Zebre and Italy legend Mauro Bergamasco will play the last home game of his career against Connacht on Saturday and head coach Victor Jimenez wants to send the flanker out on a high. After announcing his retirement at the end of the campaign, Bergamasco will captain the side as they host Connacht and try to record just a second victory in 28 GUINNESS PRO12 games against Irish provinces. Zebre are currently bottom of the table having won just three league games all season but still find themselves in the hunt for top-tier European rugby, needing to overhaul a three-point deficit on countrymen Treviso. However, they have been victorious just once since round nine and suffered a heavy 37-0 defeat to Edinburgh last time out. And Jimenez acknowledges that if they are to send the 36-year-old Bergamasco off in style, they will need to produce a vastly improved display. “The team is aware that it must improve after the bad performance of the last game in Edinburgh,” said Jimenez. “We had a good week of work, very competitive. We trust in a great performance tomorrow. In the first leg in Galway we suffered on the conquest phases. “We expect a similar challenge, especially hard for the forwards. Connacht has had a great season, while we have been very inconsistent. “Tomorrow we have to go out and achieve a good performance like we have maintained all season in front of our fans.” Padua-born flanker Bergamasco has played over 300 club games during his career for teams such as Benetton Treviso, Stade Francais and Aironi. His final match in Italy sees him captaining a Zebre side sporting a number of changes from the XV that lost to Edinburgh – the likes of Giovanbattista Venditti, Michele Visentin, Brendon Leonard and Quintin Geldenhuys all starting. Contrastingly, Connacht make just one change as they look to extend their record of having beaten Zebre each of the nine times the teams have met – scrum-half John Cooney coming in. Academy fly-half Conor McKeon could also be in line for a provincial debut as he take his place on the replacements bench. Connacht are currently eighth in the GUINNESS PRO12 table but still harbour ambitions of a top-six finish and head coach Pat Lam insists Cooney and McKeon more than deserve their opportunity. "After a series of good performances from the bench, it's great to be able to give John Cooney a start this weekend,” said Lam. "At this late stage of the season, it's not unusual for us to be light in terms of players available. “We've always had to rely on our Academy players to step up when needed and with an eye to the future, young Conor (McKeon) will get a well-deserved chance to do that this weekend. "Conor is a talented out-half who has done very well in his first year in the Academy. He has trained with the senior squad for the last four weeks and to gain experience on and off the field in a massively important PRO12 game is the next step in his development." At Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, 6.30pm Live on Nuvolari/TG4 Referee: Ian Davies (WRU, 30th competition game) Assistant Referees: Matteo Liperini, Filippo Bertelli (both FIR) Citing Commissioner: Francesco Grillo (FIR) TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)
