Treviso enter their PRO12 fixture against Munster at Thomond Park full of confidence after beating reigning champions the Ospreys last week.
The impressive 12-6 win over the Welsh region in poor weather conditions caused a stir in Round One, and they face another tough game on Friday.
Brendan Williams has been named at full-back in place of Kristopher Burton, who drops to bench duty, while Luca Morisi comes in at centre, which leads to Luke McLean dropping out of the 22.
Up front, Michele Rizzo and Lorenzo Cittadini are preferred over Alberto De Marchi and Lorenzo Cittadini as props, Valerio Bernaḅ and Antonio Pavanello come in at lock while Paul Derbyshire and Dean Budd earn a run in the back-row.
Munster coach Rob Penney has made two changes following their opening round win in Edinburgh.
Those changes occur up front with Stephen Archer getting in on this ocasion ahead of BJ Botha at prop while Dave O'Callaghan gets the nod over Paddy Butler at number six.
Form: Munster began their 2012/13 RaboDirect PRO12 campaign with a 23-18 victory against Edinburgh at Murrayfield. The Munstermen have won seven of their last eight home games in the competition. Munster lost their most recent encounter with an Italian opponent: 17-21 at Aironi in March. Benetton Treviso beat Ospreys 12-6 at Stadio Monigo in round one. Treviso had a won 2, lost 6 record against Irish provinces last season, with both victories coming away from home in Belfast and Galway. Treviso's only previous win against Munster was 19-18 at Stadio Monigo in February 2011.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett (capt), 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Luke O'Dea, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Ivan Dineen.
Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Paul Derbyshire, 7 Dean Budd, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Valerio Bernaḅ, 4 Antonio Pavanello (capt), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Corniel Van Zyl, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Alessandro Zanni, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Kristopher Burton.
Date: Friday, September 7
Kick-off: 20:00 BST
Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Peter Haycock (Ireland), David Keane (Ireland)
Television match official: Sean Flannery (Ireland)
Comments
melkdave says...
@OKRAM79
A Munster 1st team for me would certinally include the likes of S.Zebo,C.Murray,K.Earls, ROG, P.O;Mahony,N.Rohan,D.Ryan,and if fit POC and F.Jones somewhere in the 22 .All mostly missing because of IRFU policy.
Also @Dougie D.Howlett is still a class player ,whats the betting if he was irish he wouldnt be playing though ??
Posted 22:30 07th September 2012
melkdave says...
@Sincero
Sorry my mild dylexsia and bad typing seems to offend you,and before you ask ,for some reason spell check for me doesnt work on this site ..I also dont blame the teams or supporters for folowing IRFU policy I just dont understand the policy full stop,as ive posted elsewhere ALL PLAYERS are limited in the amount of 1st class games they can play by IRB regulations .Its 30-36 games ,i belive in a season might be a bit more RWC years ?? My gripe is that the IRFU policy dosent seem to be working,on a international leval .Since its introduction Ireland have been pretty dire ,only performing to their potential every 8-9 games, because resting players enmass doesnt cater to the individual players needs,each players needs will vary . and it seems to rob us the supporters of seeing the star players in the bread and butter league games.Just how many extra fans would turn up for the 1st home game of the season i wonder ,if all the players could play .An extra 5K maybe,thats lost revenue for the club as far as im concerned.Im not anti irish or Ireland ,just pro rugby ok.
Posted 22:14 07th September 2012
QKRAM79 says...
@Dougie: Amen to that. How can people complain when Irish sides domenate the league. It's called a squad and these games are really benefitting the likes of Paddy Butler, Dave O'C, Stephen Archer, Ian Keatley and so on. For years people moaned that the young talent never got a chance. I'd understand the complaints if we were propping up the table.
Posted 11:28 07th September 2012
Dougie says...
melkdave, I can assume from your comment that you think that Munster's captain is 2nd string?
To all the people complaining about Irish teams putting out "weakened" teams during the season, come back when we stop consistently getting to the playoffs and winning the thing.
Posted 09:54 07th September 2012
QKRAM79 says...
