Chistolini to become the third centurion for Zebre Rugby Club

Apr 6 • General News, Guinness Pro14 • 1147 Views • Comments Off on Chistolini to become the third centurion for Zebre Rugby Club

Zebre travel to Dublin to face Leinster Rugby at the RDS Arena in the 19th round of Guinness PRO14.

Zebre’s last win in the Guinness PRO14 dates back to February 16, 2018: the 19-11 success against Connacht at the Sportsground. It was the fourth win in the current edition of Guinness PRO14 for George Biagi and his team mates.

Almost 24 hours from the kick-off of the RDS Arena challenge, head coach Michael Bradley has unveiled the starting line-up.

There will be nine new faces compared to the XV which played against Glasgow Warriors two weeks ago in Scotland.

Six of the changes are all Italian internationals who played the last Six Nations match, with a total of eight Azzurri as starters.

At fullback Minozzi – fresh from the bid for MVP of the Six Nations 2018 – returns to the back three with Di Giulio and Bellini.

Bisegni returns to wear the jersey No. 13 and will pair with with Afamasaga, while the half back pairing will be Canna and Violi.

In the pack, Bernabò switches to the back-row and will take to the field alongside Sarto and Sisi, who moves from the second row to number 8.

Krumov will again be deployed in the lock unit together with captain Biagi. The front row will feature three Italian internationals: Fabiani, Lovotti and Chistolini.

This is a special match in Dublin for the tight-head prop Chistolini, who will earn his 100th cap with the club in five seasons.

Chistolini will therefore be the third centurion in the history of the Parma based franchise trailing prop De Marchi (108 appearances) and scrum-half Palazzani (103).

Here is Zebre Rugby Club line-up for Saturday, April 7 match at the RDS Arena in Dublin (Ireland) for the 19th round of the Guinness PRO14 against the Irish side of Leinster. Kick off at 2 pm local time:

15 Matteo Minozzi*
14 Gabriele Di Giulio*
13 Giulio Bisegni
12 Faialaga Afamasaga
11 Mattia Bellini
10 Carlo Canna
9 Marcello Violi

8 David Sisi
7 Jacopo Sarto
6 Valerio Bernabò
5 George Biagi (cap)
4 Leonard Krumov
3 Dario Chistolini
2 Oliviero Fabiani
1 Andrea Lovotti*

Replacements :

16 Roberto Tenga
17 Andrea De Marchi
18 Cruze Ah-Nau
19 Eduardo Bello
20 Luhandre Luus*
21 Guglielmo Palazzani
22 Serafin Bordoli
23 Giovanbattista Venditti*

Coach. Michael Bradley