Devin Toner set to equal Leinster appearance record

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Three PRO14 games are scheduled for Friday with Munster, Ulster and Leinster hosting Benetton, Zebre and Ospreys respectively.

Munster v Benetton

Munster head coach Johann van Graan has made several changes to his starting line-up for Friday’s encounter with Benetton at Thomond Park.

In a youthful team there will be a senior debut for Cian Hurley (lock) while Diarmuid Barron (hooker), Jake Flannery (full-back) and Paddy Patterson (scrum-half) all make their first starts for the province.

Flannery is joined in the back three by Andrew Conway and Liam Coombes while Alex McHenry and Rory Scannell start in midfield with JJ Hanrahan at fly-half to form a half-back partnership with Patterson.

In the forwards, Hurley packs down alongside Thomas Ahern in the second-row while props Keynan Knox and Liam O’Connor will start alongside Barron up front. Jack O’Sullivan will run out at number eight while Jack O’Donoghue captains the team from the side of the scrum. Chris Cloete is the other flanker.

Meanwhile, Benetton retain the core of their team which has taken to the field in the past number of weeks, including Ratuva Tavuyara who is one of the leading offloaders (13) in the PRO14.

Tavuyara starts on the right wing with Angelo Esposito lining up on the other while Jayden Hayward wears the number 15 jersey. Dewaldt Duvenage is the captain and scrum-half and he starts in the half-backs alongside Tommaso Allan, with Joaquin Riera and Luca Morisi form the centre combination.

Giovanni Pettinelli is the number eight with Manuel Zuliani and Alberto Sgarbi completing the back-row as the two flankers while Eli Snyman and Irné Herbst start in the second-row.

The front-row comprises Filippo Alongi and Nicola Quaglio, who are the props, and hooker Tomas Baravalle.

The teams:

Munster: 15 Jake Flannery, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Alex McHenry, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Jack O’Sullivan, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Thomas Ahern, 4 Cian Hurley, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Liam O’Connor
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Jack Daly, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Matt Gallagher

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Giovanni Pettinelli, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alberto Sgarbi, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Filippo Alongi, 2 Tomas Baravalle, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Nicola Piantella, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Luca Petrozzi, 22 Tommaso Benvenuti, 23 Leonardo Sarto

Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 18:00 GMT
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland) Rob O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

Ulster v Zebre

21-year-old Cormac Izuchukwu will make his first start for Ulster as he is named in the second-row alongside Kieran Treadwell to take on Zebre.

Marty Moore comes back into the starting front-row at tighthead, with Eric O’Sullivan and John Andrew retaining their starting berths at loosehead and hooker.

Jordi Murphy will captain the side at openside flanker, with Sean Reidy and David McCann being retained at blindside and number eight respectively.

A youthful backline sees Ethan McIlroy coming into the back three at full-back, with Rob Lyttle on the left wing and Robert Baloucoune returning on the right. Stewart Moore and James Hume will make up the midfield pairing, while John Cooney and Michael Lowry are named at half-back.

Brad Roberts, Callum Reid, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor and Matty Rea are the forward reinforcements, with David Shanahan, Ian Madigan and Ben Moxham providing the backline options on the bench.

Meanwhile, Zebre have made three changes to their starting side as Tommaso Boni returns at centre, Paolo Pescetto starts at fly-half while Lorenzo Masselli comes into the back-row on Friday. That has also led to reshuffles as Jamie Elliot shifts to wing and Potu Junior Leavasa moves to number eight.

Like many teams at the moment, Zebre are depleted by international absentees, with Mattia Bellini, Luca Bigi, Carlo Canna, Oliviero Fabiani, Danilo Fischetti, Andrea Lovotti, Maxime Mbandà, Johan Meyer, Federico Mori, David Sisi, Jacopo Trulla, Marcello Violi and Giosuè Zilocchi involved with Italy.