Can melkdave please enlighten us as to what Munsters first team is?
Posted 08:52 07th September 2012
Sincero says...
@melkdave... have you considered having fewer opinions on this topic before you either learn to spell or learn the basics of rugby? Let me help you on your way... Rugby is a team game played with an oval ball that may be kicked, carried, and passed from hand to hand. Points are scored by... well, I see you're looking tired, so that's enough for today.
Looks a fine, strong Munster team to me- there's talent coming through in areas which needs testing, and making sure you're not flogging your internationals is important. Not everyone supports a Welsh team, whose involvement in the top European competition invariably ends around when the snowdrops flower. 20,000 to see these players and support their team of a Friday night... you'd get twenty full-stop in Wales. Your national sport? Don't make me laugh.
Treviso will be looking forward to this too, mind. I'd fully expect them to have a right go at Munster. A spot of rain could make this a very interesting match.
Posted 03:44 07th September 2012
The_Dange says...
Who are they missing? POC and ROG? BJ to the bench - makes sense to give Archer some game time. It's not an alien practice to try to bring a fringe player through with game time.
Fans "bother" because we care about our provinces. End of.
Posted 00:04 07th September 2012
billybob says...
Who are some of these clowns commenting on this site, second string... Felix jones is injured, so Denis Hurley is first choice, dougie is captain, Luke o'dea seems class, the centres are first choice, Keatly needs game time as ROg can't go on for ever, coughlan is first choice, DOC could be first choice, as for a second string front row, could someone tell me what the first choice front row would be other than Stephen archer. Yes Varley and du priz are our first choice players. This is a strong team, leicester and Saracens do the same in the english premiership, as they have squads big enough, like Munster and leinster. When a welsh team dominates the Heineken cup only then can you moan about what we do!
Posted 22:12 06th September 2012
usrugbyfan says...
Its also worth pointing out that given most of Munster best team are fairly old, and that this is a new coach in action, its possible that he's trying to build an entirely different squad from the ground up. Given how chaotic Munsters form has been over the last few years, I would almost think that the best long term policy is to throw everything out the window, and start from the beginning. With very few exceptions, this is a young team that will likely be what Munster looks like over the next decade.
Posted 21:18 06th September 2012
Lucasrg says...
Forza Treviso!
Kinda worried about Sgarbi at 13 as he is very slow. If I were Munster I would play on that channel. Interisting bench for Treviso with quality players (Zanni, Barbieri, Van Zyl) This is gonna be closer then we think.
Munster is much a solid team as they showed last week, but I wouldn't bet my house on this.
This is going to be a great test for both scrums, considering the fringe players that are involved.
Posted 19:59 06th September 2012
HenryFitz says...
"Why should a fan bother to go and see such s s@%&t?"
The attendance is expected to be about 20,000. Munster are putting out a strong side.
Treviso do not play in the Celtic League. It's called the Pro12.
Archer has been brought in to the team to develop him as a player.
In a match Treviso don't expect to win, they're trying a few different options to see what some of their fringe players can do. It's sensible stuff when internationals could conceivably play 36 games in a season, possibly more if the club does well in the league or Europe. For Munster, who will be aiming at a minimum of 2 extra games, bringing the total for their international contingent up to a possible 38, the rest periods will have to come sooner or later. Having the first rest period coincide with an extended pre-season is just good housekeeping.
Posted 16:34 06th September 2012
Carpelone says...
I don't understand the rotation policy of the teams of the Celtic League. Why don't they play the best team, week in, week out? Where are Munster's big guns?
Why should a fan bother to go and see such s s@%&t?
Posted 13:47 06th September 2012
melkdave says...
Well a virtually unchanged Munster 15,for their 1st home match of the season.and again except for the center pairing it looks very 2nd string,moving BJ.Botha to the bench imo ,makes it now a 2nd string frontrow compard to last weekends.I would love to see Treviso absolutly hammer Munster,for having to follow IRFU policy ,and play 2nd string 1st up at home very crass imo of the IRFU.,
Posted 13:40 06th September 2012