Director of rugby Rob Penney admits he sat back and watched Munster’s opening RaboDirect PRO12 win against Edinburgh with pride – but will not take underdogs Zebre for granted on Friday.

Munster travel to Parma to take on a side who are yet to record a victory in the RaboDirect PRO12 after making their introduction to the competition last year.

The Italian outfit succumbed to a 16-25 loss against Connacht in Galway on Saturday while Munster beat Edinburgh 34-23, running in five tries as they aim to keep up their record of not losing a round 1 or 2 game in the PRO12 since season 2009/10.

Munster squeaked past Zebre 27-25 on their only previous visit in round 22 last season and Penney, who believes it dangerous to write their opponents off, is taking a lot of heart from his side’s defeat of Edinburgh.

“Going through the review was really a pleasure for a number of reasons,” he said.

“The guys are really proud of the effort they put in and the key is that we keep backing those performances up now.

“We’ll have to be up for it, it’ll be a very challenging experience for the group that goes out there.“We’ve got some ability across the park and they’ve really set the standard for us.

“We’ve got a bit of footage of Zebre. They were pretty robust against Connacht – they’ll be heading home with a desire to get their new stadium off to a winning start. That will bring some hurdles of its own.

“They’re dogged, they’re tough, a very proud team and they’ve got some good players in there, they’re not the rollover team people think they are.”

Penney will be handing wing Andrew Conway his first competitive start after recovering from a dead leg he sustained in a pre-season game against Gloucester.

The 22-year-old, who appeared in Leinster’s RaboDirect PRO12 final victory over Ulster in May, moved in the summer after agreeing a two-year deal with Munster back in January.

There are five changes in the pack as Donnacha Ryan will make his first appearance of the season alongside Ian Nagle in the second row, while Damien Varley will skipper the side and join Dave Kilcoyne and John Ryan at the front.

Zebre also completely freshen up their front row by playing props Salvatore Perugini and Luca Redolfini either side of Parma-born Italy international Andrea Manici.

Injury has ruled out legendary Italy flanker Mauro Bergamasco and Emiliano Caffini in the back row, with Filippo Ferrarini and Dries van Schalkwyk stepping in.

And in the backs, winger Leonardo Sarto and fullback Ruggero Trevisan will run out for the first time in the RaboDirect PRO12 this season.

At Stadio XXV Aprile, 7.30pm local time (6.30pm UK & Ireland)
Referee: Andrew McMenemy (SRU, 22nd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Elia Rizzo, Francesco Russo (both FIR)
Citing Commissioner: Roberto Carra (FIR)
TMO: Alan Falzone (FIR)

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