The teams:

Ulster: 15 Ethan McIlroy, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stewart Moore, 11 Rob Lyttle, 10 Michael Lowry, 9 John Cooney, 8 David McCann, 7 Jordy Murphy (c), 6 Sean Reidy, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 3 Marty Moore, 2 John Andrew, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 Brad Roberts, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Matty Rea, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Ben Moxham

Zebre: 15 Gabriele Di Giulio, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Tommaso Boni (c), 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Paolo Pescetto, 9 Joshua Renton, 8 Potu Junior Leavasa, 7 Lorenzo Masselli, 6 Iacopo Bianchi, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Matteo Nocera, 2 Massimo Ceciliani, 1 Paolo Buonfiglio
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Daniele Rimpelli, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Leonard Krumov, 20 Charles Alaimalo, 21 Nicolò Casilio, 22 Guglielmo Palazzani, 23 Antonio Rizzi

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 20:15 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Peter Martin (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Leinster v Ospreys

Scott Fardy will captain Leinster from the back-row with Devin Toner due to win his 261st cap for the province, equalling fellow Lansdowne FC man Gordon D’Arcy’s all-time record.

Max O’Reilly again starts at full-back with Dave Kearney continuing on the left wing after his hat-trick of tries last weekend against Zebre.

Player of the Match from that same game in Italy, Rory O’Loughlin, moves to the right wing with Cian Kelleher missing out through injury.

It’s a new centre partnership this week for head coach Leo Cullen with Ciarán Frawley back from injury to partner Jamie Osborne. It will be Osborne’s second start for Leinster.

Rowan Osborne starts at scrum-half with Harry Byrne outside him in the number 10 jersey.

In the pack, Peter Dooley will win his 90th cap for Leinster when he lines up alongside Séan Cronin and Michael Bent in the front-row.

Ross Molony starts in the second-row alongside Toner.

Toner made his debut against Border Reivers in January 2006 and has since gone on to play a further 259 times for his province. He has also been capped 70 times by Ireland and when he takes to the field he will equal D’Arcy’s record of 261 which he set in May 2015 when he came off the bench and played his last game in blue against Benetton in the RDS.

In the back-row, Josh Murphy starts at number eight for the first time in his Leinster career, with Fardy captaining the side from blindside flanker and Scott Penny starting at openside.

On the bench, Seán O’Brien and Tim Corkery will experience a game at the RDS Arena for the first time after their successful debuts off the bench against Zebre last weekend. It will also be Marcus Hanan’s first experience of the RDS, while Academy back Andrew Smith is in line to win his second cap if introduced.

Meanwhile, full-back Dan Evans will lead the Ospreys out in Dublin on Friday on his 200th league appearance, lining up alongside Dewi Cross and the returning Cai Evans in the back three.

Keiran Williams and Owen Watkin form the centre partnership with Reuben Morgan Williams and Luke Price retaining the nine and 10 shirts for the second week running.

Up front, loosehead prop Rhys Henry makes his first Ospreys and PRO14 start. He lines up alongside two Osprey centurions in the shape of Sam Parry and Ma’afu Fia, who pack down at hooker and tighthead respectively.

Lloyd Ashley and Rhys Davies get the nod in the second-row with Will Griffiths and last week’s try scorers Morgan Morris and Gareth Evans starting in the back-row.

On the bench, Garyn Phillips, Dewi Lake and Tom Botha provide the front-row cover with Olly Cracknell and Sam Cross completing the forward contingent in the squad. Shaun Venter and youngsters Josh Thomas and Joe Hawkins complete the matchday 23.

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Max O’Reilly, 14 Rory O’Loughlin, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Rowan Osborne, 8 Josh Murphy, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Scott Fardy (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Seán Cronin 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Marcus Hanan, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Jack Dunne, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Tim Corkery, 23 Andrew Smith

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans (c), 14 Dewi Cross, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Cai Evans, 10 Luke Price, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Morgan Morris, 6 Will Griffiths, 5 Rhys Davies, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Ma’afu Fia, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Rhys Henry
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Olly Cracknell, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Josh Thomas, 23 Joe Hawkins

Venue: RDS Arena
Kick-off: 20:15 GMT
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

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