Bill Mata back in Edinburgh squad for Ulster clash

Adam Kyriacou
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There’s two games in the PRO14 on Monday as Conference B leaders Munster take on Zebre and Edinburgh face in-form Conference A side Ulster.

Munster v Zebre

Munster head coach Johann van Graan includes five Academy players in his matchday 23 for their game against Zebre at Thomond Park.

Prop Josh Wycherley makes his second start of the campaign while Thomas Ahern, Jack Daly, Ben Healy and Sean French are named in the replacements.

Both Daly and French will make their PRO14 debuts if called upon.

In making eight changes to the side that secured an away bonus-point win against Glasgow, Chris Cloete returns from a neck injury to make his second start of the season. He and Jack O’Donoghue flank Gavin Coombes in the back-row. Coombes makes his fifth start in a row after back-to-back Player of the Match performances.

Fineen Wycherley makes the positional move to the second-row alongside captain Billy Holland while younger brother Josh and hooker Rhys Marshall join Stephen Archer in the front-row.

The half-back pairing switches up this week with Nick McCarthy making his first start of the season as JJ Hanrahan returns to the number 10 jersey.

There is a new centre pairing with Dan Goggin lining up outside Damian de Allende, as wing Darren Sweetnam is added to the left wing with Calvin Nash continuing on the opposite flank. Matt Gallagher moves to full-back.

Prop Liam O’Connor returns from a calf injury to take his place on the bench for his first inclusion since December 2019.

Meanwhile, up to five players could make their debut for Zebre as head coach Michael Bradley is hit by absentees and injuries for the PRO14 game in Limerick.

Captained by centre Giulio Bisegni, the Italians are severely depleted with their starting XV including scrum-half Alessandro Fusco and loosehead prop Riccardo Brugnara as permit players while flanker Alessandro Mordacci and lock Gabriele Venditti are invited players.

However, veteran prop Andrea Lovotti is in line to make a milestone on Monday as he’ll hit 100 Zebre games when he comes off the bench.

The teams:

Munster: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 Thomas Ahern, 20 Jack Daly, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Sean French

Zebre: 15 Junior Laloifi, 14 Giovanni D’Onofrio, 13 Giulio Bisegni (c), 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Pierre Bruno, 10 Paolo Pescetto, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Masselli, 7 Alessandro Mordacci, 6 Mick Kearney, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Gabriele Venditti, 3 Alexandru Tarus, 2 Marco Manfredi, 1 Riccardo Brugnara
Replacements: 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Andrea Chianucci, 20 Oliviero Fabiani, 21 Simone Marinaro, 22 Alessandro Forcucci, 23 Jamie Elliott

Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 20:15 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace, Eoghan Cross (both IRFU)
TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)

Edinburgh v Ulster

Centre James Johnstone is the only change to the starting Edinburgh side named for Monday’s PRO14 match against Ulster at Murrayfield.

The former Scotland Sevens star replaces the injured Mark Bennett (leg) while Viliame Mata makes a welcome return from injury to be named among the replacements.

Scotland Sevens squad member and former London Scottish wing Alec Coombes is named on the bench and will make his club debut if called into action.

An unchanged back-three sees 20-year-old Jack Blain make his fifth consecutive start at full-back with Jamie Farndale and Fijian internationalist Eroni Sau once again selected on opposite wings.

Chris Dean is paired with the Johnstone in midfield, while experienced scrum-half and captain Henry Pyrgos accompanies another 20-year-old, fly-half Nathan Chamberlain, at half-back.

Hooker David Cherry – try-scorer in the capital side’s last home win over Cardiff Blues – once again packs down alongside props Pierre Schoeman and Lee-Roy Atalifo in an unaltered front-row, while locks Andrew Davidson and Andries Ferreira complete the tight-five.

An all-academy graduate back-row sees Ally Miller continue at number eight with Magnus Bradbury and Luke Crosbie selected at blindside and openside flanker respectively.

Meanwhile, there are five changes to the Ulster side that picked up a bonus-point victory over Scarlets last Sunday.

In the back three, Michael Lowry has been named at full-back, with Rob Lyttle and Matt Faddes on the wings. James Hume returns to midfield, pairing up with Stewart Moore. Ian Madigan is selected to start at fly-half, partnering John Cooney at scrum-half.

Andrew Warwick will make his first start for Ulster this season at loosehead prop, joining John Andrew and Marty Moore in the front-row. Alan O’Connor is named alongside Sam Carter, who will lead the side from the second-row, while Sean Reidy makes a positional switch to blindside flanker, with Jordi Murphy coming in at openside. Marcell Coetzee completes the pack at number eight.

Bradley Roberts of Rainey Old Boys RFC, who has been training with the Ulster squad in recent weeks, is named among the replacements with Kyle McCall, Gareth Milasinovich, David O’Connor and David McCann in the forwards. Aaron Sexton could make his senior competitive debut if called upon from the bench. He is named alongside David Shanahan and Bill Johnston in the backline replacements

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Blain, 14 Eroni Sau, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Jamie Farndale, 10 Nathan Chamblerain, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Ally Miller, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Andrew Davidson, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 2 David Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Sam Grahamslaw, 18 Dan Gamble, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Connor Boyle, 22 Charlie Shiel, 23 Alec Coombes

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Matt Faddes, 13 James Hume, 12 Stewart Moore, 11 Rob Lyttle, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 John Cooney, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Sean Reidy, 5 Sam Carter (c), 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Marty Moore, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Bradley Roberts, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 David O’Connor, 20 David McCann, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Aaron Sexton

Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 20:15 GMT
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson, David Sutherland (both SRU)
TMO: Charles Samson (SRU)

 

Edinburgh