Connacht captain Jarrad Butler returns for Leinster clash

Colin Newboult

Jarrad Butler of Connacht during the Guinness PRO14 Round 12 match between Connacht Rugby and Cardiff Blues at the Sportsground in Galway, Ireland on February 20, 2021 (Photo by Andrew SURMA / SIPA USA)

The PRO14 Rainbow Cup continues on Saturday and Sunday as three matches take place, including the all-Irish clash between Connacht and Leinster.

Saturday

Connacht v Leinster

Connacht have made five changes to their starting XV for Saturday’s PRO14 Rainbow Cup interpro derby with Leinster at the Sportsground in Galway.

Captain Jarrad Butler will make his first appearance in nearly two months following suspension and injury – he comes straight into the starting XV. Denis Buckley comes into the front-row for his 198th appearance, while Niall Murray starts in the second-row.

Conor Fitzgerald starts at number 10 following an impressive cameo off the bench against Ulster, while the man who scored the match-winning try in that game, Peter Sullivan, is also handed a starting berth on the wing.

There’s also a 150th appearance for Connacht’s record try-scorer Matt Healy who is named on the opposite wing.

Buckley lines up alongside Dave Heffernan and Finlay Bealham, while Gavin Thornbury completes the tight five. Butler starts at number eight alongside flankers Eoghan Masterson and Conor Oliver.

Caolin Blade partners Conor Fitzgerald, while Tom Daly and Sean O’Brien play together at centre for the fifth straight game. With Healy and Sullivan on the wings, John Porch completes the side from full-back.

There’s also a welcome return among the replacements for Sammy Arnold, who hasn’t featured for four months since undergoing chest surgery.

Meanwhile, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made a number of changes from his matchday 23 that lined up against La Rochelle in the Champions Cup last weekend, while three of Leinster’s 2021 British and Irish Lions contingent have also been included in the squad.

Hugo Keenan again starts at full-back for Cullen, but Cian Kelleher and Dave Kearney come in on the wings. Ciarán Frawley and Garry Ringrose are selected in the centre, with Luke McGrath once more captaining the side and again partnered by Ross Byrne.

In the pack there are seven changes in total from last week. In the front-row, Peter Dooley, James Tracy and Andrew Porter are selected, with Ross Molony and Scott Fardy behind them in the second-row.

Scott Penny and Josh Murphy start this week with Jack Conan the only forward retained from last week’s pack.

The teams:

Connacht: 15 John Porch, 14 Peter Sullivan, 13 Sean O’Brien, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Jarrad Butler (c), 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Gavin Thornbury, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Jonny Murphy, 17 Matthew Burke, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Cian Prendergast, 20 Abraham Papali’i, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Sammy Arnold, 23 Oran McNulty

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath (c), 8 Jack Conan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Rowan Osborne, 22 Rory O’Loughlin, 23 Jordan Larmour

Venue: The Sportsground
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Peter Martin (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Scarlets v Ospreys

Captain Ken Owens returns to lead the Scarlets in the PRO14 Rainbow Cup derby against the Ospreys in Llanelli on Saturday.

Owens, among four Scarlets named in the British & Irish Lions squad on Thursday, comes in at hooker as one of six personnel changes following the Round One defeat to the Dragons at Rodney Parade,

In the back three, Leigh Halfpenny replaces Johnny McNicholl at full-back and joins Steff Evans and Tom Rogers who has recovered from a head knock picked up early on in Newport.

Jonathan Davies and Tyler Morgan continue their midfield partnership, while there is a change at half-back with Angus O’Brien coming in for the injured Sam Costelow and Wales international Kieran Hardy getting the nod at nine for the first time since the Six Nations.

Up front Owens – who comes in for Ryan Elias – packs down alongside Rob Evans and Alex Jeffries in the front-row; Jake Ball partners Lewis Rawlins at lock, while Aaron Shingler and Jac Morgan come into a reshuffled back-row which sees Blade Thomson switch from blindside flanker to number eight.

