PRO12
Ulster v Treviso
Kingspan Stadium, Friday, 7.35pm (Live BBC NI/Eurosport 2).
Les Kiss will be thankful for the arrival of his international set. Fifth on the table and outside where Ulster want to be – in the top four.
Andrew Trimble, Craig Gilroy and Jared Payne will, for a myriad of reasons, hope to make an impression against the 11th placed Italians.
Payne needs game time if he wants to prise Garry Ringrose or Rob Kearney from their Irish positions and his performance at outside centre will be keenly assessed.
It is his first start since suffering a kidney injury against Australia last November, although, he did come off the bench last week against Zebre.
Bonus point
Springbok backrow Marcell Coetzee is also named after recovering from an illness that kept him from Sunday’s bonus-point win.
Gilroy goes in at fullback for the first time this season with Stuart Olding at inside centre. Pete Nelson and Ruan Pienaar continue their halfback partnership.
Nelson should see a lot of Ian McKinley, the Treviso outhalf.
McKinley fought long and hard to have the wearing of eye goggles approved by World Rugby after a previous accident left him blind in one eye.
Ulster’s record is good but not pristine against the Italians. The teams have met 19 times in all tournaments with Ulster’s only failure coming in 2011 when they lost 12-23 in Belfast.
ULSTER: C Gilroy, A Trimble, J Payne, S Olding, C Piutau, P Nelson, R Pienaar; C Black, R Herring (capt), W Herbst, K Treadwell, F van der Merwe, R Wilson, S Reidy, M Coetzee. Replacements: J Andrew, A Warwick, R Lutton, P Browne, C Ross, P Marshall, L Marshall, J Stockdale.
ZEBRE: L Sperandio; A Esposito, T Iannone, M Tagicakibau, A Buondonno; I McKinley, T Tebaldi; F Zani, L Bigi, T Pasquali, T Paulo, D Budd (capt), M Lazzaroni, F Minto, R Barbieri. Replacements: R Santamaria, R Acosta, M Zanusso, F Gerosa, G Zanini, G Bronzini, A Sgarbi, A Pratichetti
Referee: D Jones (WRU)
Verdict: Ulster.
