Biarritz Olympique will be hunting Heineken Cup revenge against their Italian visitors on Friday due to their shock loss to Aironi last weekend.
The French outfit have made five changes to the line-up for the rematch following that 28-27 loss, with centres Marcelo Bosch and Damien Traille, flanker Samiu Vahafolua, hooker Benoit August and loosehead prop Yvan Watremez all in.
It was Julien Laharrague's drop-goal that sparked scenes of celebration for Aironi and it is therefore a surprise to see a total of ten changes to their XV.
BO did picked up a couple of bonus points in Italy and are currently two points ahead of the chasing Ulster, and four above Bath, who meet at the Rec.
The teams:
Biarritz: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Iain Balshaw, 10 Julien Peyrelongue, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Samiu Vahafolau, 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Erik Lund, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Benoit August, 1 Yvan Watremez.
Replacements: 16 Romain Terrain, 17 Eusebio Guinazu, 18 Sylvain Marconnet, 19 Pelu Taele, 20 Wenceslas Lauret, 21 Ilikena Bolakoro, 22 Laurent Tranier, 23 Arnaud Mignardi.
Aironi: 15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Giiulio Toniolatti, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Giulio Rubini, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Jaco Erasmus, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Vickus Liebenberg, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Marco Bortolami, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Luigi Ferraro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Roberto Santamaria, 17 Leo Gamboa, 18 Matias Aguero, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Gareth Krause, 21 Mickey Wilson, 22 James Marshall, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti.
Date: Friday, December 17
Kick-off: 19:00 (18:00 GMT)
Venue: Parc des Sports Aguilera
Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Assistant referees: Martin Fox (England), Alan Biggs (England)
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,9989_6580556,00.html