Zebre Parma v Emirates Lions, 12.30pm, Saturday
Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen is anticipating an “attacking cracker” at the Sergio Lanfranchi Stadium.
His team have shown a real eagerness to move the ball while scoring 15 tries in winning their first three league matches and he feels their Italian hosts will buy into that approach.
“If you want to make it open and really want to play an expansive game, they are happy,” he said.
“It looks like they can thrive and survive under that, so I think it’s going to be an attacking cracker.”
Zebre will certainly be keen to rediscover a cutting edge. Since crossing six times in their famous victory over Munster, they have only touched down once in the subsequent defeats to the Stormers and Glasgow.
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Glasgow Warriors, 2.45pm, Saturday
Glasgow coach Franco Smith is ready for a stern challenge back in his homeland as the champions embark on a two-week tour of South Africa.
First up, it’s a trip to Durban to take on the Sharks and then they head down the coast to Cape Town to face the Stormers.
Former Springboks fly-half Smith said: “We are going to play two very hard and tough games on the road against teams that will probably have most of their internationals back.”
Having given the bulk of his squad game-time in the opening four BKT URC matches, he says: “It’s been good to have had a lot of the boys out there playing, that’s important. It makes my task difficult as they all play well and they make full use of it.
“But continuity is going to be important now over the next couple of weeks.”
Reflecting on the campaign so far, he said: “There has been a lot of progression. The first part of the season is always about reinstalling the process and getting everybody to understand what we want from it and then applying that once the understanding is there. It’s not always about the what, it’s more about the how.”
It’s a first home game of the season for the 14th-placed Sharks following a last gasp-win in Newport and defeats out in Galway and Treviso.
DHL Stormers v Munster Rugby, 5pm, Saturday
Stormers coach John Dobson is looking for his team to rediscover their fizz now they are back on home soil.
It’s been a disappointing start to the season for the Cape Town outfit on the road, with defeats away to the Ospreys and Edinburgh either side of a solitary success against Zebre.
As a result, they find themselves bottom of the table and Dobson acknowledges the pressure is now on to deliver in front of their own fans.
“The next two games are important,” he said.
“We’ve got the 2023 champions Munster and last year’s champions Glasgow. If we can get our fizz back at home, we will be ok for the rest of the season.
“The key for us is the next two home games. If we can get those next two, we will be alive and kicking. There is a little bit of pressure in that respect.”
Reflecting on last weekend’s 38-7 defeat to Edinburgh, Dobson said: “We made too many mistakes and our discipline put us under pressure. We got into chase mode and that hurt us. We got frustrated.”
Munster are also looking to bounce back, having been beaten by arch rivals Leinster at a packed Croke Park last weekend.
