Century celebration for Scarlets wing Steff Evans

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There are four PRO14 games on Saturday with Scarlets, Ospreys, Benetton and Cardiff Blues hosting Cheetahs, Connacht, Edinburgh and Munster respectively.

Scarlets v Cheetahs

Steff Evans will make his 100th appearance for the Scarlets after being named in the side to face the Cheetahs at Parc y Scarlets.

The Wales international wing missed last weekend’s defeat to Edinburgh because of illness, but is back in a starting XV showing five changes from the 46-7 loss.

The 25-year-old, another player who has come through the Scarlets Academy, made his debut against Zebre five years ago and has become one of the most dangerous attacking runners in the PRO14, crossing for 40 tries in 99 appearances.

Evans replaces Tom James out wide and links up with Johnny McNicholl and Ryan Conbeer in the back three.

Kieron Fonotia, who impressed off the bench at Murrayfield, starts alongside captain Steff Hughes in midfield, while up front there are recalls for hooker Marc Jones and lock Steve Cummins and a first appearance of the season for back-row Ed Kennedy.

On the bench, Dane Blacker comes in to provide scrum-half cover, while Corey Baldwin has recovered from a hip injury to take his place among the replacements.

Meanwhile, in-form Cheetahs hooker Joseph Dweba will play his 50th match for the side in this away game.

Coach Hawies Fourie has made some changes from last week’s match against Connacht, with Boan Venter starting at loosehead prop, replacing Ox Nche who has returned to South Africa to join the Sharks.

JP du Preez and Sias Koen move into the starting line-up with Walt Steenkamp and Gerhard Olivier providing cover on the replacements bench.

In the backs, Tian Meyer will be leading the team from scrum-half while Benhard Janse van Rensburg moves to outside centre and Louis Fouche will be starting at inside centre. Fouche replaces Dries Swanepoel who is suspended for three games.

The wings are Clayton Blommetjies and William Small-Smith with Anthony Volmink providing cover on the bench where he is joined by George Whitehead, who will be making his PRO14 debut when he emerges on to the field.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Ryan Conbeer, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Steff Hughes (c), 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Taylor Davies, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Juandre Kruger, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Corey Baldwin

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

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland, tba Scotland)
TMO: Neil Patterson (Scotland)

Ospreys v Connacht

Ospreys head coach Allen Clarke has made some alterations to his his starting line-up for Connacht’s visit to the Liberty Stadium.

All the changes are in the forwards, with captain Dan Lydiate switching from the second-row to his preferred position on the blindside flank. That means Olly Cracknell, who wore the number six jersey in last weekend’s defeat at Munster, moves to the openside flank where he replaces Sam Cross.

Elsewhere, Springbok Marvin Orie comes into the second-row where he packs down alongside Lloyd Ashley.

Meanwhile, Connacht centre Tom Farrell is set for his first start of the PRO14 season as his side travel to Swansea.

Farrell and his midfield partner Peter Robb are included in a back-line that also includes wing Niyi Adeolokun, who finished the Cheetahs game as man of the match after scoring one try and setting up a second.

He is part of a back three that includes John Porch on the opposite wing and Darragh Leader, who has returned from injury to take his place at full-back.

The impressive Conor Fitzgerald continues at fly-half alongside Kieran Marmion who has scored three tries in the opening four games of the season.

In the pack, injury has forced head coach Andy Friend to make a number of changes for the trip to Wales. Dominic Robertson McCoy replaces Finlay Bealham at tighthead, while there is a new second-row with Ultan Dillane and Joe Maksymiw coming in from the start.

There is a settled look about the back-row, where captain Jarrad Butler is named at openside with Eoghan Masterson at blindside and Paul Boyle at number eight.

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 11 Tom Williams, 10 Luke Price, 9 Matthew Aubrey, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Dan Lydiate (c), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Sam Cross, 20 Morgan Morris, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Lesley Klim

Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Peter Robb, 11 John Porch, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Jonny Murphy, 17 Matthew Burke, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Cillian Gallagher, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Daly, 23 Stephen Fitzgerald

Venue: Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Manuel Bottino (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)

Benetton v Edinburgh

Benetton will be looking to build on their recent home win over the Southern Kings when they host Edinburgh at Stadio Monigo.

