Benetton Treviso entertain Glasgow Warriors at Stadio Monigo 13:05 GMT on New Year’s Eve, with both sides buoyant following their respective derby victories over Christmas. What’s at stake? Treviso finally moved off the foot of the table with their morale-boosting win over Zebre and can start to reel in other teams – specifically ninth-placed Newport Gwent Dragons and tenth-placed Edinburgh – with another victory here. Meanwhile, the Warriors’ sights are set on cracking the top four and just one point separates them from fourth-placed Ulster heading into what could be a pivotal weekend. Team news (Treviso): Treviso have made three changes to the team that beat Zebre, as last week’s captain Alberto Sgarbi drops out for Luca Morisi at inside centre. Giorgio Bronzini is promoted from the bench in favour of Tito Tebaldi while at tight-head, Matteo Zanusso replaces Simone Ferrari. Team news (Glasgow Warriors): Stuart Hogg will start at fly-half for Glasgow Warriors for the first time in the Guinness PRO12. With Hogg moving up field, Peter Murchie starts at full-back and will be flanked by Tommy Seymour and Junior Bulumakau. At blind-side flanker Adam Ashe makes his first start of the season after making his return from injury, and Fiji scrum-half Nemia Kenatale should make his Warriors debut from the bench. Key Battle: As gifted a player as he is, Stuart Hogg is in unfamiliar territory at fly-half on Saturday and will need to use all of half-back partner Henry Pyrgos’ experience to control the game. He will be up against another former Scotland Under-20s star in Tommaso Allan, who will be hoping to build on his brilliant 18-point display from No.10 against Zebre. Talking points: However, Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend does not view Hogg’s switch as an emergency measure and is backing the Scotland and Lions full-back to come good. “Stuart Hogg has covered (though never started) at 10 a number of times this season and ran in the position a lot at training,” he said. “He has all the attributes to play well there and we’re looking forward to seeing him getting even more touches of the ball this weekend. “The squad is in a good place and have recovered well from the game against Edinburgh, as we have trained with real intensity this week.” Key stat: Should Treviso win they will buck the trend as they have lost their last 21 encounters against Scottish sides. Did you know? Treviso have won their last three matches in all competitions but have not won four in a row since 2011/2012. Treviso: L McLean; A Esposito, T Benvenuti, L Morisi, L Sperandio; T Allan, G Bronzini; A De Marchi, D Giazzon, M Zanusso; M Fuser, D Budd; R Barbieri, A Steyn, M Barbini. Replacements: R Santamaria, F Zani, T Pasquali, T Paulo, M Lazzaroni, E Gori, I McKinley, T Iannone. Top Points Scorer: T Allan 55pts. Top Try Scorer: M Fuser 3. Glasgow: P Murchie; J Bulumakau, N Grigg, S Johnson, T Seymour; S Hogg, H Pyrgos; G Reid, P MacArthur, D Rae; T Swinson, B Alainu’uese; A Ashe, C Fusaro, R Wilson. Replacements: C Flynn, A Allan, Z Fagerson, R Harley, S Favaro, N Kenatale, R Clegg, S Lamont Top Points Scorer: F Russell 39pts. Top Try Scorer: T Seymour 7. Overall Guinness PRO12 head to head record: Played 13, Treviso won 2, Glasgow won 11. At Stadio Monigo, 2.05pm local time, (1.05pm UK & Ireland) Live on Eurosport and BBC ALBA Referee: Elia Rizzo (FIR) Assistant Referees: Claudio Blessano, Stefano Traversi (both FIR) Citing Commissioner: Alberto Recaldini (FIR) TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)
