Zebre v Connacht: Guinness PRO12 preview

Mils Muliaina starts at full-back against his former side

Connacht come up against former player Mils Muliaina for the first time on Saturday when they travel to Parma to face Zebre.

All Black Muliaina left the province last summer after one season at the Sportsground and he starts at full-back as Zebre look to respond following their 52-0 hiding at Leinster last week.

Connacht continued their fine form with a bonus-point win at the Dragons in round 14, their third successive Guinness PRO12 victory, and Pat Lam makes five changes for the trip to Italy.

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Connacht came from behind to claim a bonus-point win at the Dragons last week

Kieran Marmion returns at scrum-half while Niyi Adeolokun replaces Danie Poolman on the left wing for his 10th appearance of the season.

Finlay Bealham, Ben Marshall and Eoin McKeon come into the pack as Connacht chase a 12th win on the bounce over Zebre.

Kieran Marmion was among the tryscorers when Connacht beat Zebre 34-15 in round four

"We've been over to play Zebre a fair few times in the last couple of years between PRO12 and Europe and they've always challenged us, particularly up front," said Connacht head coach Lam.

"There's no doubt they will be fired up to make amends for their big defeat to Leinster last week. We've seen what they can do to teams this season, particularly on their home ground, so we will need to be right on top of our game mentally.

"While it's extremely tight at the top end of the table, we are solely focused on the quality of our performance on Saturday to get the points on offer in what will be another tough test on the road."

Zebre: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Luke Burgess; 1 Bruno Postiglioni, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 3 Dario Chistolini, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 6 Emiliano Caffini, 7 Johan Meyer, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk.

Replacements: 16 Emiliano Coria, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Filippo Cristiano, 21 Matteo Panunzi, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Tommaso Boni.

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion; 1 Denis Buckley, 2 Tom McCartney, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Ben Marshall, 5 Aly Muldowney, 6 John Muldoon (c), 7 Jake Heenan, 8 Eoin McKeon.

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Peter Robb, 23 Danie Poolman.