Head coach Kieran Crowley names a backline that includes the likes of full-back Jayden Hayward, centre Tommaso Benvenuti and fly-half Tommaso Allan, the latter captaining the side. He is joined in the half-back positions by South African scrum-half Dewaldt Duvenage.

Sebastian Negri and Abraham Steyn combine on the flanks, with Eli Snyman and Irnè Herbst the locks and Tiziano Pasquali, Tomas Baravalle and Federico Zani completing the XV in the front-row.

Benetton are currently without the services of Derrick Appiah, Marco Barbini, Simone Ferrari, Ornel Gega, Monty Ioane, Michele Lamaro, Marco Lazzaroni, Nasi Manu, Luca Morisi, Nicola Quaglio, Marco Riccioni, Alessandro Zanni and Marco Zanon.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh have made five changes to their starting XV for the Conference B clash.

Scotland internationals Jamie Bhatti, Lewis Carmichael, Magnus Bradbury and Damien Hoyland all start, while last season’s Golden Boot winner Jaco van der Walt returns at fly-half.

Fijian international back-row, Viliame Mata, is named among the replacements for the first time this season following the Rugby World Cup, as scrum-half Nic Groom returns to the bench after missing last weekend’s win over Scarlets due to the birth of his child.

Scotland star Blair Kinghorn is once again named at full-back as wingers Eroni Sau – a try-scorer on his debut last weekend – and Hoyland get the nod on the flanks.

Centre Mark Bennett – who has five tries in the competition so far this season – continues in midfield alongside Matt Scott, while scrum-half Henry Pyrgos – who skippers the side – is paired with Van der Walt at half-back.

The inclusion of Bhatti at loosehead prop is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged front-row as hooker Mike Willemse – twice a try-scorer in the win over Scarlets – and Italian international Pietro Ceccarelli keep their place up-front.

Club centurion Fraser McKenzie is partnered in the second-row by Carmichael, with the Scotland lock once again fit after missing rounds three and four through injury.

Number eight Bradbury – who makes his first start of the season – anchors a back-row that sees Ally Miller and Luke Crosbie named at blindside and openside flanker respectively.

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Benvenuti, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan (c), 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Irnè Herbst, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Federico Zani
Replacements: 16 Hame Faiva, 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Michele Mancini Parri, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Giovanni Pettinelli, 22 Tito Tebaldi, 23 Antonio Rizzi

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Eroni Sau, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Damien Hoyland, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Lewis Carmichael, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Sam Thomson, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 George Taylor

Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 18:15 local (17:15 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Cardiff Blues v Munster

Rey Lee-Lo returns to centre-stage as Cardiff Blues make three changes for their PRO14 clash with Munster.

The Samoan ace missed the opening weeks of the season due to his involvement in the Rugby World Cup but returned to the Welsh capital last week. He goes straight into the starting line-up with Willis Halaholo rotated to the bench.

The other changes come in the pack with Corey Domachowski handed his first start of the season and Shane Lewis-Hughes coming into the back-row. That sees Nick Williams drop down to the bench with Will Boyde moving across to number eight.

Meanwhile, Munster head coach Johann van Graan has rung the changes for the Irish province’s visit to Cardiff Arms Park.

There are 11 changes to the side that defeated Ospreys last time out with the quartet of Jack O’Donoghue, Dan Goggin, Calvin Nash and Shane Daly retaining their places in the starting line-up.

Waterford-man O’Donoghue, who is the only forward to remain in situ, captains the side for the second time in his career.

The all-new starting front-row sees Jeremy Loughman and Kevin O’Byrne scrum down with Academy prop Keynan Knox on his first PRO14 start.

Darren O’Shea and Fineen Wycherley form the second-row partnership, with Chris Cloete and Arno Botha completing the back-row with O’Donoghue.

Alby Mathewson and JJ Hanrahan are the starting half-backs.

Sammy Arnold makes his first start of the season as he joins Dan Goggin in midfield. With Wootton’s return and Nash on the opposite flank, Daly makes the positional switch for his first start at full-back this week. Conor Oliver is set to make his first appearance of the season off the bench.

The teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Garyn Smith, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams (c), 8 Will Boyde, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Willis Halaholo

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Darren O’Shea, 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Jed Holloway, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Rory Scannell

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Richard Brace (Wales)
TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)

Benetton Treviso