The United Rugby Championship is back and this weekend the thirteenth matchday will be staged, with the Parma Zebre facing a treacherous, but not impossible, away match at the home of the Newport Dragons. A real play-off for the lower areas of the table that Fabio Roselli’s boys want to win after a difficult period.
There federal franchise comes from seven consecutive defeats in the United Rugby Championship, after a more than convincing start, and have not won since 10 November, when they beat the Sharks 12-10 at Lanfranchi, in their only success so far. Since then some quality performances, but without ever managing to impose themselves at the end of the 80 minutes.
Against, Newport isn’t experiencing a season of great satisfaction either, with only two victories this season in the URC, although more recent than those of Zebre Parma, with the last success dated January 1st, with the 13-12 victory in the Welsh derby against the Scarlets. Dragons who have only won derbies so far, with the second victory coming against the Ospreys.
It will therefore be one challenge between two teams struggling to get results, which occupy the last two places in the ranking, but which up to now have shown a similar but different path. The Zebre have often come close to winning, they have been able to bring home 8 bonus points and score quite a lot (249 points), while the Dragons have only won three bonuses and are the second worst attack, with only 185 points.
