Aironi v Ulster: Teams

Ulster's Paul Marshall in action

Related links

Teams

• Ulster

Also see

• World Cup fixtures and results
• Live Scores
• Expert views
• World Cup history

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has made one change to the side that will face Aironi in a RaboDirect PRO12 clash this weekend.

The Ulstermen got their new season off to a good start with a hard-fought win over Glasgow Warriors last weekend and McLaughlin has largely stuck with the starting XV who secured that victory.

The only change sees Tim Barker replace Lewis Stevenson in the second row, where he will partner Dan Tuohy. Stevenson drops to the bench as a result.

The remainder of the squad remains the same, with Jerry Cronin and Paddy McAllister continuing to partner Andi Kyriacou in the front row.

Chris Henry will once again captain the side from the number eight position.

The back-line that faced Glasgow does duty once more against Aironi but there are a further two changes to the replacements bench.

After suffering a concussion during pre-season Declan Fitzpatrick returns and has been named on the bench. Luke Marshall has also earned a place among the replacements at the expense of Peter Henderson.

New signing Jared Payne has arrived in Ireland and although he will travel to Italy he will play no part in the game. Also ruled out is Callum Black who was not considered due to a neck injury.

One change

Meanwhile, there's only one change in the Aironi starting XV.

For the opening home game of the season, head coach Rowland Phillips has opted for Fabio Staibano in place of Luca Redolfini at tighthead prop. Redolfini drops to the bench.

One other change is amongst the replacements, with Filippo Ferrarini replaced by Simone Favaro . Favaro makes his return to official games after the injury he suffered last season.

New arrival Tyson Keats is not in the 23. The New Zealand-born scrum-half arrived in Italy last Wednesday after an intense period down under, where he played Super Rugby with Hurricanes and all Taranaki's games in the ITM Cup.

Aironi: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Riccardo Pavan, 13 Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Nicola Cattina, 6 Josh Sole, 5 George Biagi, 4 Joshua Furno, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Roberto Santamaria (cap), 1 Matias Aguero
Replacements:16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Frans Viljoen, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Alberto Benettin, 23 Gilberto Pavan.

Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Criag Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Ian Whitten, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Chris Henry, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Tim Barker, 3 Jerry Cronin, 2 Andi Kyriacou, Paddy McAllister
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Declan Fitzpatrick, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Luke Marshall

Click here for more betting