Viadana v Biarritz: Teams
World Cup winner Ashwin Willemse is named in a star-studded Biarritz side for the trip to Italy on Saturday.
Last Updated: 09/11/07 2:23pm
World Cup winner Ashwin Willemse is named in a star-studded Biarritz side for the trip to Italy on Saturday.
France's World Cup full-back Damien Traille moves to inside centre, while his international team-mate Dimitri Yachvili starts at scrum-half.
Julien Peyrelongue is charged with the responsibility of getting the backs going from fly-half, after a less than convincing start to the season so far.
Benoit August will skipper the side alongside Denis Avril and Eduard Coetzee in the front row.
Italy's Santiago Dellape and France's Jerome Thion make up the second row, with South Africa international Jacques Cronje at number eight and France's Imanol Harinordoquy at flanker.
Biarritz have taken a draw and a win in the Top 14 so far, but will still expect to get their Heineken Cup campaign off the ground with victory.
Viadana are big underdogs despite being at home, and return to the competition after a six-year absence.
The Italians are yet to record a victory in the tournament, but will be looking for inspiration from former New Zealand Sevens star Hayden Pedersen on the wing.
Number eight Josh Sole will captain the Viadana against the Heineken Cup Pool Four favourites meanwhile.
Viadana: 15 Hayden Reid, 14 Steven Bortolussi, 13 Roberto Talotti, 12 Garry Law, 11 Hayden Pedersen, 10 Corrado Pilat, 9 Craig McGrath, 8 Josh Sole (capt), 7 Aldo Birchall, 6 Sam Harding, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Cristian Bezzi, 3 Ignacio Rouyetl, 2 Luigi Ferraro, 1 Miguel Alonso.
Replacements: 16 Plinio Sciamanna, 17 Andrea Moretti, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Dion Waller, 20 Samuele Pace, 21 Jaco Erasmus, 22 Calvin Howarth.
Biarritz: 15 Nicolas Brusque, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Henry Fa'afili, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Jean-Baptiste Gobelet, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Jacques Cronje, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Samiu Vahafolau, 5 Santiago Dellape, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Denis Avril, 2 Benoît August (c), 1 Eduard Coetzee.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Noirot, 17 Benoît Lecouls, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Mohamed Dridi, 20 Fabien Cibray, 21 Marcelo Bosch, 22 Andrea Masi.