Zebre and the Emirates Lions will meet for the first time as the curtain comes up on the inaugural United Rugby Championship season @ 18h35 today. An injury-free Emirates Lions side strengthened by loan players might just surprise everybody and could just start their URC campaign with a win.
All eyes will be on the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma as Zebre, who have made around a dozen new signings, look to end a run of eight championship defeats against a "struggling" Emirates Lions. The difference between the two sides could be the 12 players that are not available for selection for the hosts.
Zebre registered just four wins from 21 games across the PRO14 and Rainbow Cup last season and have not tasted victory since beating the Dragons at home in February. Two of their three wins over South African opponents came in Parma, against the Kings in 2018 and the Cheetahs two years later.
Zebre included ten Italian International Players in the Zebre Rugby XV selected for the season opener. Zebre will be missing 12 players who are not available for selection, eight players are sidelined due to injuries
Argentinian Emiliano Bergamaschi, assistant coach of Zebre said that the Zebras have a clear and defined style of play. "We will continue to work to coach a team that loves to play rugby and keep possession, without losing it easily. We must develop in the players the awareness of having to make the right choice at the right time as well as the importance of maintaining possession of the ball.”
The Emirates Lions finished bottom of the Rainbow Cup SA but their sole victory did come against section winners the Vodacom Bulls. The Johannesburg-based Lions play their first four matches in Europe and have been boosted by the availability in their touring party of lock Wilhelm van der Sluys after a shoulder injury, although he will not feature in the opener.
The Emirates Lions have named a strong 23-man side to face Italian-based outfit Zebre in their opening fixture of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match on Friday in Parma. The inclusion of Jaco Kriel on the side of the scrum after a lengthy layoff due to injury will go a long way to instil some belief in the team. The contribution of the two loan players, lock Pieter Jansen van Vuren and flyhalf Eddie Fouche will also add a new dimension to the squad.
Commenting on his selections, Emirates Lions head coach Ivan ‘Cash’ van Rooyen said “It’s an exciting new chapter for the Emirates Lions, and we are really looking forward to our first match tomorrow against Zebre.”
“The URC will test our character as a group, but it’s a challenge we are up for. We believe the match-23 we’ve decided upon will be competitive on the day and hopefully establish some momentum going into the next few weeks of the tournament,” concluded van Rooyen.
Zebre: 15. Junior Laloifi, 14. Pierre Bruno, 13. Giulio Bisegni (c), 12. Tommaso Boni, 11. Mattia Bellini, 10. Carlo Canna, 9. Marcello Violi, 8. Renato Giammarioli, 7. Iacopo Bianchi, 6. Maxime Mbanda, 5. Leonard Krumov, 4. David Sisi, 3. Matteo Nocera, 2. Luca Bigi, 1. Danilo Fischetti. Replacements: 16. Oliviero Fabiani, 17. Andrea Lovotti, 18. Ion Neculai, 19. Andrea Zambonin, 20. Govanni Licata, 21. Alessandro Fusco, 22. Antonio Rizzi, 23. Jacopo Trulla.
Emirates Lions: 15. EW Viljoen, 14. Jamba Ulengo, 13. Wandisile Simelane, 12. Burger Odendaal (c), 11. Rabz Maxwane, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 9. Andre Warner, 8. Francke Horn, 7. Vincent Tshituka, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Pieter Jansen Van Vuren, 4. Ruben Schoeman, 3. Carlu Sadie, 2. Jaco Visagie, 1. Ruan Dreyer. Replacements: 16. PJ Botha, 17. Sti Sithole, 18. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19. Reinhard Nothnagel, 20. Sibusiso Sangweni, 21. Morne van den Berg, 22. Eddie Fouche, 23. Divan Rossouw.