Ali Price starts against Glasgow as Kieran Treadwell brings up 150 for Ulster

Round Eight of the United Rugby Championship begins with two derby matches on Friday as Glasgow Warriors host Edinburgh and Ulster welcome Connacht.

Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh

There is an interesting move from the hosts that sees Huw Jones start on the right wing with Kyle Rowe and Josh McKay in the back-three. Sione Tuipulotu leads the teams from the centres where he partners with Stafford McDowall.

In the half-backs Ross Thompson and scrum-half George Horne link up with the hopes of controlling the game.

Bruising number eight Sione Vailanu starts with Rory Darge and Ally Miller in the back-row with Richie Gray and Scott Cummings packing down as the locks for the 1872 Cup clash. In the coalface, it is props Zander Fagerson and Jamie Bhattie while George Turner starts at hooker.

Prolific hooker Johnny Matthews is named on the bench with Nathan McBeth and Oli Kebble as front-row options. Greg Paterson, Max Williamson and Henco Venter as other options in the 6-2 split with scrum-half Ben Afshar and Tom Jordan rounding out the lineup.

For Edinburgh, scrum-half Ali Price will start against his parent club for the first time as he links up with Ben Healy in the half-backs. James Lang and Matt Currie start in the midfield whilst robust wing Duhan van der Merwe is joined by the elusive Darcy Graham and Wes Goosen in an exciting back-three.

Star prop Pierre Schoeman starts with Ewan Ashman and WP Nel in the front-row whilst skipper Grant Gilchrist and Glen Young complete the tight five. Fijian star Viliame Mata starts with Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie in the back-row.

On the bench, Dave Cherry is alongside Boan Venter and D’Arcy Rae as front-rowers with Marshall Sykes and Luke Crosbie as other forwards at Edinburgh’s disposal.

Argentine Emiliano Boffelli returns to a matchday squad with Mark Bennett and Ben Vellacott the other backline substitutions.

The teams

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Huw Jones, 13 Sione Tuipulotu (C), 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 George Horne, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Tom Jordan

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (C), 4 Glen Young, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Emiliano Boffelli

Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 19:35
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Ru Campbell (Scotland)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)

Ulster v Connacht

Second-row Kieran Treadwell brings up 150 caps for Ulster alongside his captain Iain Henderson on the day. Nick Timoney, Sean Reffell and Matty Rea make up the back-row whilst there is a changed front-row in the form of Marty Moore, Tom Stewart and Andy Warwick.

Experienced star John Cooney starts at scrum-half with Jake Flannery at 10 this weekend, in the midfield is Stuart McCloskey and James Hume. There is an exciting back three as full-back Mike Lowry is joined by Rob Baloucoune and Jacob Stockdale.

Rugby World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff starts on the bench with John Andrew and Tom O’Toole are the front-rowers available. Al O’Connor and Dave Ewers complete the forward replacements.

Scrum-half Nathan Doak is named alongside Jude Postlethwaithe and Will Addison as the final options.

Meanwhile, for the visitors, Ireland superstar Mack Hansen returns to the 15 shirt with wings Shayne Botlton and Byron Ralston computing the back-three. Bundee Aki starts with Tom Farrell in the midfield whilst captain Jack Carty teams up with scrum-half Caolin Blade in the half-back pairing.

Hard-working Cian Prendergast starts at flank with Shamus Hurley-Langton as number eight Sean O’Brien rounds out the back-row. Joe Joyce and Darragh Murray are the locks for the derby clash with Finlay Bealham, Tadhg McElroy and Denis Buckle.

On the pine, hooker Dave Heffernan, Peter Dooley and Jack Aungier are front-row subs with Gavin Thornbury and Conor Oliver as the other forward options.

Scrum-half Michael MacDonald, JJ Hanrahan and Shane Jennings complete the matchday squad.

The teams

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jake Flannery, 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Iain Henderson (C), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Andy Warwick
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Al O’Connor, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Jude Postlethwaite, 23 Will Addison

Connacht: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Byron Ralston, 10 Jack Carty (C), 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 1 Denis Buckle
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Gavin Thornbury, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Michael McDonald, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Shane Jennings

Venue: Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
Kick-off: 19:35
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

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