Leinster boosted by returning trio for huge Ulster clash

Colin Newboult

Rhys Ruddock of Leinster looks on during the Guinness PRO14 Round 9 match between Munster Rugby and Leinster Rugby at Thomond Park in Limerick, Ireland on January 23, 2021 (Photo by Andrew SURMA / SIPA USA)

The PRO14 continues on Saturday and Sunday as four matches take place, including the big Conference A encounter between Irish duo Ulster and Leinster.

We bring you all of the team line-ups but, for Planet Rugby’s preview of this weekend’s PRO14 action, check out ‘The short side’.

Saturday

Zebre v Glasgow Warriors

The teams:

Zebre: 15 Michelangelo Biondelli, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Tommaso Boni (c), 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Paolo Pescetto, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Renato Giammarioli, 7 Potu Junior Leavasa, 6 Lorenzo Masselli, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 Samuele Ortis, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Daniele Rimpelli
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Paolo Buonfiglio, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Charles Alaimalo, 21 Nicolò Casilio, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Gabriele Di Giulio

Glasgow: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Rufus McLean, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Cole Forbes, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Ryan Wilson (c), 7 Thomas Gordon, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Hamish Bain, 4 Rob Harley, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Grant Stewart, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 James Scott, 20 Leone Nakarawa, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Nick Grigg

Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi
Assistant referees: Matteo Liperini, Clara Munarini
TMO: Stefano Pennè

Ospreys v Dragons

The teams:

Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 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 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ifan Phillips, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Gareth Evans, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Owen Watkin, 23 Dewi Cross

Dragons: 15 Josh Lewis, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Aneurin Owen, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harrison Keddie (c), 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Ellis Shipp, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Dan Baker, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Jack Dixon, 23 Jordan Williams

Venue: Brewery Field
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Craig Evans
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens, Dan Jones
TMO: Rhys Thomas

Ulster v Leinster

The teams:

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

Leinster: 15 Max O’Reilly, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Jimmy O’Brien, 12 Rory O’Loughlin, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath (c), 8 Scott Penny, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh Murphy, 21 Rowan Osborne, 22 Jamie Osborne, 23 Jack Dunne

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Frank Murphy
Assistant referees: Seán Gallagher, Robert O’Sullivan
TMO: Olly Hodges

Sunday

Edinburgh v Benetton

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Damien Hoyland (cc), 14 Jack Blain, 13 James Johnstone, 12 George Taylor, 11 Eroni Sau, 10 Nathan Chamberlain, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Nick Haining, 7 Ally Miller, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Andrew Davidson, 4 Magnus Bradbury, 3 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 2 David Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman (cc)
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Andries Ferreira, 20 Mesu Kunavula, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Mark Bennett

Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 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 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Tomas Baravalle, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Alberto Sgarbi, 22 Luca Petrozzi, 23 Ratuva Tavuyara

Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 15:15 GMT
Referee: Sam Grove-White
Assistant referees: Ben Blain, Ian Kenny
TMO: Hollie Davidson