9 CHANGES IN THE ZEBRE XV FOR THE CLASH WITH THE SHARKS

Another South African team on the path of the Zebre . On Friday 10 November the athletes of the ducal franchise will open the fourth round of the BKT United Rugby Championship by hosting the Hollywoodbets Sharks at the Lanfranchi Stadium in Parma .

The match, scheduled for 6.30pm , will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Arena and in streaming on the NOW platform ; alternatively, it will be possible to follow the textual commentary of the match on the Zebre Twitter account with the hashtag #ZEBvSHA .

With 15 tries and 96 points scored, the Zebre are the second best attack of the tournament. Despite the three defeats at the start of the season, Licata and his teammates have scored 5 bonus points which puts them in thirteenth place in the standings. The yellow-blues will try to break the deadlock this Friday against the Durban franchise, who have not won in the first three matchdays.

The South Africans are fresh from last Friday's KO at the home of the Ospreys and are suffering from the absence of the 11 international athletes who, on 28 October, became world champions with the Springboks.

It will be the third meeting ever between the two teams: both previous ones smile on the team coached by the new head coach John Plumtree, former assistant coach of the All Blacks.

The Zebre arrive at the match with nine changes in the lineup, six in the scrum and three on the attacking midfield line. Juan Pitinari returns, once again deployed as the starting right prop. Captain Licata, David Sisi and Luca Bigi return to the field. Experience also on the bench with the first call-up of the season for Azzurro Luca Morisi, close to making his debut with the yellow-blues.

After three convincing matches, Geronimo Prisciantelli was reconfirmed from the first minute, this time sliding into the fullback position. English midfielder Tiff Eden is back in the control room duetting with Argentine no. 9 Gonzalo Garcia.

Giacomo Ferrari and Pierre Bruno are out due to an ankle and shoulder problem respectively, while de Leeuw, Gregory, Manfredi, Pani, Neculai, Volpi and Zambonin are rested after last Saturday's intense match against the Vodacom Bulls.

The statements of the head coach Fabio Roselli :“The match against the Sharks will be another important event to test the physicality and conquest of the Zebre. We find our captain and some important players who will add experience to the team. We also expect more consistency in the defensive phase. The return of Tiff Eden allows us to try a setup already tested several times last season, with Geronimo Prisciantelli at fullback. We are happy to have Morisi available, with the possibility of seeing him make his debut with the Zebre." The Irishman Peter Martin

will referee the match , making his second appearance in the tournament. The match assistants are Riccardo Angelucci and Filippo Bertelli , while the designated TMO is Mark Patton of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

15. Geronimo Prisciantelli (19)
14. Jacopo Trulla (42)
13. Fetuli Paea (2)
12. Enrico Lucchin (58)
11. Simone Gesi (23)
10. Tiff Eden (17)
9. Gonzalo Garcia (5)
8 Giovanni Licata (Cap) (57)
7. Iacopo Bianchi (44)
6. Luca Andreani (30)
5. Leonard Krumov (90)
4. David Sisi (91)
3. Juan Pitinari (17)
2. Luca Bigi (45) )
1. Danilo Fischetti (42)

Available:

16. Giampietro Ribaldi (20)
17. Luca Rizzoli (14)
18. Muhamed Hasa (15)
19. Matteo Canali (1)
20. Davide Ruggeri (12)
21. Alessandro Fusco (31)
22. Luca Morisi (0)
23. Taina Fox-Matamua (20)

Coach Fabio Roselli

Not available due to injury: Paolo Buonfiglio, Pierre Bruno, Ben Cambriani, Giacomo Ferrari, Jake Polledri, Matteo Nocera, Nicolò Teneggi, Bautista Stavile, Liam Zocchi-Dommann

Referee : Peter Martin (Irish Rugby Football Union)
Assistants : Riccardo Angelucci (Italian Rugby Federation) and Filippo Bertelli (Italian Rugby Federation)
TMO : Mark Patton (Irish Rugby Football Union)