Pro12: Warriors eye top spot
Glasgow Warriors coach Gregor Townsend urged his players to ensure the defensive frailties that almost cost them against Connacht last week are no more.
And with a winless Treviso highly motivated to end his side's perfect start to the season up next, Townsend insists a week of hard work in training will really be put to the test.
A 39-21 victory over Pat Lam's Connacht last weekend was the Warriors' fourth straight Pro12win, although it was hardly an error-free performance from last season's losing finalists.
A trip to the Stadio Monigo on Sunday to face a Treviso side without a win this season at first glance may look like a glorious opportunity for Glasgow to make it five from five.
But Townsend believes their Italian opposition possess the ability to punish his side if they were to produce a repeat of last weekend's performance.
"Treviso have traditionally been a very tough nut to crack on home soil at the Stadio Monigo and the one thing you can always guarantee is that they will present a formidable challenge in terms of our set-piece," Townsend said in his column for The Scotsman.
"Over the past few seasons, Treviso have been one of the most innovative teams in Europe, especially in terms of plays from line-out.
"Having watched their early season games, they have already used a few excellent line-out moves, and our defence will have to be switched on throughout the game to prevent any line-breaks.
"Defensively at Glasgow we pride ourselves on our ability as a side to be very hard to penetrate and breakdown but against Connacht we were not up to the standards we have set ourselves in that respect.
"The players have been very focused at improving this aspect of our game on Sunday and tackled strongly at training this week."
Round four of the Pro12 last week saw some memorable records set – the fastest try of the season so far; 37 seconds by Harry Robinson for Scarlets against Edinburgh at Murrayfield, which is also sixth fastest try of all time in the competition and best by any Scarlets player.
Duncan Weir claimed his 500th Pro12 point with 4 conversions and two penalties for Glasgow in their game against Connacht, and when Bryan Byrne came on as a late replacement to join his brother Ed playing for Leinster against Cardiff Blues, they became only the 2nd set of twins to be on the pitch at the same time in the same game, the others being Gilberto and Riccardo Pavin who appeared together for Aironi in the 2011/12 season.
The accumulative number of tries scored this season to date, 115, is a record since the competition went home and away, as is the average number of tries per game, 4.79, whilst attendances have increased on those recorded for the first four rounds last year.
As we enter round five the only two remaining teams with a 100 percent winning record are both away to Italian opposition, Ospreys at Zebre on Friday and Glasgow Warriors against Benetton Treviso on Sunday.
Both home sides have beaten their opposition in previous seasons, so there is no guarantee of points from these trips, but whichever visiting team comes away with the most league points will be placed top of the table at the end of the round.
The other two teams in the top four play-off zone, Connacht and Ulster, both play Friday, but it is the Irish provinces that currently lie fifth and sixth in the table that are the biggest draw of the weekend, as Leinster host Munster at the Aviva Stadium.
Just one point separates these two sides, but Munster have not won in Dublin for six years, and with each team having a won two, lost two record in the competition so far, the signs are set for an epic encounter.
The round wraps up with the all-Welsh clash between Scarlets and Newport Gwent Dragons on Sunday, the hosts being in the unusual position of recording two drawn games out of the four played so far.
All the Round Five teams!
Friday, October 3
Connacht v Cardiff Blues
(Sportsground – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Danie Poolman, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Nathan White, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Ronan Loughney.
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Ian Porter, 22 Fionn Carr, 23 Shane Layden.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Adam Thomas, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Dan Fish, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Matthew Rees (captain), 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Josh Turnbull, 20 Josh Navidi, 21Tavis Knoyle, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Geraint Walsh
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Andy Brace, John Carvill (both Ireland)
TMO: Dermot Moloney (Ireland)
Ulster v Edinburgh
(Kingspan Stadium – Kick-off: 19.35; 18.35 GMT)
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Stuart McCIoskey, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Ruaidhri Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Darren Cave.
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Jack Cuthbert, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 John Andress, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Willem Nell, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Nick McLennan.
Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italy)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan, Brian MacNeice (both Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
Zebre v Ospreys
(Stadio XXV Aprile – Kick-off: 20.35; 18.35 GMT)
The teams:
Zebre: 15 Hendrik Daniller, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Filippo Cristiano, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 George Biagi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Luciano Leibson, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 Kelly Haimona, 23 Mirco Bergamasco.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Jonathan Spratt (captain), 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Hanno Dirksen, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 James King, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Lloyd Peers, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Cai Griffiths, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Andrew Bishop.
Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Elia Rizzo, Carlo Damasco (both Italy)
Saturday, October 4
Leinster v Munster
(Aviva Stadium – Kick-off: 18.30; 17.30 GMT)
Teams:
Leinster: TBC
Munster: TBC
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Mark Patton (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Sunday, October 5
Benetton Treviso v Glasgow Warriors
(Stadio Monigo – Kick-off: 15.00; 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Benetton Treviso: TBC
Glasgow Warriors: TBC
Referee: Gary Conway (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Claudio Blessano (Italy), Andrea Spadoni (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
Scarlets v Newport Gwent Dragons
(Parc y Scarlets – Kick-off: 16.00; 15.00 GMT)
Teams:
Scarlets: TBC
Newport Gwent Dragons: TBC
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales) , Jon Mason (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)
