RUGBY/Aironi Rugby v Ulster:STADIO LUIGI Zaffanella in the Italian rugby hotbed of Viadana becomes the 34th venue to stage a Magners League game, and by all accounts expectation is ripe. The new franchise have advertised the game heavily, and following the 6,000 attendance which witnessed Treviso's historic win over the Scarlets last week, an estimated 5,000 are set to almost fill the redeveloped, 6,000 capacity.
However, whereas the more established Treviso had claimed 11 Heineken Cup home scalps dating back 15 years, Viadana had never won a match in the Heineken Cup.
They will have taken some encouragement from the competitive nature of their performance in Munster, and unsurprisingly, with experienced Azzurri hooker Fabio Ongaro having overcome a hand injury, have retained the same starting line-up.
Brian McLaughlin has made five changes to the team which thrillingly beat the Ospreys last week. Irish summer tourists Tom Court (who comes in for Bryan Young) and Chris Henry (replacing Willie Faloon) make their first starts of the season, and with Rory Best and Stephen Ferris rested, Nigel Brady starts at hooker and Robbie Diack is recalled in a rejigged backrow.
Another summer tourist, Paddy Wallace, makes his first start ahead of Ian Whitten.
With Johann Muller looking every inch the kind of aerial organizer and on-the-ground enforcer they have been missing for years, Ulster are arguably better equipped to avoid an Italian ambush. But the absence of BJ Botha as well as Best could leave their scrum vulnerable to Aironi’s grizzled Azzurri veterans up front.
AIRONI: J Laharrague; G Toniolatti, R Quartaroli, D Des Fountain, G Rubini; L Mercier, T Tebaldi; A de Marchi, F Ongaro, S Perugini, C del Fava, Q Geldenhuys (capt), J Erasmus, G Krause, N Williams. Replacements: A de Marchi, L Ferraro, LRedolfini, M Bortolami, J Sole, P Canavosio, A Benettin, G Pizarro.
ULSTER: A D’Arcy; T Seymour, D Cave, P Wallace, D McIlwaine; N O’Connor, P Marshall; T Court, N Brady, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (Captain), T Barker, P Wannenburg, C Henry, R Diack. Replacements: A Kyriacou, B Young, P McAllister, R Caldwell, W Faloon, I Porter, I Whitten, J Smith.
Referee: David Jones (WRU).
Previous meetings: None.
Betting: 11/8 Aironi, 20/1 Draw, 4/7 Ulster. Handicap odds (Aironi + 4 pts) 10/11 Aironi, 22/1 Draw, 10/11 Ulster.
Forecast: Aironi to win.
