Cardiff Blues v Treviso: Teams

Edoardo Gori: Playing again as winger for Treviso

In round four of the RaboDirect PRO12, there will be only four changes in Benetton Treviso's starting XV.

This will be an important match and also the last of four consecutive tough matches; Treviso have so far played Ospreys, Munster and Leinster.

Despite the losses against the two Irish teams, the victory over the reigning champions, Ospreys, raises hopes for another win over Welsh opposition.

However, the Blues are the only team that Treviso have yet to beat in the Celtic competition.

Head coach, Franco Smith, has confirmed his backline with Edoardo Gori playing again as winger, and the only replacement will see Giulio Toniolatti, making his debut in green and white, come in for Ludovico Nitoglia.

There will be a day off also for Alberto Di Bernardo and so scrum-half Tobias Botes will play alongside Kris Burton at fly-half.

There are two further changes among the forwards where Dean Budd replaces the injured Corniel Van Zyl, while Marco Filippucci comes in at flanker in place of Simone Favaro.

Gutsy win

Meanwhile, the Blues have started their RaboDirect PRO12 campaign with all three of their fixtures, so far this season, being won by the away side on the day.

The Blues won 16-5 at the Dragons on Friday but have not managed back-to-back victories in the tournament since last February. However, they have a perfect played 13, won 13 record in previous encounters with Italian opponents in all competitions.

Speaking ahead of the fixture Phil Davies, Cardiff Blues director of rugby, said: "It's great to be back at the Arms Park for our second home RaboDirect PRO12 fixture.

"Last weekend we had a good, gusty win against the Dragons at Rodney Parade. It is never an easy place to go to and their home crowd really got behind the Men of Gwent and made some noise.

"It was a bit of a scrappy game as Welsh derbies can be but I thought many of our players acquitted themselves well.

"We know Treviso will be a difficult team to beat. They are very physical, especially up front, and have a good set piece as they showed against the Ospreys."

New signing

The Blues have made seven changes to the team that beat the Dragons. In the backs Dan Fish comes in at full-back, Jamie Roberts starts for the first time at centre and Tom James starts on the wing.

There are four changes in the forwards. New signing Robin Copeland starts at Number 8, Lou Reed comes into the second row and Benoit Bourrust and Andi Kyriacou are selected in the front row.

The Blues, along with every other RaboDirect side will be holding a minute's silence in memory of Nevin Spence who died tragically last week. Speaking of the Ulster centre, Davies, added: "The death of Nevin Spence, along with his brother and father, really put things in perspective.

"I was fortunate to have met Nevin on a few occasions and he was a lovely guy along with being an extremely talented rugby player.

"I have no doubt he would have gone on to play international rugby for Ireland and he will be a great loss."

Cardiff Blues: 15. Dan Fish 14. Alex Cuthbert 13. Gavin Evans 12. Jamie Roberts 11. Tom James 10. Rhys Patchell 9. Lloyd Williams 8. Robin Copeland 7. Sam Warburton 6. Josh Navidi 5. Lou Reed 4. Bradley Davies (c) 3.Benoit Bourrust 2. Andi Kyriacou 1.Nathan Trevett. Replacements: 16. Kristian Dacey 17. Campese Ma'afu 18.Scott Andrews 19. Macauley Cook 20.Rory Watts-Jones 21.Rob Lewis 22. Jason Tovey 23. Dafydd Hewitt

Benetton Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Edoardo Gori, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Giulio Toniolatti, 10 Kristopher Burton,9 Tobias Botes,8 Robert Barbieri,7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Marco Filippucci, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Francesco Minto, 3 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (cap) 1 Alberto De Marchi. Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Jacobus Roux,19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Paul Derbyshire, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Luca Morisi