-Dec-2012 Treviso v Zebre Rugby 26-18 (4-0)
28-Dec-2013 Treviso v Zebre Rugby 20-15 (4-1)
4-Jan-2014 Zebre Rugby v Treviso 14-12 (4-1)
28-Dec-2014 Zebre Rugby v Treviso 16-26 (0-4)
3-Jan-2015 Treviso v Zebre Rugby 17-15 (4-1)
27-Dec-2015 Zebre Rugby v Treviso 28-25 (4-1)