Calvisano are currently bottom of the table with just two points to their name, while Bucharest sit third with a four-point advantage of their Italian rivals.

The Romanians won the reverse fixture 37-15 back in October as inside centre Florin Vlaicu kicked six penalties and a conversion and scored the first of three tries for a 25-point haul.

That result came on the back of a heart-breaking loss for Bucharest against Newcastle in Round 1 when Lyn Howells’ side led the Aviva Premiership outfit until the dying stages at the Stadium Arcul de Triumf. Only a Tom Catterick penalty with four minutes remaining prevented the Wolves from claiming a first scalp over English opposition and they took heart from that showing to make light work of Calvisano with a superb second-half display.

Calvisano actually led 9-3 in that Round 2 encounter and trailed just 17-12 at the break but Bucharest pulled away late on as they added 17 points in the final quarter of an hour.

Like Bucharest, Calvisano had begun their latest Amlin Challenge Cup quest in bright fashion as they came within a whisker of shocking 1997 Heineken Cup winners Brive. They led until four minutes from time before the game finished as a 20-20 draw and they could have still secured a well-deserved win had fly-half Kelly Haimona’s last-gasp kick hit the target.

They have failed to reach those heights in the three pool games that have followed, though, and were beaten 37-15 and 25-10 by Newcastle in their last two Amlin Challenge Cup outings.

History is in Calvisano’s favour, however, as it was they who won this fixture 34-20 a year ago. They had already lost the away leg earlier on that season, too, and they will hope that a repeat is on the cards at the Peroni Stadium.

Bucharest have won just three games on the road in 10 seasons in Europe but two of those successes have been in Italy and the other was at current Heineken Cup kings Toulon in January 2006.