Leinster will play host to Zebre at the RDS Arena on Saturday afternoon in their third United Rugby Championship game of the season.
Leinster have a formidable record against Italian opposition and their only defeat in such fixtures came at home to Benetton in April 2018.
Leo Cullen’s side have won their last three home matches since they were beaten 27-3 by Munster in Dublin during the Rainbow Cup and they prevailed 48-31 when these sides met in Parma in March.
Zebre, meanwhile, are without a win since February and their last championship victory outside Italy came last November -both of those results coming against the Dragons.
Leinster have won all 15 of the previous encounters between the teams and will look to maintain their 100% record against the side that replaced Aironi in the league in 2012.
A poor performance in round two is something fans of the provincial rugby team will hope is just an outlier as they continue their quest for five-in-a-row.
Leinster escaped Newport with a second win in two games after shutting off in attack following Max Deegan’s score.
Their astute defence kept the Dragons at bay but the Welsh region had narrowed the lead Leinster held from the 13th minute down to just one point when the ball was kicked out after 80 minutes.
Adam Byrne will return to the 23 along with Harry Byrne and Tommy O’Brien.
Zebre come to Dublin 4 seeking their first win of the campaign, having earned their first point in an opening-round loss to the Emirates Lions.
Their last match was against Ulster, who put six tries past the Italians and more will be expected of Leinster if they are up to scratch.
Team News
Leinster
15. Jimmy O’Brien (35)
14. Adam Byrne (57)
13. Jamie Osborne (7)
12. Ciarán Frawley (37)
11. Jordan Larmour (62)
10. Harry Byrne (24)
9. Luke McGrath (152) CAPTAIN
1. Ed Byrne (72)
2. Seán Cronin (195)
3. Michael Ala’alatoa (2)
4. Devin Toner (266)
5. Ryan Baird (29)
6. Dan Leavy (73)
7. Scott Penny (29)
8. Rhys Ruddock (190)
Replacements:
16. Rónan Kelleher (25)
17. Peter Dooley (93)
18. Cian Healy (233)
19. Ross Molony (118)
20. Max Deegan (67)
21. Nick McCarthy (37)
22. Johnny Sexton (174)
23. Rob Russell (1)
Zebre
15. Jacopo Trulla * (7)
14. Pierre Bruno (31)
13. Erich Cronjé (0)
12. Enrico Lucchin * (25)
11. Mattia Bellini (64)
10. Antonio Rizzi * (23)
9. Nicholas Casilio * (21)
8. Renato Giammarioli * (63)
7. Luca Andreani * (0)
6. Iacopo Bianchi * (20)
5. Andrea Zambonin * (2)
4. Cristian Stoian * (4)
4. Ion Neculai * (2)
2. Oliviero Fabiani (132) (Cap)
1. Andrea Lovotti * (108)
Available:
16. Massimo Ceciliani * (40)
17. Danilo Fischetti * (29)
18. Matteo Nocera * (18)
19. David Sisi (66)
20. Giovanni Licata * (43)
21. Guglielmo Palazzani (148)
22. Tommaso Boni * (103)
23. Paolo Pescetto (11)
Odds
Leinster 1/100
Draw 100/1
Zebre 33/1
Where To Watch
The match will kick off at 1 pm BST and will be available to watch live on RTÉ, Mediaset, Premier Sports, SuperSport and URC TV.
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