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Preview: Calvisano v Gloucester

Friday 05th December 2008

Captain: Buxton will lead Gloucester in Italy

Peter Buxton will skipper Gloucester as they resume their Heineken Cup challenge with a trip to the Centro Sportivo San Michele on Saturday to take on Calvisano.

Having lost to Cardiff Blues last time out the men from the west country will be eager to take five points away in Italy - just as Cardiff Blues did themselves on the opening day of the tournament.

Buxton, who scored twice in Gloucester's Guinness Premiership victory over Bristol a fortnight ago, will lead the side in place of Mike Tindall, who moves out of the starting line-up for only the second time this season and sits on the bench.

In total, head coach Dean Ryan has made five changes from the starting line-up that beat Northampton 33-10 last weekend.

"What has been important for us is that we have been pleased with how we have played in our last three games," said Head Coach Dean Ryan.

"A shift in competition is crucial. Defeat in Cardiff has made it difficult and we appreciate our next slip-up puts us out of the tournament.

"If we want to take this back to Kingsholm against Cardiff it's vital we perform over the next fortnight. We recognise this away game is potentially very difficult. There will be no complacency because we have people fighting for selection and that is exactly what we want.

"It's important we get our own details right around our structure and game management and if we can do that well enough we have proved in recent weeks we can be a threat. There is an opportunity to really build on something now and take it forward and that has to be our challenge this weekend."

Meanwhile, Australian-born Italian international Luke McLean lines up for Calvisano at full-back as part of an all-international back three with fellow Italian Ludovico Nitoglia on one wing and Argentinian Marko Stanojevic on the other.

Former Leicester Tigers prop Alejandro Moreno is also picked, and danger lurks on the bench in the form of experienced Italian internationals Aaron Persico, Paul Griffen and Matteo Pratichetti.

Form: Two games and two defeats so far for Calvisano in Pool Six, a hefty 56-20 reversal against Cardiff Blues was followed by a 41-10 loss away from home. Gloucester lost their last HEC game, going down to Cardiff Blues at the Millennium Stadium. But they will fancy taking five points here to keep their challenge for the knock-out stages alive.

The Teams:

Calvisano: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Marko Stanojevic, 13 Winston Mafi, 12 Daniele Forcucci, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Paolo Buso, 9 Pino Patelli, 8 Justin Purll, 7 Maurizio Zaffiri, 6 David Dal Maso, 5 Cameron Treloar, 4 Luca Beccaris, 3 Alejandro Moreno, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Hoani Tui.
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Bocca, 17 Tommaso D'Apice, 18 Nicola Cattina, 19 Aaron Persico, 20 Paul Griffen, 21 Gerard John Fraser, 22 Matteo Pratichetti.

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Mark Foster, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Alasdair Strokosch, 6 Peter Buxton (c), 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Will James, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Jack Forster, 18 Adam Eustace, 19 Apo Satala, 20 Dave Lewis, 21 Mike Tindall, 22 Willie Walker.

Date: Saturday 6 December, 2008
Kick-off: 14:35 (13:35 GMT)
Venue: Centro Sportivo San Michele
Referee: James Jones (Wales)