Joey Carbery in first Munster squad in over a year

Colin Newboult

The PRO14 continues on Friday as three games take place, including the matches involving title challengers Connacht, Ulster and Munster.

Benetton v Connacht

Benetton head coach Kieran Crowley has named his matchday squad for Friday’s clash against Connacht in Treviso.

The Italian outfit received a boost when back-rower Riccardo Favretto was released from Italy’s Six Nations squad and he comes into Crowley’s starting line-up at number eight.

In the backline, Jayden Hayward starts at full-back, while Angelo Esposito is on the right wing and Leonardo Sarto on the left. Joaquin Riera and Luca Morisi are the centre paring and Edoardo Padovani forms a half-back combination with captain Dewaldt Duvenage.

In the forwards, Argentine props Thomas Gallo and Ivan Nemer pack down up front alongside South African hooker Corniel Els while his countrymen Irné Herbst and Eli Snyman start in the engine room.

The pack is completed with the young flankers Davide Ruggeri and Manuel Zulianistarting in the back-row alongside Favretto.

On the replacements bench, Zac Nearchou and Ratuva Tavuyara return to the squad while Tomas Baravalle is set to make his 50th Benetton appearance if he takes to the field.

Meanwhile, Bundee Aki has been released from Ireland duty to play for Connacht in this fixture.

Aki started in last week’s bonus-point win over Cardiff Blues and will again play on Friday in a boost to Andy Friend’s side, who look to make it three wins on the bounce in the PRO14.

Oisin Dowling has also been handed his first start for the province, having featured off the bench in the last two games.

Dowling is joined alongside Gavin Thornbury in the second-row, with Paddy McAllister, Shane Delahunt and Finlay Bealham completing the tight five. The back-row is unchanged from the win over Cardiff Blues last time out, with Paul Boyle at number eight alongside flankers Eoghan Masterson and captain Jarrad Butler.

There’s a new-look half-back pairing with Kieran Marmion alongside Conor Fitzgerald, while Tom Daly partners Aki in the centre. Finally Tiernan O’Halloran is handed his first start in nearly two months after recovering from injury, taking his place at full-back with Alex Wootton and Peter Sullivan on the wings.

There’s an experienced look to the replacements bench with centurions Denis Buckley, Caolin Blade and Jack Carty all included.

The teams:

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Edoardo Padovani, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Riccardo Favretto, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Davide Ruggeri, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Ivan Nemer, 2 Corniel Els, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Zac Nearchou, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Alberto Sgarbi, 22 Luca Petrozzi, 23 Ratuva Tavuyara

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Peter Sullivan, 13 Tom Daly, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler (c), 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Gavin Thornbury, 4 Oisin Dowling, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Paddy McAllister
Replacements: 16 Jonny Murphy, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Sean Masterson, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Jack Carty, 23 John Porch

Venue: Stadio Monigo
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 GMT)
Referee: Marius Mitrea
Assistant referees: Federico Vedovelli, Filippo Russo
TMO: Stefano Pennè

Cardiff Blues v Munster

Josh Turnbull will captain Cardiff Blues as he makes his 150th appearance for the club in Friday’s PRO14 clash with Munster.

Interim director of rugby Dai Young has made five changes as the capital city outfit return to the Arms Park for the first time in the Championship in more than a year.

Three of those changes come in the backs, where Jamie Hill and Ben Thomas combine to form an exciting, new-look half-back partnership. 18-year-old Mason Grady also gets the nod alongside Rey Lee-Lo in the centre after being unable to travel to Ireland last weekend.

Two further changes come in the front-row with Corey Domachowski returning to the number one jersey and Kirby Myhill making his first start of the year.

Turnbull leads the side in an unchanged and all international back-row alongside Shane Lewis-Hughes and club captain Ellis Jenkins, who continues his comeback.

There are four further changes from last week’s matchday 23 on the replacement bench with Theo Bevacqua set for his PRO14 debut and Olly Robinson returning from injury.

