Internationals return from Rugby World Cup duty with Dan Sheehan leading Leinster for the first time

David Skippers
Dan Sheehan Leinster training URC 2023 - Alamy.jpg

Leinster and Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan.

The 2023/24 United Rugby Championship season continues this weekend including table-toppers Connacht’s away clash against Edinburgh on Saturday.

Check on the team news for the weekend, here.

Friday

Zebre Parma v Sharks

Zebre Parma: 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Fetuli Paea, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Giovanni Licata (c), 7 Iacopo Bianchi, 6 Luca Andreani, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 David Sisi, 3 Juan Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Taina Fox-Matamua

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Francois Venter (c), 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Cameron Wright, 8 George Cronje, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter,, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Corne Rahl, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Marnus Potgieter

Venue: Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 GMT)
Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Riccardo Angelucci (Italy), Filippo Bertili (Italy)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)

Cardiff v Bulls

Cardiff: 15 Jacob Beetham, 14 Harri Millard, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Ellis Jenkins (c), 6 Alex Mann, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Tddy Williams, 3 Rhys Litterick, 2 Efan Daniel, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Arwell Robson, 23 Cameron Winnett

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Nizaam Carr (c), 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Reinhardt Ludwig, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Johan Goosen, 24 Cameron Hanekom

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Tom Spurrier (Wales), Steff Edwards (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)

Ulster v Munster

Ulster: 15 Ethan McIlroy, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 David McCann, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 3 Greg McGrath, 2 Tom Stewart (c), 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Jude Postlethwaite

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Seán O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Alex Kendellen, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron (c), 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Brian Gleeson, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Ben O’Connor

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Brian McNeice (Ireland)

Saturday

Benetton v Stormers

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Ivan Nemer
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosué Zilocchi, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Jacob Umaga

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Ben Loader, 12 Ruhan Nel, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (c), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Clayton Blommetjies

Venue: Stadio Monigo, Treviso
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy), Alex Frasson (Italy)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors

Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Keiran Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Mat Protheroe, 10 Jack Walsh, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Harri Deaves, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Ben Warren, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Tom Botha, 19 James Fender, 20 James Ratti, 21 Luke Davies, 22 George North, 23 Dan Edwards

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Stafford McDowall (c), 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Angus Fraser, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Greg Peterson, 20 Alex Samuel, 21 Ally Miller, 22 Sean Kennedy, 23 Tom Jordan

Venue: Swansea.com Stadium
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), John Darcy (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)

Scarlets v Lions

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Eddie James, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies (c), 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Vaea Fifita, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Wyn Jones, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Ioan Nicholas

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Hanru Sirgel, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Corne Fourie
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Jordan Hendrikse, 23 Rynhardt Jonker

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Gwyn Morris (Wales), John Darcy (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Ireland)

Edinburgh v Connacht

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Glen Young, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Ross McCann

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Byron Ralston, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Andrew Smith, 10 Jack Carty (c), 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Seán O’Brien, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Tadgh McElroy, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 JJ Hanrahan

Venue: Hive Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Mike Davidson (Scotland), Ru Campbell (Scotland)
TMO: Wayne Davies (Wales)

Sunday

Dragons v Leinster

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 George Nott, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Ryan Woodman, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Jack Dixon, 23 Ewan Rosser

Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 James Culhane, 7 Will Connors, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan (c), 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Max Deegan, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Cormac Foley, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Rob Russell

Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 13:15 GMT
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Mark Butcher (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

READ MORE: Scottish clubs agree ‘national interest’ deal for British and Irish Lion

Benetton Treviso Dan Sheehan

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