With a bolstered squad and momentum behind them, Leinster will be confident but Benetton Rugby remain one of the toughest away games in the GUINNESS PRO14, making this afternoon’s game an intriguing battle.
GUINNESS PRO14: Saturday, December 2
BENETTON RUGBY (5th, Con B) v LEINSTER (3rd, Con B), Stadio di Monigo, 4.30pm local time/3.30pm Irish time (live TG4/Eurosport Italia)
Team News: Similar to last week against the Dragons, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is able to welcome back a number of players from injury in addition to a few players from international duty, while he also hands a debut to James Lowe, who recently arrived from New Zealand.
Leinster Academy back Jordan Larmour continues in the number 15 jersey but there are changes on both wings. Dave Kearney comes in on the right with Maori All Blacks star Lowe coming in on the left.
Lowe arrived from Super Rugby side the Chiefs, who reached the semi-finals of the southern hemisphere competition this year. The 25-year-old played in 16 Super Rugby matches this season, scoring 11 tries. After the Super Rugby season finished, he competed in the New Zealand Provincial competition, the Mitre 10 Cup, helping his team Tasman to reach the final.
Noel Reid is again selected at inside centre while Garry Ringrose returns from a shoulder injury to make his first appearance of the season. Luke McGrath is back to captain the province from scrum half with Ross Byrne, the man-of-the-match against the Dragons, outside him at out-half.
In the pack Jack McGrath and James Tracy return in Leinster colours for their first involvement since the GUINNESS Series, joining Andrew Porter, who started for Ireland against Fiji recently, in the front row.
Ian Nagle makes his first start of the campaign, combining with Scott Fardy in the second row, while there is an all-Ireland international combination in the back row with Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan completing the pack. It will be van der Flier’s first game back since injuring his ankle against Glasgow Warriors in October.
Young prop Vakh Abdaladze is in line to make his senior debut for Leinster should he be introduced off the bench in Italy. The 21-year-old former Ireland Under-20 international plays his club rugby with Clontarf in the Ulster Bank League.
Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, Benetton Rugby boss Kieran Crowley has made minimal changes to the side that went very close to pulling off a shock win at Ulster in round 9.
Kiwi recruit Marty Banks, whose 72nd-minute penalty goal was almost the decisive score in Belfast, gets the nod at full-back with Luca Sperandio shifting across to the left wing. Andrea Bronzini misses out on a place in the matchday squad.
23-year-old prop Tiziano Pasquali, who won his second Italy cap off the bench against South Africa last Saturday, comes in at tighthead in the only change to the Benetton pack. Marco Lazzaroni and Edoardo Gori, who both played for the Azzurri last month, have been added to the replacements along with Sebastian Negri.
BENETTON RUGBY: Marty Banks; Tommaso Benvenuti, Juan Ignacio Brex, Alberto Sgarbi (capt), Luca Sperandio; Tommaso Allan, Giorgio Bronzini; Cherif Traore, Tomas Baravalle, Tiziano Pasquali, Alessandro Zanni, Irne Herbst, Whetu Douglas, Nasi Manu, Robert Barbieri.
Replacements: Hame Faiva, Nicola Quaglio, Alberto de Marchi, Federico Ruzza, Marco Lazzaroni, Sebastian Negri, Edoardo Gori, Luca Morisi.
LEINSTER: Jordan Larmour; Dave Kearney, Garry Ringrose, Noel Reid, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath (capt); Jack McGrath, James Tracy, Andrew Porter, Ian Nagle, Scott Fardy, Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Ed Byrne, Vakh Abdaladze, Mick Kearney, Max Deegan, Nick McCarthy, Fergus McFadden, Rory O’Loughlin.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Andrea Piardi, Manuel Bottino (both Italy)
Television Match Official: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Benetton Rugby to win: 11/2; Draw: 25/1; Leinster to win: 1/8
Pre-Match Quotes: Noel Reid (Leinster) – “Benetton are looking really good. They were close to winning away to Ulster there (last week), and they’ve had some really good games so far this season. They pushed Toulon pretty close in the Champions Cup as well.
“Over the years we’ve had tough times over there away. It’s a really tough place to go and obviously they’ve improved now as well. It’s a good challenge for us, a good challenge for our squad. It’ll probably show us where we are this season if we can get over there and have a good performance leading into Exeter away (in the Champions Cup).
“Momentum is a massive thing in rugby. This week’s huge for us. We’ll filter a few of the Irish boys back in, get a bit of a buzz going and have a good performance this weekend which then leads to Europe.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Benetton Rugby – Points: Ian McKinley 45; Tries: Angelo Esposito 5; Leinster – Points: Ross Byrne 63; Tries: Rory O’Loughlin 5
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Benetton Rugby – Played 9, Won 3, Lost 6, 15 Points; L 34-3 v Munster (away), L 21-14 v Ulster (home), W 20-17 v Edinburgh (away), W 16-6 v Ospreys (home), L 37-21 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 31-3 v Southern Kings (home), L 24-13 v Edinburgh (home), L 20-8 v Scarlets (away), L 23-22 v Ulster (away); Leinster – Played 9, Won 7, Lost 2, 32 Points; W 39-16 v Dragons (away), W 37-9 v Cardiff Blues (home), W 31-10 v Southern Kings (away), L 38-19 v Toyota Cheetahs (away), W 21-13 v Edinburgh (home), W 23-17 v Munster (home), W 25-10 v Ulster (away), L 31-21 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 54-10 v Dragons (home)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Sunday, November 23, 2014 – Benetton Treviso 24 Leinster 24, Stadio di Monigo
Friday, May 8, 2015 – Leinster 10 Benetton Treviso 0, the RDS
Sunday, November 1, 2015 – Benetton Treviso 3 Leinster 27, Stadio di Monigo
Saturday, May 7, 2016 – Leinster 50 Benetton Treviso 19, the RDS
Friday, September 2, 2016 – Leinster 20 Benetton Rugby 8, the RDS
Sunday, February 12, 2017 – Benetton Rugby 14 Leinster 40, Stadio di Monigo
MATCH FACTS:
– Benetton Rugby have slipped to three straight defeats in the GUINNESS PRO14 since beating the Southern Kings 31-3 in Treviso in early October, although they only lost last weekend by a single point to Ulster thanks to a 79th minute conversion of Andrew Trimble’s 50th PRO14 try
– Leinster’s only defeat in any competition since September was 31-21 in Glasgow in round 8 of the GUINNESS PRO14
– The Leinstermen have only once been defeated by Italian opposition in the Championship: 29-13 to Benetton in Treviso in their very first such encounter, back in September 2010
– Leinster have won their last five matches against Benetton Rugby since their 24-all draw at Stadio di Monigo in November 2014
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