Meanwhile, there are six changes to the Munster starting XV that defeated Edinburgh last time out, while in the replacements there is the welcome return of Joey Carbery who is named in his first matchday squad since January 2020.

The opening try-scorer in Murrayfield last weekend, Jack O’Donoghue captains the side for this encounter as he and Chris Cloete are joined by Jack O’Sullivan in the back-row.

Fineen Wycherley scrums down next to Jean Kleyn in the engine room with Kevin O’Byrne stepping into the front-row in between James Cronin and John Ryan.

Shane Daly returns from Ireland camp to retain his position on the left wing with Calvin Nash named on the opposite flank as Mike Haley completes the back three at full-back.

The centre partnership sees Rory Scannell lining up next to Damian de Allende and Nick McCarthy joins JJ Hanrahan as the half-back pairing.

If sprung from the bench Billy Holland will move ahead of Ronan O’Gara for all-time Munster appearances and become the second most capped player for the province for his 241st appearance in red.

Paddy Patterson is in line to make his Munster debut as he provides the scrum-half cover.

The teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Jamie Hill, 8 Josh Turnbull (c), 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Theo Bevacqua, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 James Ratti, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Dan Fish, 23 Max Llewellyn

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Rory Scannell, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Shane Daly, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Jack O’Sullivan, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Darren Sweetnam

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Adam Jones
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse, Dan Jones
TMO: Sean Brickell

Ulster v Ospreys

Jacob Stockdale has overcome a knee injury to be selected on the left wing for Ulster in their PRO14 clash with the Ospreys.

Rob Lyttle makes a positional switch to the right wing and last week’s Player of the Match Michael Lowry continues at full-back.

The midfield duo of Stuart McCloskey and James Hume retain their starting berths, as do Ian Madigan and John Cooney at half-back.

In the front-row, Andrew Warwick comes in to start at loosehead, with John Andrew at hooker and Marty Moore at tighthead.

Kieran Treadwell, who made his 100th Ulster appearance last week, is once again named at second-row to partner Alan O’Connor.

Jordi Murphy will again skipper the side from the back row, and is joined by Greg Jones at blindside flanker and Nick Timoney at Number Eight.

Winger, Robert Baloucoune could make his first appearance for Ulster this season if called upon from the bench, after making his return from a hamstring injury. He is named alongside Alby Mathewson and Matt Faddes among the backline replacements.

Sean Reidy is also making a return from injury and is named in the forward reinforcements with Ross Kane, who could make his 50th appearance for the province, Adam McBurney, Eric O’Sullivan and last week’s debutant, Cormac Izuchukwu.

Meanwhile, Tom Botha will run out for his 50th appearance in an Ospreys jersey this weekend and will be joined in the front-row by Sam Parry and Gareth Thomas.

The second-row partnership of Lloyd Ashley and Rhys Davies return with Will Griffiths, Olly Cracknell and Morgan Morris forming the back-row.

Rhys Webb takes the captaincy for the second week in a row and partners Stephen Myler at 10. Keiran Williams and Tiaan Thomas Wheeler form the centres with Luke Morgan, Keelan Giles and Dan Evans in the back three.

Off the bench, Nicky Smith returns from injury to provide the front-row cover alongside Ma’afu Fia and Ifan Phillips. Gareth Evans and Sam Cross complete the forward replacement contingent with Shaun Venter, Joe Hawkins and Luke Price making up the matchday 23.

The teams:

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Rob Lyttle, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Jordi Murphy (c), 6 Greg Jones, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Marty Moore, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Matt Faddes, 23 Robert Baloucoune

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Keelan Giles, 13 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Luke Morgan, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Rhys Webb (c), 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Will Griffiths, 5 Rhys Davies, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Gareth Evans, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Luke Price

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Seán Gallagher
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross, Paul Haycock
TMO: Brian MacNeice