Billy Holland returns to lead Munster against Cheetahs

David Skippers

The third round of the PRO14 starts on Friday with the Cheetahs, Dragons and Leinster hosting Munster, Connacht and Edinburgh respectively.

Cheetahs v Munster

The Cheetahs will be facing Munster in their last home game of the year on Friday, with Franco Smith announcing his final team as coach of the side before handing over to Hawies Fourie.

Luan de Bruin has returned from injury and replaced Erich de Jager, while Louis Fouche will be starting at centre due to Dries Swanepoel being sidelined by a calf injury. Clayton Blommetjies will be providing cover on the bench.

The two teams have met on four previous occasions in the PRO14 with Munster successful each time. The Cheetahs have won their last four PRO14 encounters but have never before won five in succession since they joined the competition in 2017. Munster’s only defeat in their last four away games in all tournaments was to Leinster in last season’s PRO14 semi-final.

Meanwhile, the Munster side has been named for Friday’s PRO14 clash against in-form Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

Captain Billy Holland comes into the side as one of five changes to the team that beat Southern Kings last week with Tyler Bleyendaal, Nick McCarthy, Jeremy Loughman and Rhys Marshall also included.

Mike Haley starts at full-back with Darren Sweetnam and Shane Daly, man of the match in both of Munster’s opening games, on either flank.

McCarthy and Bleyendaal form a new half-back partnership with the centre pairing of Rory Scannell and Dan Goggin unchanged.

Loughman, Marshall and Stephen Archer pack down in the front row with Fineen Wycherley and Holland in the engine room.

The back-row of Jack O’Donoghue, Tommy O’Donnell and Arno Botha is unchanged.

Academy player Keynan Knox is in line to make his second PRO14 appearance off the bench with Calvin Nash in line for his first competitive action of the season.

The teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Louis Fouche, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (c), 8 Henco Venter, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Sias Koen, 21 Jasper Wiese, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Clayton Blommetjies

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 James Cronin, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Calvin Nash

Venue: Free State Stadium
Kick-off: 18:15 local (17:15 BST, 16:15 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa), Paul Mente (South Africa)
TMO: Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)

Dragons v Connacht

Wing wonder Ashton Hewitt will make his first PRO14 appearance at Rodney Parade since March 2018 as Dragons face Connacht on Friday evening.

Hewitt, who missed last season with a shoulder injury, is back in the line-up after missing the Zebre away victory with a facial knock. Dean Ryan, Dragons’ director of rugby, makes three changes to his starting team as league action returns to Newport for the first time this season.

Centre Adam Warren is called up to partner Tyler Morgan in midfield. The final change is in the back-row where Huw Taylor is named at six, as Lewis Evans moves across to play at number eight.

Fly-half Sam Davies will make his home debut in the league while wing Owen Jenkins also makes a PRO14 bow at Rodney Parade.

Hooker Ellis Shipp and prop Ryan Bevington return to the bench.

Meanwhile, John Porch is set for his first competitive start for Connacht after he was named on the right wing in the Irish province’s starting 15.

The inclusion of the Australian winger is the only change from the side that defeated Benetton last weekend, with the Connacht side running in six tries in the 41-5 win.

Porch plays in a back three that includes winger Matt Healy and full-back Tiernan O’Halloran, while Peter Robb and Kyle Godwin are selected at midfield.

Caolin Blade and Conor Fitzgerald, who both impressed last time out, continue their half-back partnership at scrum-half and out-half respectively.

The front five is unchanged for the third straight game, with hooker Tom McCartney alongside props Paddy McAllister and Finlay Bealham, and a second-row combination of Gavin Thornbury and Quinn Roux.

Captain Jarrad Butler continues at openside, with Eoghan Masterson at blindside and Paul Boyle at number eight.

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Owen Jenkins, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Sam Davies, 11 Rhodri Williams (c), 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Huw Taylor, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Ellis Shipp, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Max Williams,20 Harri Keddie, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jacob Botica, 23 Jack Dixon

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Godwin, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Gavin Thornbury, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Paddy McAllister
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Cillian Gallagher, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Stephen Fitzgerald.

Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)

Leinster v Edinburgh

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made only a handful of changes from the team that accounted for the Ospreys last Friday at home.

Hugo Keenan continues at full-back, but Dave Kearney comes in on the right wing with James Lowe continuing on the left. Kearney wasn’t involved last week but was the man of the match from Leinster’s Round One win against Benetton.

Joe Tomane and Rory O’Loughlin continue in the centre and similarly it’s as you were at half-back with Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne starting for the third game in a row.

It’s the same front five from last week with Peter Dooley, Rónan Kelleher and Michael Bent in the front-row, with Devin Toner and captain Scott Fardy behind them.

Max Deegan comes in at blindside for this week, with Scott Penny making his first start of the season and Caelan Doris continuing at number eight.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh make two changes to their starting XV for the trip to face the reigning league champions Leinster at the RDS Arena.

Forward pairing Jamie Hodgson and Mesulame Kunavula – who makes his first start since joining the club in the summer – are named at lock and blindside flanker respectively as Fraser McKenzie and Lewis Carmichael drop out of the squad through injury.

George Taylor – who impressed as a late call-up in last weekend’s 11-19 win over Cardiff Blues – is once again selected in midfield as Scotland international centre Matt Scott continues to recover from injury.

An unchanged back-three sees Damien Hoyland named at full-back as wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Jamie Farndale continue on the flanks.

Scotland international Mark Bennett – who has four tries in two appearances so far this season – is partnered by the aforementioned Taylor in midfield, while scrum-half Nic Groom – who skippers the side – and Jaco van der Walt once again link-up at half-back.

Summer recruit Mike Willemse continues at hooker and packs down alongside compatriot Pierre Schoeman and Italian international prop Pietro Ceccarelli in the front-row. Hodgson – who makes his first start since November 2018 – is paired with Murray Douglas in the second-row.

The inclusion of former Fijian Sevens star Kunavula at blindside flanker is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-row as Luke Crosbie and Nick Haining continue at openside flanker and number eight respectively.

Elsewhere, summer signing Sam Thomson is named among the replacements and if involved will make his competitive debut for the club.

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan, 5 Scott Fardy (c), 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh Murphy, 21 Rowan Osborne, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Jimmy O’Brien

Edinburgh: 15 Damien Hoyland, 14 Jamie Farndale, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 George Taylor, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Nic Groom (c), 8 Nick Haining, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Mesulame Kunavula, 5 Murray Douglas, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Sam Thomson, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 James Johnstone

Venue: RDS Arena
Kick-off: 19:35 BST, 18:35 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Ian Davies
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

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Connacht