A victory of any kind in tonight’s GUINNESS PRO12 clash with Zebre at Kingspan Stadium will put Ulster into the top four and above the Scarlets with just five rounds remaining.
GUINNESS PRO12: Saturday, March 11
ULSTER (5th) v ZEBRE (12th), Kingspan Stadium, 6.05pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland)
Team News: Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss has made five personnel changes for this GUINNESS PRO12 encounter with Zebre in Belfast.
Over 16,000 tickets have been sold for this evening’s rescheduled game, but there is still availability in some areas – please visit ulsterrugby.com/buytickets for details.
Luke Marshall and Jacob Stockdale, both replacements in last Friday’s win over Treviso, will form an all-new midfield partnership. Meanwhile, Alan O’Connor, Robbie Diack and Chris Henry are included as new faces in the pack.
Stuart Olding, who impressed against Treviso after switching to out-half late on, will start in the number 10 jersey outside Ruan Pienaar. Jared Payne has overcome a niggle and will line out at full-back, with Craig Gilroy and Charles Piutau set to join him in the back three.
The match will be Stockdale’s first start at outside centre, while Marshall will shift to inside centre after playing most of his rugby this season in the number 13 shirt.
The front row is unchanged as props Callum Black and Wiehahn Herbst will start either side of captain Rob Herring. Kieran Treadwell partners O’Connor in the engine room, while Marcell Coetzee will pack down at number 8 alongside Diack and Henry in the back row.
Rodney Ah You has recovered from injury and is named among the replacements with fellow forwards John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Franco van der Merwe and Clive Ross.
Back-line players Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson and David Busby, who made a try-scoring debut against the same opposition a fortnight ago (pictured below), will offer strong impact options off the bench.
Meanwhile, second row Valerio Bernabo will make his 100th PRO12 appearance for Zebre against the Ulstermen, continuing in the engine room alongside captain Quintin Geldenhuys.
There are three personnel changes to the side that lost 33-3 to Connacht last week in the Galway wind and rain. The club also have nine players on duty with Italy for today’s RBS 6 Nations match against France.
Scrum half Carlo Engelbrecht is swapped in for Guglielmo Palazzani in the only alteration to the Zebre back-line, while props Andrea de Marchi and Bartholomeus le Roux, who was a whisker away from a try against Connacht, come into the front row.
There are four permit players from the domestic league in the matchday 23 – flanker Matteo Cornelli (Fiamme Oro), hooker Luigi Ferraro (Petrarca Padova) and two French youngsters from the Colorno club, Julien Nibert and Malou Mornas.
ULSTER: Jared Payne; Craig Gilroy, Jacob Stockdale, Luke Marshall, Charles Piutau; Stuart Olding, Ruan Pienaar; Callum Black, Rob Herring (capt), Wiehahn Herbst, Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Marcell Coetzee.
Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Rodney Ah You, Franco van der Merwe, Clive Ross, Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson, David Busby.
ZEBRE: Dion Berryman; Mattia Bellini, Tommaso Boni, Tommaso Castello, Lloyd Greeff; Serafin Bordoli, Carlo Engelbrecht; Andrea de Marchi, Oliviero Fabiani, Bartholomeus le Roux, Quintin Geldenhuys (capt), Valerio Bernabo, Matteo Cornelli, Gideon Koegelenberg, Federico Ruzza.
Replacements: Luigi Ferraro, Bruno Postiglioni, Guillermo Roan, Josh Furno, Julien Nibert, Guglielmo Palazzani, Matteo Pratichetti, Malou Mornas.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Aled Evans (Wales), Dermot Blake (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ulster to win: 1/200; Draw: 100/1; Zebre to win: 100/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Chris Henry (Ulster) – “Five or six weeks ago a lot of people had written us off so for us to potentially get back into the top four is fantastic. I’ve seen other teams in past seasons who maybe haven’t been performing and then they end up winning it. That would be beautiful if we could just get the job done.
“There’s no reason why we can’t, especially with the Irish boys coming back (after the Six Nations) as then we’re going to be full house for the rest of the games.
“The other top four teams will be fighting on two fronts (Leinster and Munster are in the last-eight of the Champions Cup, while the Ospreys have a Challenge Cup quarter-final to play). We have the one front and that could make a difference as well.”
Top Scorers – 2016/17 GUINNESS PRO12: Ulster – Points: Ruan Pienaar 76; Tries: Jacob Stockdale 7; Zebre – Points: Carlo Canna 66; Tries: Giovanbattista Venditti, Dries van Schalkwyk 4 each
2016/17 TEAM FORM: Ulster – Played 16, Won 11, Lost 5, 52 Points; W 29-8 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home), W 22-11 v Benetton Treviso (away), W 19-8 v Scarlets (home), W 22-17 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 9-7 v Ospreys (home), L 30-25 v Connacht (away), L 15-14 v Munster (home), L 28-17 v Edinburgh (away), W 35-22 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 23-7 v Connacht (home), L 22-7 v Leinster (away), L 16-13 v Scarlets (away), W 24-18 v Edinburgh (home), W 37-17 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 40-17 v Zebre (away), W 19-7 v Benetton Treviso (home); Zebre – Played 15, Won 1, Lost 14, 9 Points; L 59-5 v Ospreys (away), L 11-6 v Newport Gwent Dragons (away), L 23-21 v Cardiff Blues (home), L 49-5 v Munster (away), L 33-28 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 19-14 v Edinburgh (away), L 33-10 v Leinster (home), L 31-24 v Scarlets (home), L 23-12 v Benetton Treviso (away), L 24-19 v Edinburgh (home), L 70-6 v Leinster (away), L 40-10 v Ospreys (home), L 42-7 v Scarlets (away), L 40-17 v Ulster (home), L 33-3 v Connacht (away)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, December 20, 2013 – Ulster 13 Zebre 6, Ravenhill
Friday, September 12, 2014 – Ulster 33 Zebre 13, Kingspan Stadium
Saturday, September 27, 2014 – Zebre 13 Ulster 6, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Friday, March 4, 2016 – Ulster 32 Zebre 0, Kingspan Stadium
Saturday, April 16, 2016 – Zebre 17 Ulster 47, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Sunday, February 26, 2017 – Zebre 17 Ulster 40, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
MATCH FACTS:
– This game was postponed from November 25 due to a frozen pitch
– Ulster have won their last four matches with their most recent defeat in the GUINNESS PRO12 being on a trip to the Scarlets on January 6
– The Ulstermen’s only loss in their last eleven Championship matches in Belfast was by the narrowest of margins to Munster in round 7 this season
– Zebre’s most recent victory was 19-14 over Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield in round 7 of the PRO12
– Zebre have never won in 22 previous visits to an Irish province in all competitions
– The two sides have met on nine previous occasions with Zebre’s only success being 13-6 in Parma in September 2014
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