On the bench, Steff Thomas, Elias and Werner Kruger provide front-row cover and are joined by Jac Price – back following a loan spell with Nottingham – and Uzair Cassiem as the forward replacements.

The match is set to be Kruger’s final game for the Scarlets before he retires from rugby at the end of the season.

Dane Blacker, Joe Roberts and Paul Asquith cover the backs. Roberts, who has been impressive during a loan spell at Ampthill in the English Championship, is set to make his PRO14 debut.

Centre Steff Hughes suffered a knee injury against the Dragons and is likely to miss the remainder of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Justin Tipuric will lead out the Ospreys this weekend as they look to go two from two in the competition.

He lines up in the back-row alongside Sam Cross and Ethan Roots. Adam Beard and Alun Wyn Jones form the second-row with Ifan Phillips, Tom Botha joined up front with the returning Gareth Thomas.

In the backs, Luke Price and Matthew Aubrey line up as the half-back pairing with Tiaan Thomas Wheeler and Owen Watkin in the centre. Mat Protheroe, Cai Evans and Dan Evans make up the back three.

Sam Parry, Nicky Smith and Rhys Henry provide the cover up front with Bradley Davies and Rhys Davies completing the forward contingent off the bench.

Youngsters Reuben Morgan-Williams and Joe Hawkins are named as replacements alongside the returning Luke Morgan, who will make his 50th appearance for the Ospreys if he comes off the bench.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Alex Jeffries, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Paul Asquith, 23 Joe Roberts

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Cai Evans, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 11 Mat Protheroe, 10 Luke Price, 9 Matthew Aubrey, 8 Ethan Roots, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Sam Cross, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Ifan Phillips, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Rhys Henry, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Rhys Davies, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Luke Morgan

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 19:35 BST (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Aled Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)

Sunday

Cardiff Blues v Dragons

Josh Adams will start for Cardiff Blues just days after he was named in the British and Irish Lions squad to face South Africa in July.

The Wales wing is one of several star players to return for the PRO14 Rainbow Cup clash against the Dragons, with Dai Young making a total of nine changes from the defeat to Ospreys in the opening round.

Adams, who is the latest in a long line of Lions from Cardiff, is one of two changes in the backline with Jamie Hill starting at scrum-half and Ben Thomas moving to fly-half.

This sees a continuation of the midfield partnership between Max Llewellyn and Owen, with Hallam Amos and Jason Harries also retained in the back three.

The remaining seven changes all come in the pack with a host of established stars adding muscle and firepower for the derby showdown.

Wales props Rhys Carré and Dillon Lewis return to pack down either side of Kirby Myhill, while Seb Davies and Cory Hill form and all international second-row.

Sam Moore returns to action for the first time since December, having recovered from a knee injury and is joined in the back-row by the experience of Josh Turnbull and Olly Robinson, who complete the line-up.

For the Dragons, Ross Moriarty will captain the region for the first time in Round Two on Sunday.

Wales international back-row Moriarty leads the team as Dean Ryan makes a total of seven changes to his starting line-up for the fixture in the Welsh capital.

Centre Jamie Roberts returns to face his former region, partnering Aneurin Owen in midfield, while Argentine international Gonzalo Bertranou is also called up. Rhodri Williams is ruled out through injury.

Full back Ioan Davies, on loan from Cardiff Blues, is also set to make his first appearance for the Men of Gwent.

Powerhouse prop Leon Brown comes in up front alongside Josh Reynolds while the final changes see a new second-row pairing of Joe Davies and Matthew Screech.

Fit-again Josh Lewis returns amongst the replacements alongside back-row Harrison Keddie.

The teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Hallam Amos, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Owen Lane, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Jamie Hill, 8 Sam Moore, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Cory Hill, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kirby Myhill (c), 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 James Ratti, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Willis Halaholo

Dragons: 15 Ioan Davies, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Aneurin Owen, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Ross Moriarty (c), 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Taylor Davies, 1 Josh Reynolds
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Greg Bateman, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Dan Babos, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Jack Dixon

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 13:00 BST (12:00 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)